Victor Franzoni completed the double at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with two poles and two wins in a span of 24 hours, and the talented Australian Anthony Martin (above) sealed the 2016 USF2000 championship and punched his ticket to a free season of Pro Mazda.

With Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Parker Thompson needing Martin to buckle under the pressure and finish well down the running order, the Aussie responded by racing Martin hard to take second behind Franzoni (-10.1026s) as Thompson settled for third (-11.5031s) on the day and second in the championship.

“Wow, I’ve just come such a long way,” a teary Martin said. “The Cape Motorsports boys have given me a great car all year and I’m so happy to come home number one this year.”

For Franzoni, completing a magical weekend in Monterey was the realization of a dream.

“This weekend was amazing. I can’t describe the weekend because it was 100 percent perfect,” the Brazilian (pictured) said in Victory Lane. “I wanted the championship but I knew I came here and it would be hard. But we scored 66 points and we did what we had to do.

“The championship didn’t come but it’s OK. It was the best season of my life. I finished all the races and never questioned nothing. It was a great year for me. I’m really happy and now we start to work for next season and test and everything and I hope to be here next season.”

The final USF2000 race of the season also marks the end of the line for the tubeframe Van Diemen chassis. Andresen Promotions’ new-for-2017 carbon fiber Tatuus chassis will usher in a new era for the first step of the Mazda Road To Indy.

And with the full batch of 30 cars already ordered – and the five extra cars that were built to supply additional demand – the USF2000 series appears to be headed for bigger and better things when it returns early next year.

Click here for full results.