By Steve Wittich
Victor Franzoni, who took the lead in the chase for the $790,000 Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship that will be awarded to the Pro Mazda champion, led the first and only practice session before qualifying this afternoon.
Franzoni’s quickest lap was timed at 103.813 seconds, and was just over a half-of-a-second quicker than fellow Brazilian Carlos Cunha.
Australian Anthony Martin, who trails Franzoni by only 2 points heading into the weekend ended the session 1.3 seconds behind Franzoni.
Team Pelfrey teammates TJ Fischer, and Nikita Lastochkin, who are fighting Cunha for the third spot in the championship, ended up with the fourth and fifth quickest time.
The entire 30 minute session saw the 13 entries turn a total 181 laps.
Pro Mazda Watkins Glen Grand Prix Presented by Cooper Tires practice #1 results
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | QUICK LAP | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Victor Franzoni | 1:43.813 | –.—- | 11 |
| 2 | 81 | Carlos Cunha | 1:44.374 | 0.5611 | 14 |
| 3 | 8 | Anthony Martin | 1:45.118 | 1.3044 | 15 |
| 4 | 82 | TJ Fischer | 1:45.481 | 1.6673 | 15 |
| 5 | 80 | Nikita Lastochkin | 1:45.884 | 2.0707 | 16 |
| 6 | 14 | Sting Ray Robb | 1:46.739 | 2.9254 | 16 |
| 7 | 84 | Robert Megennis | 1:46.757 | 2.9435 | 15 |
| 8 | 12 | Kris Wright | 1:47.817 | 4.0038 | 14 |
| 9 | 3 | Matt Machiko | 1:48.079 | 4.2661 | 13 |
| 10 | 60 | Jeff Green | 1:48.833 | 5.0199 | 14 |
| 11 | 13 | Bobby Eberle | 1:48.946 | 5.1329 | 13 |
| 12 | 83 | Charles Finelli | 1:51.545 | 7.7316 | 14 |
| 13 | 31 | Brendan Puderbach | 1:52.432 | 8.6190 | 11 |
Qualifying for the first of two Pro Mazda races rolls off at 2:30pm.
Don’t miss any of the action:
- live timing – Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, USF2000, and IndyCar Race Control
- on twitter –Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, USF2000, Cooper Tire, Mazda Racing and TSO Ladder
- via the Road To Indy TV app – Android or Apple iOS
- on all social media channels via the #TeamCooperTire and #MRTI hashtags