News

• Swede trials United Autosports LMP2 car in Portugal
• Multiple single-seater winner enjoys first taste of prototype racing

Joel Granfors completed a successful maiden test in sports car racing this week with a run for Anglo-American outfit United Autosports at the Portimão circuit in Portugal.

Granfors slotted into the team’s ORECA 07 LMP2 car, which took victory in class at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours earlier this year, as the Swede acquainted himself with prototype racing for the very first time.
 
A race winner and championship contender in British Formula 4, GB3 and America’s USF Pro 2000 series alike, 19-year-old Granfors has a pedigree background in single-seater racing that also includes winning the Scandinavian Formula Nordic and Aquila Formula 1000 championships.

Eager to explore further career opportunities after sitting on the sidelines so far in 2024, Granfors proved quickly up to speed in the closed-cockpit, 600-bhp LMP2 car as well, completing a series of encouraging runs at the Algarve International Circuit as he began exploring the traits of sports car machinery.

“I’ve really enjoyed my first test in LMP2, and in sports car racing at large,” says Joel Granfors. “I haven’t done any racing this year as we’re evaluating the next steps in my career, so getting this run with United Autosports has been a great experience.

“It was good to be back behind the wheel and I think it went really well. It basically drives like a single-seater – although it’s hotter inside! – and it only took my a few laps to get comfortable and up to speed. 
 
“I really want to thank the team for this opportunity to explore sports car racing, which is a new world to me but certainly something I’d love to try out in the future.”

Co-owned by McLaren CEO Zak Brown and former racing driver Richard Dean, United Autosports is a sports car team competing globally in various championships across the world, including the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and America’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The team has won numerous championship titles and races, notably taking two Le Mans 24 Hours class wins (in 2020 and 2024) in the LMP2 category. In its 15-year existence, it has fielded drivers such as Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris, Paul di Resta and Juan Pablo Montoya.

GALLERY: Joel’s test in pictures

“Joel was impressive during his first run in the ORECA LMP2 car,” says United Autosports managing director Max Gregory. “It didn’t take him many laps at all to get down to a competitive lap time – all at a circuit that was new to him and in a totally new car. His approach to the test was mature beyond his years and we hope to see him back in a United Autosports LMP2 soon!”

After dominating the domestic junior categories in his native Sweden, Joel Granfors began his voyage in international motorsport in 2021, instantly becoming a race winner in British Formula 4. 

A year later, as a rookie, he finished second overall to Britain’s Luke Browning in the 2022 GB3 Championship. In 2023, he contested a partial season in USF Pro 2000 in the USA, winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and finishing second in his first-ever oval race.

Granfors, whose younger brother Linus clinched this year’s GB4 Championship title in Britain, continues to evaluate options for the next steps of his racing career.

Further information:
United Autosports

Joel Granfors is directing his racing efforts towards a 2025 title challenge in INDY NXT, the main feeder series to INDYCAR.

Granfors joined the U.S. single-seater ranks in 2023, racing in USF Pro 2000 and immediately winning a race at the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his rookie year.

For 2024, Granfors had several options on the table to remain in USF Pro 2000 competition. However, the challenging financial reality currently affecting world-wide businesses meant such a programme would not have been viable.

Instead, Granfors will now spend the year working firmly towards an INDY NXT title charge in 2025, aligning with partners and sponsors while intensifying talks with the series’ leading teams. 

“It’s actually quite exciting times, with everything that’s going on at the moment,” says Joel Granfors. “You’ve got to do things 100 %, and that’s what we’re doing now. Jumping half-heartedly into a championship is not something I want to do. It will take a lot of hard work from me outside the track this year, but that’s part of life as a racing driver, so I’m looking forward to it!”

At 18 years of age, Granfors is one of the youngest drivers on the INDYCAR support ladder, and younger than all but one of the 2024 INDY NXT racers.

“Time is on my side,” Granfors concludes. “We don’t have to rush. It’s much better laying the proper foundations, even though I understand people would have liked to see me in USF Pro 2000 again this year.” 

Joel Granfors will be making several outings in various racing cars in 2024, maintaining his training regime in all ways relevant.

Joel Granfors will not contest the final two rounds of the USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires campaign, opting to redirect efforts towards 2024.

In a decision made with the full support of his team Exclusive Autosport, Granfors will sit out the season-ending rounds at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and Portland to instead gather fresh momentum for his future racing programme.
 
“Of course it would have been nice to close out the season, but all things considered, this is the right decision for the longer term,” says Joel Granfors. “We have thought it through carefully together with the team and everybody else who needed to be involved in this decision, and we all share the common view that this is for the greater good. I wish the team all the best for these final races.”
 
Granfors currently sits fifth in the USF Pro 2000 standings following a strong rookie campaign in U.S. single-seater racing. With only two rounds to go and a runaway points leader out front in the scholarship chase, however, Granfors is opting to shuffle resources accordingly.     
 
“I’m here to race, but more than anything I’m here to win,” Joel Granfors continues. “This will put me in the best possible position to try and do that in 2024 and beyond. I’m grateful to Exclusive Autosport, Corpay and all my sponsors for their support and I look forward to being back on track again soon!”
 
Granfors arrived in the USA this season after finishing second in the UK-based GB3 Championship last year. Despite an entirely new palette of tracks and a brand new environment on the INDYCAR support ladder, the Swede managed to win at the hallowed Indianapolis Motor Speedway back in May and has scored another two podiums in 2023.
 
“It has been an honour having Joel pilot the #92 Exclusive Autosport with Corpay car this year in the USF Pro 2000 championship,” says team owner Michael Duncalfe. “We collectively feel that it’s in everyone’s best interest at this time to re-focus efforts and resource towards the 2024 season. Consequently, Joel will unfortunately not be at COTA or Portland, but we’re all looking forward to seeing him back in the car in the off-season.”
 
One of the youngest drivers in the USF Pro 2000 field at just 18 years of age, other highlights for Granfors in 2023 have included making both his oval and street course debuts, finishing on the podium at the Lucas Oil Raceway oval and setting the fastest lap on the streets of St. Petersburg.  

// Swede features in close podium scrap in dry/wet Canadian opener     
// Retires from Race 2 in start incident

Joel Granfors lived through a weekend of mixed emotions as USF Pro 2000 set camp in Toronto for the last round before the series’ summer break.

Taking on the tight and twisty Canadian street course for the first time of his career, Granfors proved aptly able to adapt, going fourth fastest in Friday’s free practice session.

The Swede then qualified in the upper half of the field, in sixth and seventh respectively, for the weekend’s two races.

In Race 1, Granfors worked his way into podium contention on a dry track early on, before the race was stopped in the closing stages as rain started to fall on the treacherous street circuit.

After all cars were called into pitlane for a change to wet-weather Cooper tyres, the race resumed with a few laps to go. Granfors kept out of trouble in a wild fight for the podium with Exclusive Autosport team-mate Salvador de Alba (Mexico) and Germany’s Lirim Zendeli, coming home P4.

“I think we did a solid job in that first race,” says Joel Granfors. “I managed to get up into fourth early on, and then after the restart I was battling hard for the podium. I decided to play it a bit safe, which I think was the right thing to do having never driven the track in the wet before. It gave us some important championship points and the pace was very strong in both the wet and dry.”

In Race 2 on Sunday, however, the curtains came down on Granfors’ hopes just moments after the start, as a Turn 1 clash with fellow rival Christian Weir inflicted suspension damage to the #92 Corpay Exclusive Autosport car and sent both drivers into instant retirement.

“A very short race today,” Joel Granfors concludes. “From my perspective, I felt like I gave up plenty of room on the outside, but unfortunately we made contact as we rounded Turn 1. My front suspension got bent and we both hit the wall. It’s one of those first-lap things, I guess. 

“It’s a real shame as the pace has been strong this weekend, and I was really adamant that we could challenge for the podium today. Still, I take a lot of positives from this weekend and my first visit to this track.”   

Granfors now sits tied for fourth in the USF Pro 2000 standings.

The INDYCAR feeder series now enters a six-week summer break, resuming in Austin, Texas, on August 26-27.

// RESULTS

USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires
Rd. 7 – Streets of Toronto (Canada)

Race 1
Race 2

// CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires
After 7/9 rounds 

1: Myles Rowe (USA), 299 p.
2: Kiko Porto (BRA), 218 p.
3: Salvador de Alba (MEX), 215 p.
4: Joel Granfors (SWE), 206 p.
5: Michael d’Orlando (USA), 206 p.

Full standings

// Swede braced for second street course event of the season
// Series rookie currently holding third in championship standings

Joel Granfors heads to Canada and Toronto this weekend for the second and last street course event of the USF Pro 2000 season.

Granfors’ street track debut coincided with the Swede’s first-ever race on American soil earlier this year, on a mixed weekend for the Exclusive Autosport rookie in St. Petersburg, Florida back in March.

A pitlane collision forced Granfors to sit out qualifying, leaving him at the back of the grid for that weekend’s pair of races – in which he later stormed through to salvage important points and even set the fastest lap of the entire meeting. 

Since then, Granfors has established himself as one of the frontrunners in the USF Pro 2000 pack, racking up three podiums and one victory en route to third place in the current championship standings. 

Heading into Toronto, the Swede is keen for more. 

“I’m looking forward a lot to this weekend,” says Joel Granfors. “I’ve never been to Toronto, so it’s yet another new track for me. I feel like we have some unfinished street track business from St. Pete and that unfortunate qualifying issue. The pace was there for much more than what we got, so hopefully this weekend we can build on that and have a more straightforward event with a strong result.”

The 1.7-mile Toronto street course is laid out in the heart of the Canadian city, proving a fan favourite for decades.

“From what I’ve heard, Toronto is even tighter and more technical than St. Pete, so this will be an interesting weekend,” Joel Granfors concludes. “There appears to be even less room for mistakes and it’s very narrow, especially in the second half of the lap. Qualifying will probably be crucial this weekend as starting up front will be a big advantage.”

Two races are set to be contested in USF Pro 2000 this weekend, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. In third overall, Joel Granfors currently trails second-placed Brazilian driver Kiko Porto by a mere two points in the standings, with several others also in close proximity.

GUIDE: Everything you need to know about USF Pro 2000

Live streaming is available for all races throughout the season via usfpro2000.com, YouTube and the USF Pro Championships App. 

// TIME TABLE (U.S. Eastern)

USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires
Rd. 7 – Streets of Toronto (Canada)

Friday 14 July
Practice: 9:15-9:45 am
Qualifying 1: 2:10-2:30 pm

Saturday 15 July
Qualifying 2: 9:15-9:35 am
Race 1: 11:50 am-12:35 pm

Sunday 16 July
Race 2: 11:05-11:45 am

LIVE STREAMING & TIMING
www.usfpro2000.com
USF Pro Championships App

// CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires
After 6/9 rounds

1: Myles Rowe (USA), 251 p.
2: Kiko Porto (BRA), 187 p.
3: Joel Granfors (SWE), 185 p.
4: Salvador de Alba (MEX), 173 p.
5: Francesco Pizzi (ITA), 171 p.

Full standings