By Steve Wittich
Belardi Auto Racing, the team the won the Indy Lights race at Watkins Glen International last year with Zach Veach, has not lost that set-up. Three of the top six spots in the first Indy Lights practice were held by pilots from the Brownsburg, Ind. based squad.
A lap at 92.790 seconds by Shelby Blackstock, who finished sixth in last years race,was the quickest of the session, and was followed by Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta, and Carlin rookie Matheus Leist.
Garth Rickards was the first driver to have an issue when he went on a wild ride through the grass in The Esses. He was able to drive the Luther Sponsored No. 22 from the Carlin stable back to pit road. The Carlin crew was able to make repairs to the rear wing of the car, and Rickards was able to get back on track for the final 15 minutes of practice.
At the half-way point of the session the top five were: Aaron Telitz, Neil Alberico, Zachary Claman DeMelo, Colton Herta, and Santiago Urrutia.
The entire session was run under green flag conditions, and Teltiz’s early flier of 93.092 seconds remained at the top of the time sheet until the final minute of practice, when Blackstock, Herta and Leist were able to bump Telitz’s down to fourth.
A total of seven drivers turned their fastest lap of the session on their final lap, and 11 of the 14 drivers were within one second of Blackstock’s quickest lap.
The 14 drivers were able to complete a total of 276 laps through
Mazda Indy Lights Watkins Glen Grand Prix Presented by Cooper Tires practice # 1 results
RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | FASTEST LAP | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 51 | Shelby Blackstock | 1:32.790 | –.—- | 21 |
2 | 98 | Colton Herta | 1:32.996 | 0.2052 | 20 |
3 | 26 | Matheus Leist | 1:33.081 | 0.2903 | 22 |
4 | 9 | Aaron Telitz | 1:33.092 | 0.3014 | 21 |
5 | 22 | Neil Alberico | 1:33.218 | 0.4278 | 21 |
6 | 5 | Santi Urrutia | 1:33.301 | 0.5107 | 20 |
7 | 18 | Kyle Kaiser | 1:33.321 | 0.5304 | 19 |
8 | 48 | Ryan Norman | 1:33.337 | 0.5465 | 21 |
9 | 13 | Zachary Claman De Melo | 1:33.514 | 0.7238 | 20 |
10 | 28 | Dalton Kellett | 1:33.536 | 0.7461 | 19 |
11 | 27 | Nico Jamin | 1:33.683 | 0.8923 | 20 |
12 | 31 | Nicolas Dapero | 1:34.073 | 1.2823 | 17 |
13 | 2 | Juan Piedrahita | 1:34.279 | 1.4887 | 20 |
14 | 11 | Garth Rickards | 1:37.314 | 4.5235 | 15 |
The Indy Lights teams and drivers are back on track for a second practice at 8:45am, and they will qualify at 2:15pm.
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