Motorsport: Kiwi IndyCar hopeful Liam Sceats making waves in quest to break into American championship

Liam Sceats is brimming with confidence ahead of his second round of USF Pro 2000 races next weekend, after a debut three weeks ago he dubbed “impressively strong”.

Sceats finished third and sixth in the opening round at St Petersburg, Florida, in a support series for IndyCar, his ultimate goal.

“We had an impressively strong start at round one on the streets of St Petersburg and it exceeded our expectations on how we would go,” Sceats said.

“I say ‘impressively strong’ because it was my first experience of a street circuit, I was in a new car, with different tyres, with a new team and in a new racing environment and we finished on the podium on debut.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence heading into next weekend’s races, as I’ve tested here [at NOLA Motorsports Park in Louisiana] before and done many laps and we get a whole day’s practise before race weekend.

“The USF Pro 2000 in one of the top open wheeler development series in the US and is a support category to IndyCar.”

Sceats is the New Zealand Grand Prix champion and has built a healthy racing CV in his short career. He finished second overall in this year’s Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship behind Poland’s Roman Bilinski.

Next weekend will be his second opportunity in the US series to let his sponsors know he can cut it with the best in the feeder series to Indy NTX and then IndyCar itself.

“This [USF Pro 2000] is a valuable stepping stone for my career. I’d love to compete in IndyCar and that’s my focus. I want to climb through the ranks into Indy NXT and then eventually be in IndyCar one day.”

Having already set the bar high in his first outing of the series, Sceats is aware he will have to keep improving. The main challenge for the 18-year-old is that he’s in a car quite different to what he has driven previously.

There’s also the challenge of close and at times chaotic racing, and that’s why qualifying at the pointy end of the field will be important.

“It’s a really competitive championship and we’ve had a great start to it. Qualifying well means you can avoid a lot of the crazy stuff that can go on further back in the field.

“Everyone is so close in speed, so it makes it hard to pass. At NOLA, it’s going to be really close, as everyone’s going to get quite a lot of practise.

“I like tracks where there’s not a lot of practise. I feel like that’s where good drivers are at their best and have the ability to go fast without having to do a lot of laps.

“I’m getting more familiar in the car, which is making me more confident, and I’m getting a better feel for the tyres. I haven’t raced on Continentals before and they are quite different to the Pirellis I’ve raced on in the past.

“They allow for erratic driving, which doesn’t help me much, as I like to drive smoothly. It took a bit to adjust to but now I’m comfortable on them. If we qualify well, we should be okay. I’m really looking forward to the races.”

The further good news for Sceats and his ambitions to crack the US racing scene is that he has enough funding to probably contest the third round of the championship at Indianapolis in May.