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The word of the day going into the twin Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is… different.

Five different drivers representing five different countries and four different teams have found victory lane over the first five races of the 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire season.

Different in 2016, is also represented  by the eight different drivers representing six different teams and five different countries that have won the eight Indy Lights races on the two iterations of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Previous Indy Lights winners on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course:

Year — Race — Driver — Team

  • 2015 — Race #1 — Sean Rayhall — 8Star Motorsports
  • 2015 — Race #1 — Jack Harvey — Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
  • 2014 — Race #2 — Luiz Razia — Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
  • 2014 — Race #1 — Matthew Brabham — Andretti Autosport
  • 2007 — Race #2 — Bobby Wilson — Brian Stewart Racing
  • 2007 — Race #1 — Hideki Mutoh — Panther Racing
  • 2006 — one race — Alex Lloyd — AFS Racing
  • 2005 — one race — Marco Andretti — Andretti Autosport
A young Michael Andretti celebrates winning the first Indy Lights race on the road course at IMS with his father Michael Andretti (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

A young Marcol Andretti celebrates winning the first Indy Lights race on the road course at IMS with his father Michael Andretti (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

None of the eight previous IMS road course race winners are entered in this year’s Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires, so a ninth different name will become an Indy Lights winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After a slow start to the season with seventh and 10th place finishes in St. Petersburg, Carlin sophomore Ed Jones has parlayed a win and two second place finishes into a six point championship lead over Kyle Kaiser.

Jones also led the championship early in 2015 before falling to third by the end of the season, and when TSOLadder asked the 21 year-old if he planned a different approach this year. His answer was an emphatic affirmative, and he explained that he was out to gain every possible position this year and not worry about points.

“We had extremely good pace last year (on the IMS road course) so I do feel confident that we will have a solid base to work from and hopefully be able to produce another pole position car,” said Jones. “At this point of the year it’s great to have the points lead of course but you can’t dwell on it too much as it’s still early and you still need to optimize every weekend to its maximum so that you are there when it counts.”

Jones did have success on the 2.439 mi Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last year, starting both races on the front row and finishing third and fourth.

After a win at Phoenix, Juncos Racing sophomore Kaiser entered the Barber Motorsports Park double-header with the points lead and drove a smart first race after a mediocre qualifying effort saw him start eighth. The Santa Clara, California native was patient and had moved his way into the top five before an unfortunate mechanical issue dropped him to 15th and out of the points lead.

After a disappointing day on Saturday opened a door for the “impatient Kyle Kaiser” of 2015 to make an appearance on Sunday, the 20 year-old drove with poise and brought home his InterVision/NetApp/Juniper Networks sponsored No. 18 in sixth after starting seventh, thus proving that 2016 is a new year and that the new more grown-up Kyle is here for good.

In the first race of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, Carlin sophomore Felix Serralles improved an impressive nine spots from his 11th place starting spot and scored his second podium of the young 2016 season.  The 23 year-old also inherited the points lead, but his time atop the points table would not last long after contact in Sunday’s race relegated him to 15th place finish. The Ponce, Puerto Rico native only trails Jones by 14 points heading into this weekends twin-bill, and will  need to put the two “DNF’s” he suffered at IMS during last years event completely out of his mind.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian teammates Santiago Urrutia and RC Enerson enter the sixth and seventh round of the 2016 championship only 19 and 26 points, respectively, adrift of leader Jones.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian RC Enerson and reigning Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire champion Santiago Urrutia (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian RC Enerson and reigning Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire champion Santiago Urrutia (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

After an up-and-down first four races and an uncharacteristic mistake resulted in a driver through penalty in the first race of the Barber Motorsports Park weekend, Urrutia, the reigning Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire champion, put it all together for the first time in 2016. The 19 year-old, who currently has the second quickest race lap average through the first five races made a bold pass of pole-sitter Jones to take the lead on the fourth lap of  Sunday’s race and was able to cruise to his first Indy Lights win.

“Finally, the month of May,” exclaimed sophomore Enerson. “I can’t wait to get things started at the GP. We had really strong cars there last year and pulled off some amazing results. I’m really looking for that first win of the season and I won’t stop pushing until I get it.”

Despite being in fifth place in the chase for the $1million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship, the 19 year-old Enerson has to be happy with his position heading to central Indiana and second third of the schedule where he excelled in 2015. The Lucas Oil TV sponsored driver currently trails leader Jones by only 26 points, while in 2015 he came to IMS trailing the points leader (Pigot) by 58 points.

Belardi Auto Racing teammates sophomore Zach Veach and rookie Felix Rosenqvist are only separated by two points in sixth and seventh place in the championship, but will have to find a solution to the tire wear issues the squad faced at Barber Motorsports Park if they want to compete on the abrasive asphalt at IMS.

After qualifying poorly, but showing considerable race pace in the first two race events of the year, it was only a matter of time before Andretti Autosport rookie Dean Stoneman figured out how to maximize his sticker Cooper Tire slicks during qualifying. After qualifying second for race #1 in Alabama, the Croydon, England native had a mechanical issue and didn’t get to take the green flag. Stoneman also started second in the second tilt of the weekend, and this time was able to hold onto to finish third, his first podium in the U.S.A.. Don’t be surprised if this opens the floodgates for a string of podium finishes.

Other drivers TSO is watching:

After an uncharacteristically sloppy start to 2016, steady Andretti Autosport sophomore Shelby Blackstock found his groove in Alabama, finishing fourth in Saturday’s race and fifth in Sunday’s race. In four previous races on the IMS road course the Nashville, Tennessee native has one second place finish.

Juncos Racing sophomore Zachary Claman De Melo made up a total of 19 positions in two races in the last event at Barber Motorsports Park. After qualifying on the front row, the Montreal, Quebec native was forced to start in last place after technical inspection found the floor of his car to be just  one mm too low. Calman De Melo, who is only 17, was able to advance to fifth place in the first race of the weekend and to seventh place on Sunday.

Rookies Dalton Kellett and Neil Alberico have both kept their noses clean, but will need to up the aggressiveness if they want to move up the running order. Both drivers have had success on the IMS road course in the past, so hopefully that translates into more confidence and better results.

After finishing second in the first race of the year, 2013 Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda champion Scott Hargrove, who is only confirmed through the next two events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has finishes of 14th, 13th, 13th and 12th and appears to pushing a little too hard. The 21 year-old from Vancouver, British Colombia does have two Pro Mazda victories at this circuit.

Start up front, finish up front.  

Despite two great passing zones, the winner of the four Indy Lights races on current iteration of the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course the eventual winner came from the front row. Matthew Brabham (2014 #1), Luiz Razia (2014 #2), and Jack Harvey (2015 #1) all won from pole position, while  Sean Rayhall (2015 #2) started outside of the front row.

Previous Indy Lights pole sitters on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course:

Year — Race — Driver — Team

  • 2015 — Race #2 — Ed Jones — Carlin
  • 2015 — Race #1 — Jack Harvey — Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
  • 2014 — Race #2 — Luiz Razia — Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
  • 2014 — Race #1 — Matthew Brabham — Andretti Autosport
  • 2007 — Race #2 — Ryan Justice — Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
  • 2007 — Race #1 — Hideki Mutoh — Panther Racing
  • 2006 — one race — Alex Lloyd — AFS Racing
  • 2005 — one race — Marco Andretti — Andretti Autosport

Links to Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire info

Schedule Standings Results Stats Liveries Social Media


 Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires schedule:

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

  • 11:30am – 12:30pm — Indy Lights testing
  • 4:30pm – 5:30pm — Indy Lights testing

Thursday, May 12, 2016

  • 12:30pm – 1:15pm — Indy Lights practice #1
  • 4:30pm – 5:15pm — Indy Lights practice #2

Friday, May 13, 2016

  • noon – 12:45pm — Indy Lights qualifying
  • 4:30pm – 5:30pm — Indy Lights race #1 (40 minutes)

Saturday, May 14, 2016

  • 9:45am – 10:05am — Indy Lights warm-up
  • 11:30am – noon – Indy Lights autograph session
  • 1:18pm – 2:25pm — Indy Lights race #2 (50 minutes)

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You can watch last year’s races here:

You can catch the NBC Sports Network broadcast with Kevin Lee, Anders Krohn and Katie Hargitt on Sunday, May 22, 2016 at 1pm (EDT).