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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – USF2000, Pro Mazda, Indy Lights First Practice & Notes

Posted by  on Thursday, May 12th 2016     

The Mazda Road to Indy has its full complement of series here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championships have all had their first practice sessions, which grew in importance with impending weather likely to hit the track this afternoon.

Quick session reports are below.

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USF2000 logo

The first USF2000 session of the weekend before the Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis Powered by Mazda was clean, green and dry for 30 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the 2.439-mile road course.

Yufeng Luo, who won Round 2 of the season at St. Petersburg, took his No. 23 Pabst Racing entry to the top of the timesheets at 1:26.8246.

Luke Gabin was second in the No. 91 JAY Motorsports entry at 1:26.8872, with Parker Thompson of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing and Luo’s teammate at Pabst, Jordan Lloyd, also dipping into the 1:26 bracket.

Victor Franzoni of ArmsUp Motorsports completed the top five runners; the Brazilian makes his USF2000 return to the IMS road course after making his Pro Mazda series debut here last year.

The top 14 drivers were covered by 0.8744 of a second. Nico Jamin holds the track record with a qualifying lap of 1:26.1799 for Cape, set last year.

Of note, the field is reduced to 26 cars this weekend with the absence of James Munro, the fourth driver at Team Pelfrey. Team Pelfrey team principal Nigel Tuckey said there were contractual issues that arose with Munro, and his return status for further rounds is doubtful.

Additionally, ArmsUp is back to three cars with Blake Mount, who drove a fourth ArmsUp entry during Wednesday’s test sessions, not competing in the first practice.

The next USF2000 practice session is another 30-minute session, from 1:30 to 2 p.m.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 23 Yufeng Luo 1:26.825 0.000 8
2 91 Luke Gabin 1:26.887 0.0626 14
3 2 Parker Thompson 1:26.891 0.0668 18
4 21 Jordan Lloyd 1:26.972 0.1476 16
5 9 Victor Franzoni 1:27.009 0.1841 13
6 8 Anthony Martin 1:27.093 0.2686 17
7 3 Nikita Lastochkin 1:27.189 0.3643 13
8 22 Garth Rickards 1:27.307 0.4822 16
9 80 Robert Megennis 1:27.471 0.6468 14
10 33 Ayla Agren 1:27.519 0.6949 17
11 82 TJ Fischer 1:27.636 0.8113 17
12 81 Jordan Cane 1:27.654 0.8293 16
13 5 Austin McCusker 1:27.664 0.8393 17
14 34 Lucas Kohl 1:27.699 0.8744 18
15 6 Max Hanratty 1:27.998 1.1735 10
16 18 Dakota Dickerson 1:28.165 1.3402 11
17 92 Cameron Das 1:28.181 1.3562 14
18 77 Sam Chastain 1:28.295 1.4701 6
19 72 Tazio Ottis 1:28.838 2.0133 16
20 19 Michai Stephens 1:29.282 2.4570 16
21 20 Clint McMahan 1:29.408 2.5838 14
22 7 Dale VandenBush 1:29.978 3.1534 19
23 11 Robert Armington 1:30.432 3.6072 13
24 12 Eric Filgueiras 1:31.634 4.8098 13
25 44 Charles Finelli 1:31.915 5.0900 13
26 15 Brenden Puderbach 1:33.140 6.3155 16

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Pro Mazda Logo

In first practice for the Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires, the now routine Team Pelfrey timesheet topping continued with Aaron Telitz ahead of teammate Pato O’Ward.

Telitz, in the No. 82 entry, clocked a best time of 1:23.6710 with O’Ward, in the No. 80 car, a little more than a tenth in arrears at 1:23.7781.

Juncos Racing, which had a strong 2015 setup at the IMS road course and won one race with Timothe Buret, placed three of its four drivers in the next three spots. Garett Grist was third ahead of rookie Jake Parsons and past IMS road course winner in USF2000, Will Owen, in fifth.

Nico Jamin, who swept the weekend in USF2000 here last year, was only sixth best and the lead of two Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing entries.

Of note, Weiron Tan in the third Team Pelfrey entry, is withdrawn for the remainder of the weekend per a contractual issue.

Tan won the Thursday at IMS last year in what was the NOLA Motorsports Park rain-delayed makeup round, then driving for Andretti Autosport.

The next Pro Mazda practice session is another 30-minute session, from 2:15 to 2:45 p.m.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 82 Aaron Telitz 1:23.671 0.000 8
2 80 Pato O’Ward 1:23.778 0.1071 9
3 5 Garett Grist 1:23.877 0.2065 16
4 00 Jake Parsons 1:24.020 0.3493 16
5 23 Will Owen 1:24.105 0.4335 18
6 2 Nico Jamin 1:24.210 0.5391 16
7 3 Jake Eidson 1:24.302 0.6315 17
8 31 Nicolas Dapero 1:24.521 0.8498 16
9 13 Bobby Eberle 1:25.553 1.8818 17
10 44 Kevin Davis 1:26.538 2.8675 17
11 37 Jay Horak 1:26.972 3.3012 13
12 57 Bob Kaminsky 1:27.437 3.7657 14
13 81 Weiron Tan No Time — —

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Indy Lights Logo

Ahead of the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires doubleheader, three track veterans led the opening 45-minute practice Thursday at the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Santiago Urrutia, who won the most recent round of the season at Barber Motorsports Park, was the only driver to clock into the 1:15 bracket with a 1:15.9770 lap time. Urrutia drives the Soul Red Mazda No. 55 entry for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian.

The Uruguayan won his first Pro Mazda race last year at the IMS road course, which helped kickstart his title charge. He told TSO before the session he was confident in the car’s pace before even putting on new tires during the test day on Wednesday and it showed on Thursday.

Meanwhile series sophomores Ed Jones of Carlin and RC Enerson, also of SPM, were second and third. Jones was just 0.1256 off Urrutia’s best time with Enerson third, 0.1767.

Felix Rosenqvist of Belardi Auto Racing and Kyle Kaiser of Juncos Racing completed the top five, with Dean Stoneman in sixth (Andretti Autosport), Felix Serralles (Carlin) and Scott Hargrove (Team Pelfrey) the top half of the 16-car field.

SPM didn’t run a ton of laps in the session with Urrutia running only six laps and Scott Anderson seven.

As in the Pro Mazda and USF2000 sessions earlier Thursday, there were no red flags or incidents during the sessions.

Second practice for Indy Lights runs from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m., which is the last session of the day’s activity.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 55 Santiago Urrutia 1:15.977 0.000 6
2 11 Ed Jones 1:16.103 0.1256 13
3 7 RC Enerson 1:16.154 0.1767 14
4 14 Felix Rosenqvist 1:16.407 0.4298 18
5 18 Kyle Kaiser 1:16.603 0.6256 14
6 27 Dean Stoneman 1:16.711 0.7338 18
7 4 Felix Serralles 1:16.727 0.7496 18
8 3 Scott Hargrove 1:16.745 0.7682 16
9 5 Zach Veach 1:16.756 0.7786 16
10 51 Shelby Blackstock 1:16.778 0.8009 17
11 22 Neil Alberico 1:16.853 0.8757 14
12 77 Scott Anderson 1:16.858 0.8806 7
13 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:16.911 0.9343 19
14 17 Andre Negrao 1:16.973 0.9958 14
15 2 Juan Piedrahita 1:17.168 1.1906 17
16 28 Dalton Kellett 1:17.329 1.3516 22

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category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires
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National Class Reintroduced in USF2000 – Champion to Receive “Ticket” to $200K Scholarship Shootout

Posted by  on Wednesday, February 10th 2016     
PALMETTO, Fla. – Drivers seeking to make their way onto the Mazda Road to Indy now have an alternate, lower-cost route onto the first rung, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, with today’s confirmation that the National Class will be returning in 2016.

The Mazda Road to Indy is unique in the world of auto racing, offering a scholarship-funded path all the way from karting via USF2000, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires to the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500.

Eligible to drivers at least 20 years of age before or during the 2016 season, the National Class will be open to all Sports Car Club of America-legal FC (Formula Continental) cars, from any chassis manufacturer, dating back to 2000. Any aerodynamic devices approved by the SCCA are permitted, although in the interests of safety all cars must be fitted with a nosebox crash structure, wheel tethers, Staubli devices, approved head surrounds and seats and yellow light system as required by all other current USF2000 cars.

Cars will be permitted to run either the same 2.0-liter Mazda MZR engine per the USF2000 Championship Class regulations or sealed 2.0-liter Ford Zetec motors as prepared by Elite Engines or Quicksilver RacEngines with National Class mapping. Any SCCA-legal 6″ and 8″ wheels may be used, although all cars must run on Cooper tires.

Entry fees will be discounted 50 percent below the Championship Class rate, and each race winner will earn a free entry for an upcoming event in the same season. The second-place finisher will claim a 50 percent reduction in the entry fee for an upcoming race. In addition, race winners equipped with the MZR engine will take home a $1,000 award from Mazda.

As an added benefit and based on a minimum average car count of five entries per race weekend, the 2016 National Class champion will receive an “entry ticket” to the Mazda Road to Indy $200K Scholarship Shootout in the fall of this year where champions of select junior level-open wheel and karting series from around the world will compete for a Mazda scholarship to enter the USF2000 Championship Class in 2017.

The point system will be the same used by the Masters Class (formerly Expert Class) in the Pro Mazda championship.

“We are excited to bring back the National Class and allow drivers to sample the Mazda Road to Indy,” said Dan Andersen, Owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions. “RC Enerson began his path on the ladder system in the National Class. It’s a great first step onto the platform for many drivers, and we are excited to offer this year’s champion an entry into the Shootout as well as a full-season entry package to USF2000 in 2017 in either the Championship or National Class.”

The Mazda Road to Indy will head to Barber Motorsport Park for Spring Training on March 5 (Indy Lights) and 6/7 (USF2000/Pro Mazda). The 2016 season will kick off on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 11-13 in support of the Verizon IndyCar Series.

category: Andersen Promotions PR, Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Mazda Road To Indy PR
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My Mazda Road to Indy: Meet Robert Megennis

Posted by  on Thursday, January 14th 2016     
PALMETTO, Fla. – 15-year-old Robert Megennis makes the jump to the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda this year after a successful season with Team Pelfrey in F1600. The young New Yorker moves up to the team’s Mazda Road to Indy squad after finishing eighth in the F1600 standings with eight podium finishes. There’s much more to this young man than meets the eye.
What got you interesting in karting and in racing?
We went to England for my dad’s 40th birthday and we all went to a karting track. I just went to watch but they told me I could drive even though I was only 9. So I went out and I just loved it. When we came home, I wanted to keep driving. We found a little indoor karting track and it all went from there with the Saturday junior racing leagues.
Take us through your career to date.
I drove at the indoor karting track for a few years and then went to Rotax junior karts when I was 11. I raced at the club level, finished second in a club championship when I was 12, then started racing at the regional level. I finished second in the Northeastern championship and then won the regionals the next year (the Northeast Rotax Max Challenge Series, earning the title by 70 points with podium finishes in all 11 races). I competed in the Rotax Pan American Challenge, the Florida Winter Tour and U.S. Grand Nationals. I did a couple of Skip Barber Racing Schools then got a call from Team Pelfrey inviting me to test their F1600 car. The test went great – I loved the team and they thought I did a good job so I signed to race with them in 2015. I really learned how to race a car and had so much fun last year.
It was a big transition to the F1600 car but it’s all the same basics: track line, carrying speed, etc. But it was more complex with gears, setups, higher speeds, more risk. It was a lot to take in at first but I got used to it quickly. I wouldn’t be where I am or have learned as much as I have without Team Pelfrey. The coaches, the engineers, everyone is so professional but you still enjoy yourself so much.
What got you interested in progressing to the Mazda Road to Indy and the USF2000 series?
With the eventual goal of being a professional race car driver, there was really no other logical step than moving up to USF2000 after F1600. The cars have wings, they’re a little bit faster, but the racing is better. It’s on the Mazda Road to Indy so it’s logically what you would do to get to the Verizon IndyCar Series. I want to get to IndyCar with Pelfrey so nothing other than moving up to USF2000 made sense.
After a season in F1600 with Team Pelfrey, Robert Megennis will be moving up to contest the Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda championship with the team. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

After a season in F1600 with Team Pelfrey, Robert Megennis will be moving up to contest the Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda championship with the team. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

What are your expectations for 2016?
It’s hard to judge since I’ve never raced a winged car but I think we have the potential to be at the front, get on the podium and win a few races this year. I expect to learn a ton: how to race these cars and how to drive these ridiculous IndyCar tracks, which look like so much fun. And have a great time!
In addition to racing cars, you’re a nationally-ranked saber fencer?
I was in love with Star Wars so it seemed as close as I could get to light saber fighting! I started saber fencing when I was 9 and I got good at it, so now I’m going to national and international competitions. That’s what I do with most of my time. I probably go to 20 or 30 tournaments a year, which includes local and regional tournaments as well. My dad is English, so I have dual citizenship. When I visit Britain I go to national competitions and I’m one of the best British fencers under the age of 17. I’m trying to make the World Championship team this year.
If I wasn’t driving a race car, I’d be _________________?
I’d be a saber fencer! That would be my sole passion. Racing is different in that you can’t practice every single day. You have to go where the cars are. You can do simulator time, or train, but it’s not real practice. So I go to fencing practice four times a week. It’s not hard to balance the two, but it’s been very tiring!
What is your favorite race or racetrack?
Watkins Glen was my favorite track and race last year. It’s Watkins Glen – there’s so much history. The whole track is amazing, all the high speed and incredible turns like the Bus Stop. I finished third on Sunday, which was my first podium of the year, which made it 200 times better.
Do you have any “hidden” talents?
I’m actually a blacksmith. Once a week I go to a forge and make knives at 2,000-degree temperatures. I love it – it’s fun and feels like art and science combined into one. And you’re making cool stuff at extreme temperatures and in extreme conditions! I’m a student, so with that and the racing, there isn’t time for much else.
What do you do to chill out?
I spend time at home with my family and my dog. I’ll go mountain-biking or play video games with my brother, just hanging out at home.
Source: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda PR
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda
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