Christchurch’s Jacob Douglas is heading to the US for the second time this year for more single seater testing with a view to competing in the States in 2022. Having already tested over the NZ winter in both US Formula 3 and 4, as well as competing in a F4 race at Laguna Seca in California where he finished twice on the podium in his first ever F4 event, the teenager will now take part in several tests in the USF2000 category.
“I can’t wait,” commented Douglas. “I’ve heard the difference between the USF2000 car and what I have already driven there in F4 is speed. They are a lot faster with similar down force.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time on the race-simulator preparing for a couple of different tracks that we will test on. All seem to have quite a lot of elevation, are very fast and very American in style with quite a lot of camber in the corners, quite a bit wider and different than here in NZ.”
Douglas will test with Exclusive Autosport, a team that currently competes both in the Cooper Tires USF2000, the Indy Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires and has recently announced it will also join the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires grid in 2022.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to know the team. I’ve heard a lot of good about them. The aim is to get as many laps in as possible to learn the car and the Cooper tyre.”
This will be the second trip to the US for Douglas, having spent three-months on the road with Kiwi Motorsport, run by New Zealanders’ Garry Orton and Teena Larson, where he tested at Buttonwillow Raceway in Southern California and competed in a Formula 4 race at Laguna Seca, finishing second and third.
“That was a great insight into the US motorsport scene and what their tracks are like, especially at Laguna Seca. They have lots of elevation and camber, especially at Laguna Seca which has some really fast corners. There was heaps to learn about car setup, cornering speed, use of brake pressure and giving feedback to the engineers.
“We did two races there in which I only had a ten-minute practice session to quickly learn the track before qualifying. I was able to get comfortable both with the car and track and ended up finishing the two races in second and third.”
Douglas headed to Indianapolis last week to meet the team, take part in pre-season testing and start negotiations towards racing in 2022.
“We are really committed to racing in the US in 2022,” said Douglas. “There is still a lot of work to do to put this altogether so want to thank all those involved so far.”
At this stage it is unlikely that he will return home before Christmas due to current Covid requirements and the MIQ status in NZ.
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