Opposites… Night and day, summer and winter, hot and cold, short and tall, and the pre-Road America and post-Road America portions of the 2016 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire season.

In the seven Pro Mazda races prior to Road America, sophomore Pato O’Ward outscored Aaron Telitz, his rookie Team Pelfrey teammate 221 to 166. Since the series visited Telitz’s home state of Wisconsin and the 14-Turn, 4.014-mile Road America road course, Telitz has outscored O’Ward by a 179 to 110 margin. The tale of two seasons leaves Telitz with a slim 14 point margin heading to the "Soul Red Finale" at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

In the fist seven races of the year, 17 year-old O'Ward won six times, finished second in the other race, and started on pole five times. However, beginning at Road America the Monterey, Mexico native has fallen into a slump that has seen him stand on the podium only one time in past six races.

“I never got down when Pato was winning a bunch of races,” said Telitz, “because we weren’t even halfway through the season at that point. I thought that anything Pato had done in the first half of the season, I could do in the second half. I think it helps that I’m a little bit older, because I’m not intimidated that some of the other drivers have more experience in the car than I do – and I knew I would be quick at my home track of Road America to start the second half of the season.”

In the six races since a disappointing fifth place finish on the Lucas Oil Raceway oval, Telitz has ripped off a string of six straight podiums, including four wins, and five poles.

Team Pelfrey teammates rookie Aaron Telitz (right) and sophomore Pato O'Ward (left) head to the "Soul Red Finale" at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with Telitz leading by 14 points in the quest for the $600,000 Mazda advancement scholarship (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Team Pelfrey teammates rookie Aaron Telitz (right) and sophomore Pato O'Ward (left) head to the "Soul Red Finale" at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with Telitz leading by 14 points in the quest for the $600,000 Mazda advancement scholarship (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The pressure to win the $600,000 Mazda Racing Advancement Scholarship is immense for both of the Team Pelfrey teammates. Both drivers have had points during this season that their continuation hinged on finding funding to continue into the next event, and both of their careers in racing are on the line at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend.

“Winning the Mazda scholarship to enter the USF2000 series is the biggest achievement of my racing career so far, and it’s what allowed me to get on the Mazda Road to Indy,” said Telitz, the 2013 Skip Barber Championship Shootout winner of a $200,000 Mazda backed scholarship.  “I’m in the same position this year; winning the title would mean I would be able to move into Indy Lights. It’s a huge jump and it would become possible with Mazda’s scholarship. I have a huge weight on my shoulders but that’s how I felt the year I won my previous scholarship so I’ll hope to repeat the same thing.”

“I need to win the championship,” explained second place O’Ward. “There’s no other option for me, so whether I’m leading or trailing, the pressure will be the same and my approach will be the same. If the car is like it was in the first half of the year, I know I can close out the championship. My mindset going into Mazda Raceway is to repeat what I’ve done all year – take it session by session, race by race. If I do my best, I know the championship will come to me.”

 

Aaron Telitz
Team Pelfrey
Hometown: Rice Lake, Wisconsin
Age: 24
Points (rank): 345 (1st) 
wins (rank): 5 (2nd)
poles (rank): 6 (1st)
podiums (rank): 11 (1st)
laps led (rank): 149 (2nd)
races led (rank): 6 ( tie 1st)
% of laps completed (rank): 100% (tie 1st)
bonus points scored (rank): 16 (2nd)
average starting position (rank): 1.7 (1st)
average finishing position (rank): 2.3 (1st)
average of quickest race lap (rank): 1.9 (1st)
MRTI career starts: 43
MRTI career wins: 7
MRTI career poles: 7
MRTI career podiums: 28
MRTI career fastest laps: 8

Pato O'Ward
Team Pelfrey
Hometown: Montery, Mexico
Age: 17
Points (rank): 331 (2nd) 
wins (rank): 6 (1st)
poles (rank): 5 (2nd)
podiums (rank): 8 (2nd)
laps led (rank): 213 (1st)
races led (rank): 6 ( tie 1st)
% of laps completed (rank): 94.1 (4th)
bonus points scored (rank): 18 (1st)
average starting position (rank): 2.7 (2nd)
average finishing position (rank): 2.9 (2nd)
average of quickest race lap (rank): 2.8 (2nd)
MRTI career starts: 43
MRTI career wins: 7
MRTI career poles: 7
MRTI career podiums: 28
MRTI career fastest laps: 8

What we’re watching:

1. Past results at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca by Telitz, O'Ward and Team Pelfrey.

Telitz came to the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course in 2015 with the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda championship on the line. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire graduate could not catch his teammate Nico Jamin and Pabst Racing's Jake Eidson, but he qualified second for both races and ended up with second and fourth place finishes. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was also the track at which Telitz’s transition from karts to the Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire began in 2012, when he won a $10,000 Skip Barber Racing prize. 

“My car racing career really started at Mazda Raceway. That’s where I won my first Mazda scholarship to start competing in Skip Barber cars,” explained Telitz. “It was my jumping-off point. I’ve been fast every time I’ve been there, whether it was in Skip Barber cars or last year in USF2000, I’ve always been quick at Mazda Raceway.”

Unlike Telitz, who has never made a start in Mazda Renesis powered Pro Mazda machinery at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, O’Ward made two starts in the 2015 finale. O’Ward qualified eighth for the first race, but had a disappointing race on Saturday. O’Ward and Victor Franzoni made contact before the start-finish line and O’Ward did not even take the green flag, finishing in second last. However, the second race of last year’s finale should have erased the bad memories from Saturday’s DNF and left the Topo Chico sponsored driver with good memories of the Monterey County, California circuit. O’Ward started a disappointing 14th in the Sunday race, but was able to pass eight cars to finish sixth.

Team Pelfrey, the home of both Telitz and O’Ward, has had some recent success at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca winning races in 2011 and 2012 with Connor DePhillippi and Jack Hawksworth. However, the Florida based squad was bested by rivals Juncos Racing and Garett Grist in both races in the 2015 finale.

TSO will be watching Friday practice sessions closely to see if the Juncos Racing trio of veteran Will Owen (third and fourth place in 2015), and rookies Jake Parsons and Nicolas Dapero can play the role of spoilers.

2. TSO will be watching how the two championship eligible drivers deal with the pressure of possibly having to win to extend their open-wheel careers. Having experience in similar situations could certainly be an advantage for Telitz.

The more experienced 24 year-old Telitz has far more experience in dealing with championship pressure in cars, however he has yet to win any of those championships. Telitz trailed Nico Jamin, and Jake Eidson for the USF2000 championship after a season long battle. In 2013, Telitz battled Eidson and Adrian Starrantino for the F1600 Formula F Championship Series, but once again ended up with bronze medal. In 2012, Telitz was once again in a battle with Eidson, this time for the Skip Barber Winter Series title, and once again Telitz need up behind Eidson.

On the other hand, this is the first time that the 17 year-old O’Ward has been in contention for a championship in cars. O’Ward does however have plenty of experience in racing for championships in karting, winning the eight different championships and finishing second or third five times.

3. With natural terrain road courses making up 68% of the 2016 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire schedule, it’s certainly prudent to investigate how the two championship contenders have fared on the traditional twisty circuits. 

This weekend will mark the ninth, 10th and 11th natural terrain road course races for the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire series and in the first eight races (two each at Barber Motorsports Park, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Road America, and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), Telitz has scored four more points then O’Ward, but O’Ward leads the win total four to two. Nico Jamin from Cape Motorsports with /WTR won the last two road course races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course over one month ago. 

See the No. 80 of Pato O'Ward and No. 82 of Aaron Telitz up front on a natural terrain road course has been a common sight in 2016. Here the Team Pelfrey teammate lead the field at Barber Motorsports Park in April. O'Ward ended up winning both of those races. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The No. 80 of Pato O'Ward and No. 82 of Aaron Telitz up front on a natural terrain road course has been a common sight in 2016. Here the Team Pelfrey teammate lead the field at Barber Motorsports Park in April. O'Ward ended up winning both of those races. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Pro Mazda Road Course Points

RANK DRIVER ROAD COURSE POINTS
1 Aaron Telitz - R 205
2 Pato O'Ward 201
3 Will Owen 174
4 Nico Jamin - R 172
5 Nicolas Dapero - R 127
6 Jake Parsons - R 123
7 Garett Grist 80
8 TJ Fischer - R 64
9 Jake Eidson - R 57
10 Weiron Tan 30
11 Jorge Cevallos - R 25

4. Generally, qualifying well on natural terrain road courses is an important part of securing a top finish, and that has been no different in the 17 previous Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

In nine of those seventeen races, the pole sitter has ended up in Victory Lane, and the only time a winner has come from outside the top three starters was in 2000 when Grant Ryley won from inside third row starting spot. The average starting position of the winners at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is 1.8.

Starting on pole, does not 100% guarantee you a good finish, but, it is a very good indicator of success at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course. 16 times the pole sitter has fined in the top four, with the lone instance of a worse finishing coming when current Juncos Racing Pro Mazda engineer Peter Dempsey finished 25th after starting on pole in 2009. Dempsey had contact with current Pro Mazda steward and Mazda factory prototype driver Joel Miller in “The Corkscrew” and lost the championship to Adam Christodoulou

Debutantes

World Speed Motorsports, who last appeared as a team at Barber Motorsports Park in April, will making the trip from their home base 150 miles north of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at Sonoma Raceway with two National Class drivers for the trio of races.

Daniel Swanbeck, and Joseph Burton-Harris will both be making their Mazda Road To Indy appearances.

Swanbeck, hails from nearby San Jose, California and was the 2015 SCCA Majors Formula F champion. The San Jose State University graduate (Mechanical Design Engineering) who spent years a successful auto-crosser had two podium finishes in the most recent Pro Formula Mazda rounds of the Formula Car Challenge at Portland International Raceway.

Born in England, but raised in Australia, Burton-Harris was the Formula Mazda champion during the 2015 SCCA National Run-Offs at Daytona International Raceway. The 19 year-old was also a double winner in his first two Pro Formula Mazda races during the Portland International Raceway round of the Formula Car Challenge.

DE Force Racing, who recently announced that they are planning on entering three brand-new USF17’s in the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda championship, are getting their feet wet a little early. The Angleton, Texas based squad is fielding a two-car National Class attack for Kory Enders and Moises de la Vara.

Enders, a 19 year-old who lives in the Houston, Texas area has plenty of seat time in a Pro Mazda car at MSR Houston, where the team is based.

de la Vara, from Guadalajara, Mexico is currently part of the inaugural F4 United States Championship Powered by Honda season and through three of the five events is seventh in the championship. (one podium and seven top 10s). The 18 year-old also took part in the maiden NACAM Formula 4 Championship season where de la Vara was top rookie with one win three top fives.

Weekend Schedule

Friday

  • 8:45am - 9:15am Pro Mazda Practice #1
  • 10:15am - 10:45am USF2000 Practice #1
  • 11:55am - 12:25pm Pro Mazda Practice #2
  • 2:10pm - 2:40pm Indy Lights Practice #1
  • 2:55pm - 3:25pm USF2000 Practice #2
  • 4:25pm - 4:55pm Indy Lights Practice #2

Saturday

  • 8:35am - 9:05am Pro Mazda Qualifying
  • 9:20am - 9:50am Indy Lights Qualifying
  • 10:05am - 10:35am USF2000 Qualifying
  • 11:30am - noon Indy Lights Autograph Session
  • 1pm - 1:30pm USF2000 Autograph Session
  • 2:05pm - 2:45pm Pro Mazda Race #1 (30 mins.)
  • 3pm - 3:50pm Indy Lights Race #1 (40 mins.)
  • 4:05pm - 4:45pm USF2000 Race #1 (30 mins.)

Sunday

  • 8am - 8:40am Pro Mazda Race #2 (30 mins.)
  • 11:20am - noon USF2000 Race #2 (30 mins.)
  • 12:30pm - 1pm Pro Mazda Autograph Session
  • 1:10pm - 2:20pm Indy Lights Race #2 (50 mins.)
  • 2:35pm - 3:25pm Pro Mazda Race #3 (40 mins.)

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