Archives for Indy Lights News/Results

Mazda makes dreams come true on-the track AND off-the-track during “Soul Red Finale” weekend

Posted by  on Tuesday, September 13th 2016     

MRTI logo

The 2016 Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire season officially came to a close on Monday night as drivers, teams, family and sponsors from all three steps of the ladder gathered at the Montery Plaza Hotel for their season ending banquet where $2.3 million in prizes were distributed

Included in that total was $1,964,700 in Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarships that were distributed to the three season-long champions.

“Mazda is honored to continue with the Mazda Road to Indy. Each year, we see a new crop of talent come through and at the end of the day there can only be one winner in each series, and we saw three terrific drivers crowned this evening,” said John Doonan, Director of Motorsports, Mazda North American Operations. “Our intention is to give drivers a clear path, and nothing like this exists anywhere else in the world. We are very proud of that and we hope to continue to see drivers go to the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 with the Mazda Road to Indy as their path. Just yesterday, someone asked me if Mazda would go to the Indianapolis 500 and I said – we already do.” (TSO note: 23 of the 33 starters in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 have Indy Lights experience).

The three Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire champions, Anthony Martin, Ed Jones, and Aaron Telitz, took home a total of $1,964,700 in Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarships (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The three Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire champions, Anthony Martin, Ed Jones, and Aaron Telitz, took home a total of $1,964,700 in Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarships (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Anthony Martin winner of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda title took home $363,000. The 21-year old Australian will also receive original artwork by Jim Swintal that was commissioned by Cooper Tire.

“It’s such a big accomplishment and it’s going to take some time to sink in. I just won the USF2000 championship in America, against some very talented drivers, so for me, my family, my friends and all my supporters, I couldn’t be happier,” beamed Martin.   “Facebook and Twitter has just gone through the roof! I just can’t believe it. We’ll take a few days’ rest and then get straight back into it. We’ll do some testing and push hard toward next year in the Pro Mazda car. I’m looking forward to working with Mazda and Cooper Tires and I know it will be a great year.”

Aaron Telitz, took home the $601,700 Mazda scholarship for winning the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire title. Added to that total is $7,500 for winning the BBS Rookie of The Year, and Cooper Tire commissioned artwork by Jim Swintal.

“It’s slowly sinking in that I’m going to get to drive an Indy Lights car in 2017. I’m trying to take it slow, celebrating now with friends and family, but then I’ll go home and get to work on next season,” said Telitz, who won his second Mazda Advancement Scholarship. “It’s incredible, to be down as I was in the championship and to come back and win. It will take me some time to process how I did that or to put it in to words. Mazda and Cooper Tires do so much for the series. If you win, you have a chance to move on. That’s how I started my racing career and that’s how it is going to continue. I’m really excited for the future.”

The biggest winner of the night was Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire title winner Ed Jones, who along with his $1,000,000 Mazda scholarship guaranteeing him entry to at least three Verizon IndyCar Series races, including the Indianapolis 500, took home: the $25,000 Cosworth Champion’s Cash Award, the $25,000 Dallara Champion’s Parts Credit and original artwork by Jim Swintal, that was commissioned by Cooper Tire.

“It’s still sinking in. Yesterday was an amazing achievement by the whole Carlin team,” exclaimed Jones. “The realization is really just coming through that I’ll be in the Indianapolis 500 next year. I’ll enjoy this during this week but then we’ll start working on getting the deal sorted, trying to get a full ride as well. I can’t thank Mazda and Cooper enough for what they’ve done for drivers like myself, to have the opportunity to be in IndyCar – there’s no other ladder system like this in the world. I can’t wait to get back into an Indy car, to get up to speed properly. We’ve been speaking with teams so hopefully we can sort something out soon. But for now, I’ll enjoy what we’ve accomplished in 2016.”

The complete list of all of the award is at the bottom of this post.

Also announced at the banquet were the newest inductees into Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire Hall of Fame. Enshrined this year are:

  • U.E. “Pat” Patrick, and Roger Bailey who founded the forerunner to Indy Lights, the American Racing Series in 1986
  • Former MRTI drivers Chuck West, Peter Dempsey, Tonis Kasemets, and Spencer Pigot.

Dan Anderson, Owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions also made a few other announcements at the banquet.

  • The 2017 Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire schedule will be released tomorrow (Wednesday, September 14, 2016).
  • The Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire championship winner in 2017 will receive a scholarship and other prizes valued at $800,000.

It’s not only the drivers that benefit from the Mazda’s generosity during the “Soul Red Finale” weekend.

On Thursday afternoon, before on-track activity began a group of 20 MRTI and MRT24 drivers took the opportunity to tour the Monterey County SPCA, who’s facility is located directly across Highway 68 from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Andretti Autosport Indy Lights driver contemplate taking this puppy home (Photo by Steve Wittich)

Andretti Autosport Indy Lights driver contemplate taking this puppy home (Photo by Steve Wittich)

The ten year relationship between the shelter and manufacturer has resulted in Mazda Motorsports providing over $100,000 in monetary support for the animal welfare organization. The relationship between the two organizations also doesn’t end there, as both organizations help co-promote each other and their events.

I (Steve) was lucky enough to attend this event and it was great to see a very different side of the drivers.

Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire drivers Parker Thompson, Neil Alberico, and Shelby Blackstock look on as Ayla Agren makes a new friend (photo by Steve Wittich)

Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire drivers Parker Thompson, Neil Alberico, and Shelby Blackstock look on as Ayla Agren makes a new friend (photo by Steve Wittich)

For the second year in a row, during the Sunday lunch break, one of my very favorite moments of 2015 at any race track was duplicated

Mazda Motorsports invited three wounded veterans for a weekend at the track on the manufacturer, and these heroes had no idea that their lives were about to change.

Army Specialist Alberto Diaz, who was wounded in an IED attack in Afghanistan, and Lance Corporal Arturo Weber, who has had surgery over 80 times after being wounded in Iraq were both given keys to two Mazda CX-9’s. The pair of Mazda’s largest crossovers were parked on pit road and the two veterans were told that only one of the CX-9’s would start, however, when the keys were turned, both vehicles started.

It was a stirring moment that brought tears to the eyes of the veterans, families and the large group of gathered on-lookers, that included all of the drivers competing in the five different series.

However, the giving was not finished, as Mazda and Building Homes For Heroes had one more surprise.

Sergeant Mitchell Melott, who lost his left leg to an IED in Iraq was also presented with a set of key. This time, the keys didn’t fit a Mazda, but were for the front door of Melott’s new mortgage free home.

Truly an amazing weekend of giving by Mazda.

Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires Award Winners:

Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires

  • Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Champion ($1 million scholarship) – Ed Jones, Carlin
  • Second place ($75,000) – Santi Urrutia, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports w/Curb-Agajanian
  • Third place ($50,000) – Kyle Kaiser, Juncos Racing
  • Fourth place ($25,000) – Zach Veach, Belardi Auto Racing
  • Fifth place ($10,000) – Dean Stoneman, Andretti Autosport
  • Indy Lights Rookie of the Year Award ($15,000) – Santi Urrutia, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports w/Curb-Agajanian
  • Tilton Hard Charger Award ($1,000) – Zachary Claman De Melo, Juncos Racing
  • Indy Lights Team Championship ($15,000, plus $5,000 from SSTube) – Carlin
  • Indy Lights INDYCAR Mechanic of the Year ($1,000) – Tom Edwards, Carlin
  • Hi-Tide Boat Lifts Kids On Track Spirit Award ($5,000) – Zach Veach, Belardi Auto Racing
  • Royal Purple “Slickest Pass” Award ($5,000) – Felix Serralles, Carlin
  • Dallara Bent Pushrod Award ($2,000) – Carlin
  • Jostens Indy Lights Champion’s Ring – Ed Jones, Carlin
  • Freedom 100 Champion’s Ring – Dean Stoneman, Andretti Autosport
  • Mazda Road to Indy Rings (drivers contesting all three levels) – Neil Alberico, Garett Grist, Dalton Kellett
  • American Racing Winning Driver Team Owner Trophy (set of street wheels) – Trevor Carlin
  • Cosworth Champion’s Cash Award ($25,000) – Ed Jones, Carlin
  • Dallara Champion’s Parts Credit ($25,000) – Ed Jones, Carlin
  • Original artwork by Jim Swintal – Ed Jones, Carlin

 

Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires 

  • Pro Mazda Champion ($601,700 scholarship) – Aaron Telitz, Team Pelfrey
  • Second place ($25,000) – Pato O’Ward, Team Pelfrey
  • Third place ($12,500) – Nico Jamin, Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
  • Fourth place ($7,500) – Will Owen, Juncos Racing
  • Fifth place ($5,000) – Nicolas Dapero, Juncos Racing
  • BBS Rookie of the Year ($7,500) – Aaron Telitz, Team Pelfrey
  • Pro Mazda National Class Champion – Bobby Eberle, JDC MotorSports
  • Pro Mazda Team Championship ($7,500) – Team Pelfrey
  • Pro Mazda INDYCAR Mechanic of the Year ($1,000) – Joe Haynes, Team Pelfrey
  • Hi-Tide Boat Lifts Kids On Track Spirit Award ($5,000) – Nico Jamin, Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
  • Royal Purple “Slickest Pass” Award ($5,000) – Will Owen, Juncos Racing
  • Carl Haas Auto Golden Wishbone Award – Team Pelfrey
  • Quarter Master Hard Charger Award ($1,000) – Will Owen, Juncos Racing
  • Jostens Pro Mazda Champion’s Ring – Aaron Telitz, Team Pelfrey
  • PFC Pro Mazda Team Award ($1,000 product certificate) – Team Pelfrey
  • Original artwork by Jim Swintal – Aaron Telitz, Team Pelfrey

 

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda

  • USF2000 Champion ($363,850 scholarship) – Anthony Martin, Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
  • Second place ($10,000) – Parker Thompson, Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
  • Third place ($5,000) – Victor Franzoni, ArmsUp Motorsports
  • Fourth place ($3,000) – Jordan Lloyd, Pabst Racing
  • Fifth place ($2,000) – Luke Gabin, JAY Motorsports
  • Rookie of the Year ($1,500) – Robert Megennis, Team Pelfrey
  • USF2000 National Class Champion – Eric Filgueiras, Spencer Racing
  • USF2000 Team Championship ($4,000) – Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
  • USF2000  INDYCAR Mechanic of the Year ($1,000) – Jake Strack, ArmsUp Motorsports
  • Hi-Tide Boat Lifts Kids On Track Spirit Award ($5,000) – Victor Franzoni, ArmsUp Motorsports
  • Royal Purple “Slickest Pass” Award ($5,000) – Parker Thompson, Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
  • Carl Haas Auto Golden Wishbone Award – Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
  • Tilton Hard Charger Award ($1,000 product certificate) – Robert Megennis, Team Pelfrey
  • Jostens USF2000 Champion’s Ring – Anthony Martin, Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
  • PFC USF2000 Team Award ($1,000 product certificate) – Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
  • Original artwork by Jim Swintal – Anthony Martin, Cape Motorsports w/ Wayne Taylor Racing
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO, Pro Mazda News/Results, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO

Putting a bow on the 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire season

Posted by  on Monday, September 12th 2016     

Indy Lights Logo

In its various different iterations and sanctions, the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire series celebrated its 30th anniversary by crowning its 30th different champion when Ed Jones beat Santi Urrutia to the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship awarded to the series champion. Carlin is the 15th different team to house the winning driver in the top level Indy Car feeder series. 

While most of the focus after Sunday’s season finale was on how Felix Serralles helped his teammate Jones win the championship, the focus really should be on how competitive and clean the racing was between the six drivers eligible for the championship after the Urrutia, Jones and Stoneman got their wrist slapped by Tony Cotman after a professional wrestling match broke out at Road America. 

 With probation and the pressure of winning the scholarship hanging over their heads, the championship six drivers raced closely and cleanly with each other and they did not let the race director determine the champion. After the mess that was race #1 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2015, the drivers deserve a round of applause.

The final Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire 2016 points standings

RANK DRIVER TOTAL
1 Ed Jones 363
2 Santiago Urrutia – R 361
3 Kyle Kaiser 334
4 Zach Veach 332
5 Dean Stoneman – R 316
6 Felix Serralles 311
7 Andre Negrao – R 268
8 Shelby Blackstock 227
9 Zachary Claman de Melo – R 209
10 Dalton Kellett – R 193
11 Neil Alberico – R 193
12 Felix Rosenqvist – R 185
13 Juan Piedrahita 135
14 RC Enerson 111
15 Garett Grist – R 102
16 Scott Hargrove – R 93
17 Scott Anderson 61
18 Heamin Choi – R 40
19 Sean Rayhall 32
20 James French – R 26
21 Davey Hamilton, Jr. – R 14

The rule book, team orders and right vs. wrong. 

Twenty-four hours have passed since Serralles pulled over just before Turn 3 on the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course, ensuring that his Carlin teammate was able to earn the two points necessary to beat Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian’s Santiago Urrutia to the championship, it’s time to take a closer look at Serralles’ contentious action. 

Looking at the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire rule book leads us to the following rule:

9.3.4. Team Tactics and/or Team Orders – Team tactics and/or Team Orders are actions or omissions by one or more Members to artificially influence, affect, alter, and/or otherwise interfere with the normal course of an on-Track Event. Team Tactics and/or Team Orders are not permitted. If Officials determine one or more Members attempted to or engaged in Team Tactics and/or Team Orders, Officials may issue a penalty to any or all of the Members, including without limitation any or all of a Team’s Car/Driver combinations.

So what does this rule actually mean? The way this rule is interpreted as it was was described to TSO by a senior MRTI official is that you need to focus on the phrase “the normal course of an on-Track Event,” and that the transgression must impact all of the competitors of the race. Rule 9.3.4 was put in place after the 2014 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire finale where one team car stopped on track, causing a caution. This action was done to initiate a full-course caution and help a teammate catch-up to the back of the field and make up more positions under green flag conditions. The team tactic ended up working when the championship leader had a part fail on the restart and the chaser was able to move back through the bunched up field to score enough points to win the championship. 

So what’s the difference between this and what occurred when Serralles moved aside to let his teammate by? The example from 2014 was deemed to interfere with the normal course of an an-Track Event, by impacting every other car on track. Yesterday’s move impacted only the two drivers involved and did not impact the normal course of the on-Track Event.

Even if you think that the above explanation is parsing words and dripping in semantics that could go both ways, we have to consider whether “team orders” were even given. 

By listening to radio communications and talking to Carlin team principal Trevor Carlin, it becomes clear that Serralles was never directly ordered to pull over and let Jones by. Carlin admitted that it certainly wasn’t the way the team wanted to win their first Championship stateside, and that because Kaiser was clearly the class of the field on Saturday, they were hoping that the previous day’s race winner would be able to get around Urrutia for second. 

When it became clear that Kaiser wasn’t going to be able to get by Urrutia, (Trevor) Carlin told TSO that he came on the radio and explained the Championship implications to Serralles, but never did he ask or tell the Puerto Rican driver to pull over and let Jones by. The decision to yield the spot to his teammate Jones was 100% a decision that was made by Serralles. 

Santiago Urrutia's mentor, Eliseo Salazar, and team owner, both former IndyCar drivers react when Carlin's Felix Serralles yields his position to Ed Jones, taking the championship away from Urrutia and ensuring Jones was the winner (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Santiago Urrutia’s mentor, Eliseo Salazar, and team owner, both former IndyCar drivers react when Carlin’s Felix Serralles yields his position to Ed Jones, taking the championship away from Urrutia and ensuring Jones was the winner (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Right or wrong? It’s the same action that every other team principal, engineer or driver (outside of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian) that TSO asked in the aftermath of the race would take. 

This might not be a popular opinion among purists, but I (Steve) am 100% fine with the what and how the exchange of positions was handled. 

—————

Sour Grapes

Understandably, Santiago Urrutia is in no mood to celebrate after losing the Indy Lights Championship on the last lap (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Understandably, Santiago Urrutia is in no mood to celebrate after losing the Indy Lights Championship on the last lap (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Santiago Urrutia was clearly devastated after the race, and outside of an understandably dour mood on the race podium, the 20-year-old handled himself very professionally, taking care of all of his media duties before leaving the track. 

Conversely, his 52-year-old team owner Sam Schmidt handled the loss with a lack of professionalism. Schmidt was seen having heated exchanges with Carlin team owner Trevor Carlin, series officials, and entitlement sponsors. 

Team owners Trevor Carlin and Sam Schmidt have a discussion on pit road doing Sunday's final Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire race of 2016 (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Team owners Trevor Carlin and Sam Schmidt have a discussion on pit road doing Sunday’s final Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire race of 2016 (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Joining Schmidt in the group that handled “Santi’s” loss poorly were the Uruguayan fans and media who hurled insults at Jones, Serralles and his Carlin team. 

It is interesting to see the sour reaction from the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian camp, as Steve distinctly remembers RC Enerson remaining behind his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian championship contending teammate Jack Harvey, despite having a quicker car, in the first of two races during the finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2015. 

You can check the sector times for yourself —> Indy Lights Grand Prix Presented By Cooper Tires Race 1 Section Data Report. http://www.imscdn.com/INDYCAR/Documents/3384/2015-09-12/indylights-sectionresults-r1.pdf

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Carlin’s deep history

When Ed Jones joins the Verizon IndyCar Series grid in 2016, he will join a long list of Carlin alumni currently contesting open wheel racing’s most diverse series. 

Mikhail Aleshin (Formula Renault 3.5, GP3 and GP2), Max Chilton (British F3, GP2, Indy Lights), Conor Daly (GP3), Charlie Kimball (British F3), Josef Newgarden (GP3), Will Power (Formula Renault 3.5), Graham Rahal (A1GP, as Team Lebanon), and Takuma Sato (British F3) have all driven for the European open wheel powerhouse with Aleshin (Formula Renault 3.5) and Sato (British F3) winning championships for the Farnham, United Kingdom based team. 

Trevor Carlin started his eponymous team in 1996 after first managing Bowman Racing and West Surrey before entering Carlin in the 1997 British Formula 3 Championship with Jamie Spence and Henry Stanton. It didn’t take long for the team to win it’s first of 14 driver’s championships when current A.J. Foyt Racing driver Sato, won 12 races on the the way to a dominating 2001 British Formula 3 title. The team has won nine British Formula 3 Championships, two Formula Renault 3.5 Series Championships, one GP3 Championship, one MSA Formula Championship and now one Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire Championship.  The team also currently leads the 2016 F4 British Championship with Britsh teenager Max Fertwell. 

The entire Carlin team celebrates Jones championship, it is the first American championship for the European based team. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The entire Carlin team celebrates Jones championship, it is the first American championship for the European based team. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Does Ed Jones winning the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship help propel Carlin’s much discussed jump to IndyCar? Well, it certainly can’t hurt. 

Tony DiZinno of NBC Sports talked to Trevor Carlin before the “Soul Red Finale” weekend began at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and while Carlin was hesitant to confirm a 2017 jump up to IndyCar, but Carlin also didn’t close the door to the option depending on how things shake out in the next couple of months. 

In addition to Jones winning the driver’s championship, Carlin also won the 2016 Indy Lights Team Championship, beating Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian by 29 points (413-384)

A nice recovery for Andretti Autosport

After a difficult season as a one-car team in 2015, Andretti Autosport added Pro Mazda grad Dalton Kellett & veteran European driver Dean Stoneman to returnee Shelby Blackstock to mount a three-car attack on the 2016 Indy Lights campaign. 

The Indianapolis, Indiana-based team struggled with overall pace for a large portion of the IL-15’s debut season, and Blackstock finished the year in the second-to-last spot in the championship.

Even though the deal was late coming together, it was clear form the first green flag at St. Petersburg, that Formula 2 champ, GP3 vice-champ and cancer survivor Dean Stoneman would help move the team forward. 

Andretti Autosport quickly became an important part of the team and helped them improve as the season wore on. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Andretti Autosport quickly became an important part of the team and helped them improve as the season wore on. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

“Having a driver such as Dean helped to give us a benchmark for the team and for the other drivers,” explained Rob Edwards (Andretti Autosport Director of Engineering and Race Operations) to TSO Ladder. “As a single car with a rookie driver in 2015 it was hard to have that benchmark. With multiple drivers, one of them quite experienced, the team was able to grow and develop more effectively.”

Kellett was announced as returning to the team for another season, and while I’m sure the team would love to have Stoneman and Blackstock back, that duo is rumored to be pursuing Verizon IndyCar Series seats. However, according to Edwards, the team would like to have at least three cars, and possibly four cars in 2017. 

“We would like to run four cars!”, exclaimed Edwards. “Certainly we would like to run at least three, we are close to finalizing our second car and are working on the third.”

————

Juncos Racing

Juncos Racing team principal Ricardo Juncos, has recently purchased an IL-15 that was available on the open market. The team’s new building in downtown Speedway, Indiana is on schedule to open later this fall with construction due to finish soon and TSO would not be surprised to see the team add a third Indy Lights car. 

Rookie Zachary Claman de Melo does have a contract for a second year, and Nicolas Dapero, a Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire winner from this weekend will be joining the team for testing during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October. 

 The wild card is sophomore and third place championship finisher Kyle Kaiser, who told TSO that he is exploring all his options and that includes moving up to IndyCar or returning back for another season of Indy Lights. Kaiser won’t turn 21 until the start of the 2017 racing season, so the talented driver from Santa Clara, California should have some valid options.

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Belardi Auto Racing

Belardi Auto Racing was known to have hosted one of the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire drivers for a weekend with the team at Watkins Glen International. The TSO Ladder expects the Brownsburg, Indiana-based team that won the most races as team this year to return with a two car full-time effort. The experienced and successful engineering duo of Kent Boyer and Len Paskus, combined with the “just get it done” attitude of veteran team manager John Brunner make the Brian Belardi-owned squad an attractive landing spot for any driver. 

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Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian

Earlier in the year, the TSO Ladder had been hearing that Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian were considering shuttering their successful seven championship winning Indy Lights program. Thankfully, that talk has died down recently and it appears that the team that that would be entering its 17th consecutive Indy Lights season in 2017 will return with at least two cars. 

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Carlin

Carlin is expanding their American program to include USF2000, with one driver already signed and a second to be announced very soon. The chatter about Carlin joining the IndyCar Series in 2017 has also picked up again recently. It would be surprising to see Carlin run anything less than three cars again, and winning the 2016 driver and team championship will only make them a more attractive landing spot. 

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Team Pelfrey

The integration of the former 8Star Motorsports Indy Lights program into the Team Pelfrey family wasn’t exactly the smoothest.  However, the Gary Neal-led Indy Lights portion of the team now has closer ties to the F1600 Formula F Championship Series, Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda, and Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire parts of the team and TSO wouldn’t be surprised to see drivers fed from one step of the ladder to another. 

Some interesting stats

Steve keeps a database of all kinds of useless stats that don’t mean a whole lot. Here are some that he found most interesting.

  • Total race laps: 716
  • Total race miles: 1417.8
  • Total cautions: 17
  • Most cautions: 4 at the Freedom 100 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval
  • Fewest cautions: 0 a total of seven times
  • Total caution laps: 39
  • Most caution laps: 10 at the Freedom 100 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
  • Fewest caution laps: 0 a total of seven times
  • Lead changes: 15
  • Most lead changes: 3 at the Freedom 100 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Road America race #2 and the Iowa Speedway oval
  • Average race speed: 110.70mph
  • Fastest average race speed: Iowa Speedway at 154.396mph
  • Slowest average race speed: Toronto race #1 at 82.626mph

Top five in points in the final 10 races since leaving the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May.

  • Zach Veach —> 218
  • Santiago Urrutia —> 215
  • Kyle Kaiser —> 190
  • Ed Jones —> 178
  • Andre Negrao —> 175

Top five in points on the 11 natural terrain road courses

  • Santiago Urrutia —> 253
  • Ed Jones —> 233
  • Zach Veach —> 226
  • Dean Stoneman —> 197
  • Kyle Kaiser —> 189

Top five in points in the four street course races

  • Felix Rosenqvist —> 112
  • Kyle Kaiser —> 92
  • Felix Serralles —> 86
  • Andre Negrao —> 67
  • Santiago Urrutia —> 65

Top five in points in the three oval races

  • Ed Jones —> 73
  • Dean Stoneman —> 67
  • Felix Serralles —> 59
  • Kyle Kaiser —> 53
  • Zach Veach —> 50

So what can we take away from the above points breakouts? Drivers are often impacted by things outside of their control, so looking at stats, isn’t the end all and be all, but it does provide a decent big picture view.

The two things that TSO takes away from the above points breakdowns is:

  1. Kyle Kaiser, who finished third in the championship is an extremely diverse driver. The 20 year-old Juncos Racing sophomore was the only driver to finish in the top five in points in all three disciplines that Indy Lights visits
  2. With the addition of Gateway Motorsports Park to the schedule, oval races are becoming a larger part of the Verizon IndyCar Series championship and his improvement on ovals in 2016 should bode well for him as he moves up the final step of the ladder.
Before the introduction of Mazda turbo charged 2.0L powered Dallara IL-15, the Indy Lights championship was dominated by Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian. The Indianapolis, Indiana based team won or tied for the championship the previous five and seven of the last nine driver’s championships. With Ed Jones taking home the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship, Carlin joined Juncos Racing as first time driver’s championship winners. And, if you look at the team wins, poles and podiums, it quickly becomes evident that it doesn’t matter what team a driver chooses to join, they will have a chance to be competitive.

Team Wins

  • Belardi Auto Racing —> 6
  • Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian —> 4
  • Carlin —> 4
  • Andretti Autosport —> 2
  • Juncos Racing —> 2

Team Poles

  • Carlin —> 8
  • Belardi Auto Racing —> 4
  • Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian —> 3
  • Juncos Racing —> 3

Team Podiums

  • Carlin —> 13
  • Schmidt Peterson Motorsports —> 13
  • Belardi Auto Racing —> 11
  • Juncos Racing —> 8
  • Andretti Autosport —> 8
  • Team Pelfrey —> 1

 

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – “Soul Red Finale” race #2 – title decider

Posted by  on Sunday, September 11th 2016     

Indy Lights Logo

For the second year in-a-row, the Indy Lights points leader coming into the “Soul Red Finale” at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca leaves disappointed.

Carlin sophomore Ed Jones entered the two-race Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Cooper Tires finale at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course trailing Santiago Urrutia by one point. After two-practice sessions, qualifying and two races at Mazda’s “spiritual home” Jones leaves with the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship after outscoring Urrutia by three points.

Ed Jones celebrates winning the 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire championship and the $1million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship that goes with it. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Ed Jones celebrates winning the 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire championship and the $1million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship that goes with it. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

In 2015, it was current Ed Carpenter Racing IndyCar driver Spencer Pigot who entered the final weekend of the season trailing Jack Harvey. Pigot won both races, and was able to parlay his Indy Lights success into a ride in IndyCar.

Jones, who over the past two years has twice tested an IndyCar with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, is guaranteed a three race program that includes an opportunity to qualify for the 101st Indianapolis 500.

The victory was the second in three races and third of the season for Berardi Auto Racing veteran Zach Veach. After a rough start to the season, that included four finishes of 10th or worse before May came to a close, Veach finished on a tear, ending up only two points shy of third in the championship and scoring in the top five in all but two races. Veach’s final ten races was so strong that he scored the most points in that three-month stretch.

This year was the second time in three years that Urrutia has lost a championship to Jones. In 2013, Jones, Urrutia, Nelson Mason, and Sandy Stuvik were battling for the European F3 Open Championship. Jones won three of the final five races to win the title, while Urrutia had two DNF’s and ended up finishing fourth.

For the second straight day, the initial start of the day was waved off when things got jumbled up behind the front two rows.

The 15 drivers got paired up for a second time and this time the starter threw the green flag, but unlike yesterday, Kaiser had a slow start and Urrutia followed Jones through Turn 1 and down the hill to the Andretti Hairpin.

Veach got a great jump from the outside of the second row, passing Kaiser on the way down to Turn 2, got around the outside of Urrutia in Turn 2, and go beside Jones on the run down to Turn 3.

The two drivers went side-by-side through Turn 3 before Jones yielded to Veach in Turn 4. Jones wisely backed out but lost momentum, allowing Urrutia, Kaiser and Serralles to get by.

Behind the chaos up front, the No. 3 of Garett Grist spun and ended uphigh-sided on the curb in Turn 4 causing the second yellow flag of the race.

The running order at the end of the first lap green flag lap just before the yellow flag flew was: Veach, Urrutia, Kaiser, Serralles, Jones, Negrao, Stoneman, Rayhall, Blackstock, Claman De Melo, Alberico, Kellett, Choi, Hamilton, Jr., and Grist.

Grist got restarted, but he ended up losing two laps and finished a disappointing 15th.

As the top three of Veach, Urrutia and Kaiser began the fourth lap, they were covered by only a second-and-a-half, with Carlin’s Serralles and Jones immediately behind them in fourth and fifth.

Jones was also receiving pressure from Negrao, Urrutia’s Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian teammate.

The biggest movers outside of Veach in the first five laps were Negrao and Stoneman who had both moved up two spots and were in a spirited tussle for sixth. Also part of that battle for sixth were Rayhall, Blackstock and Claman de Melo.

By the 10th lap of the race, Veach was able to pull out to a 2.8 second lead over Urrutia. Urrutia, who would be champion if things finished as they ran on Lap 10, was being forced to defend against Saturday’s race winner Kaiser. The blue and white Juncos Racing No. 18 of Kaiser was just over half-of-a-second behind the Soul Red Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian No. 55 of Urrutia.

Serralles continued to run in fourth, over 3.5 seconds behind the final spot on the podium, and just over one second ahead of his Carlin teammate Jones.

Negrao had fallen another 1.1 seconds back and was still followed closely by Stoneman, Rayhall, Blackstock and Claman de Melo.

On Lap 12, a pair of Canadians, Dalton Kellett and Garett Grist got together and both went off track while battling for 12th place.

Kellett was able to continue, but Grist was forced to pit with suspension damage

On lap 15, Stoneman got loose in Turn 6 losing four spots, however he was able to save the Strellecht sponsored No. 28 and continued on to fight

At the half-way point of the race, Veach had built up a 4.9 second lead over Urrutia, who was still being hounded by Kaiser. Serralles was a further 4.6 seconds afield, and was being pressured by his teammate Jones.

At this point in the race, things had started to settle in as drivers tried to conserve their Cooper Tire slicks. The only pass on track came when Claman de Melo was able to cleanly get by Stoneman for ninth.

With ten laps left in the 38 laps feature race, Veach’s lead over Urrutia had remained right around five seconds. For the first time in the race, Kaiser had fallen over a second behind Urrutia.

Serralles remained in fourth, 1.5 seconds clear of teammate Jones, who at that time needed that position to break the championship tie with Urrutia.

Behind Jones, Negrao was getting closer to the Carlin No. 11, but it was Team Pelfrey’s Rayhall that was making noise by making up time to not only Negrao but also Jones.

By lap the start of lap 33, Jones had closed the gap to Serralles to under half-of-a second, but was not able to get by his teammate.

Blackstock, who was running in eighth spun in Turn 6. The No. 51 kicked up a lot of dust, but he was able to keep it running and rejoined in 11th.

With three laps left in the race, Urrutia had cut almost a second out of Veach’s lead, and the Uruguayan was only seven-tenths of a second ahead of third place Kaiser. Behind them, Serralles was still keeping his teammate behind him despite continuing to lock up the brakes heading into Turn 11.

Veach took the white flag with a 3.2 second advantage over Urrutia, further back Jones needed to get the position that Serralles held. In Turn 2, on the final lap, Serralles pulled over to allow his teammate by.

Race Results:

RANK DRIVER GAP
1 Zach Veach 38 laps
2 Santiago Urrutia -2.8798
3 Kyle Kaiser -3.5402
4 Ed Jones -19.6642
5 Felix Serralles -20.6958
6 Andre Negrao -21.6949
7 Zachary Claman De Melo -23.4277
8 Sean Rayhall -26.2047
9 Dean Stoneman -27.5982
10 Neil Alberico -28.5777
11 Shelby Blackstock -47.7974
12 Heamin Choi -50.0021
13 Dalton Kellett -50.7385
14 Davey Hamilton Jr -1 lap
15 Garett Grist -2 laps
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
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Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – “Soul Red Finale” Race #1

Posted by  on Saturday, September 10th 2016     

Indy Lights Logo

Not very often does a race have two winners, but that was certainly the case in the first of two Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Cooper Tires races this weekend.

After being disappointed he didn’t win in last year’s finale at his home track, Santa Clara, California native Kyle Kaiser took home a dominant victory at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course. The 20 year-old scored pole, led the most laps, and turned the quickest race lap to score 33 of 33 points.

Kyle Kaiser celebrates his Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire win on his home track with friends and family (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Kyle Kaiser celebrates his Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire win on his home track with friends and family (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Kaiser explained that with his experience at the circuit and having so much family this weekend has been perfect… so far, intimating that a win in the final race of the season would be what really makes the weekend complete.

After being knocked out (figuratively and literally) of the second race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Ed Jones found himself without the championship lead for the first time since April, and even though he hasn’t won either of the last two races, he has outscored Urrutia by a margin of 50-27.

The Carlin sophomore now officially has a seven post lead (eight if you count the point he’ll receive for starting on pole tomorrow) heading to the final race of the season.

Jones, who starts from pole tomorrow said his goal is to get through the start and hopefully have a lead that he can hold through the race.

Jones explained that this is the second race in row (Watkins Glen International being the other) that the Indy Lights drivers have faced tire degradation and that he quite likes the challenge of it. He thinks the Carlin crew will need to do some tuning of the car for the tire degradation and the longer race tomorrow.

The second place finish by Jones, means that Stoneman, Veach, Serrales and Kaiser are all eliminated from contention, leaving Jones and Urrutia as the only two drivers capable of winning $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship.

The original start for the 30 lap/40 minute Saturday sprint race was waved off as Garett Grist jumped out of line from his seventh starting spot.

Sean Rayhall jumps out of line on the first attempt to green for the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Cooper Tires on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Garett Grist jumps out of line on the first attempt to green for the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Cooper Tires on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The second effort to go green was successful as Kaiser and Jones held a side-by-side drag race into Turn 2. Kaiser was able to hold onto the top spot over Jones, but behind the front two their was some jumbling of the order.

Veach was able to get by Urrutia at the exit of Turn 2, which left the door open for Rayhall, who moved into fourth from his sixth place starting spot.

Veach said it was four-wide going into Turn 2 on the opening lap and he was happy to be able to come home third after having a car that he wasn’t happy with.

The running order at the end of the first lap was: Kaiser, Jones, Veach, Rayhall, Urrutia, Serralles, Stoneman, Grist, Alberico, Negrao, Claman de Melo, Kellett, Blackstock Hamilton, Jr. and Choi.

Choi spun on the first lap, but the South Korean driver was able to keep the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian fired and the course stayed green.

On the third lap of the race, Stoneman and Serralles , who were running sixth and seventh, got together in Turn 4. Stoneman dropped back to 10th and Serralles fell back to 14th. The incident will be reviewed post race.

Kaiser was able to pull out to a 1.5 second lead over Jones by the fifth lap. Veach was only 0.8 seconds behind Jones, as Rayhall and Urrutia held down the fourth and fifth places.

On lap 10, Claman de Melo, and Stoneman were involved in an incident in Turn 2. Both cars were able to keep going, but race control immediately put the contact under review. After reviewing the incident Stoneman was issued a drive-thru penalty for avoidable contact. Claman de Melo fell back to 12th and Stoneman fell back to 13th after serving his drive thru.

The crossed flags signifying half-way flew on Lap 15 with Kaiser holding a comfortable 4.1 second lead over Jones. Veach was a further 1.1 seconds back of Jones.

The entire running order at the half-way post was: Kaiser, Jones, Veach, Rayhall, Urrutia, Grist, Alberico, Negrao, Kellett, Serralles, Blackstock, Claman de Melo, Stoneman, Hamilton, Jr. and Choi.

With ten laps left in the 30 lap race, Kaiser’s lead had grown to 4.9 seconds over Jones.

Jones, who had been busy defending Veach for third for the first-half of the race had stretched his lead over third to 1.3 seconds. Rayhall and Urrutia continued to run fourth and fifth.

With Negrao, Kellett and Serralles all within one second of each other, the best battle on the track at that point in the race was for eighth place. The three drivers remained stuck together until the last lap when Kellett got by Negrao to come home in sixth. The seventh place finish was the best road course finish of the season for the Canadian rookie.

Negrao, Kellett, and Serralles fight for position in the first Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire race of the "Soul Red Finale" (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Negrao, Kellett, and Serralles fight for position in the first Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire race of the “Soul Red Finale” (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

With only one lap left, Grist was running a career best Indy Lights 6th when he had mechanical problems and fell all the way down to 11th.

The final results of the first Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire race:

RANK DRIVER GAP
1 Kyle Kaiser 30 LAPS
2 Ed Jones -7.9169
3 Zach Veach -9.0832
4 Sean Rayhall -12.8022
5 Santiago Urrutia -17.684
6 Neil Alberico -24.9271
7 Dalton Kellett -38.9544
8 Felix Serralles -40.1397
9 Andre Negrao -40.8827
10 Shelby Blackstock -41.24
11 Garett Grist -43.836
12 Zachary Claman De Melo -48.6955
13 Dean Stoneman -64.9679
14 Davey Hamilton Jr – 1 LAP
15 Heamin Choi – 1 LAP

Tomorrow’s final Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire race goes green at 1:10pm (PT) or 4:10pm (ET).

Santiago Urrutia struggles to find the correct line through the famous "Corkscrew" at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Santiago Urrutia struggles to find the correct line through the famous “Corkscrew” at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
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Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – “Soul Red Finale” qualifying – 11:03am

Posted by  on Saturday, September 10th 2016     

 

Indy Lights Logo

After coming so close to taking pole at his home race last year, Santa Clarita, California’s Kyle Kaiser will start on pole for this afternoon’s Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Cooper Tires.

Kaiser explained that yesterday was the lowest grip he had ever felt at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and he was happy that the track gripped up this morning and that team made massive improvements on the third set of tires, picking up a full second.

This is Kaiser’s third pole of the year but his first since the oval race at Phoenix International Raceway in April.

For most of the session, it was Carlin sophomore Ed Jones who held the provisional pole, and the bonus point was something that the 21 year-old was aiming for, but the No. 11 Carlin machine fell only one-tenth of a second.

Jones said that he was comfortable on the first two-sets of tires, but the third set of tires had a different balance and he went off course at the Corkscrew (Turn 8) on his quickest lap of the day. The Dubai, UAE native said he was happy that he will be starting ahead of his closest championship contender.

Championship leader Santiago Urrutia was pushing hard on his final lap just after the checkered flag flew, but the Soul Red No. 55 kicked up a dust storm as he dropped two wheels at Turn 4.

Last week’s winner at Watkins Glen International, Zach Veach will start outside the the second row.

Dean Stoneman, who is third in the championship will start in eighth.

Qualifying for the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Cooper Tires double-header began promptly at 10:10am with 14 of the 15 Mazda turbo-charged Dallaras immediately taking to the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course.

Local favorite Kaiser was quickest after the first hot lap with a lap at just over 1:18, but times started to quickly fall and after three hot laps the top five were: Jones, Alberico, Serralles and Urrutia.

Sports car star Rayhall was the last driver to hit the circuit, waiting until most of the other drivers had turned three laps. The 21 year-old was able but the quickly got up to speed reaching the fourth spot on the timing sheet on only his third lap of the session. On lap 4, Rayhall went even quicker, taking over the top spot with a scorching lap of 1:16.2629.

The top five with ten minutes gone in the 30 minute session were: Jones, Kaiser, Alberico, Serralles and Veach.

Times began to fall quickly in the second half of the session after teams made changes to their cars.

Kaiser was the first driver to hold provisional pole in the last 15 minutes, but was quickly bumped by Veach, who held the top spot for only a few minutes.

With 12 minutes left in the session, Jones retook the provisional pole with a lap of 1:15.698, the first sub 1:16 lap of the “Soul Red Finale” weekend.

With ten minutes left in the 30 minute session the top five were: Jones, Veach, Serralles, Kaiser and Rayhall.

At this point championship leader Urrutia was mired in seventh, almost a full second off the pace set by Jones, however it wasn’t long before the Uruguayan was able to jump up to third place where he remained until the

With five minutes to go times started to fall quickly and the action picked-up with Veach, Stoneman, Grist, Blackstock all improving on their times.

With three minutes left in the session, Kaiser was able to go to provisional pole with a lap of 1:15.669. Jones immediately went quicker and held the top spot for only a few seconds before Kaiser took back the top spot by improving to a lap time of 1:15.273 which was one-tenth of a second quicker then Jones.

Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire qualifying results

RANK NAME QUICK LAP GAP
1 Kyle Kaiser 1:15.273 0.000
2 Ed Jones 1:15.390 -0.1171
3 Santiago Urrutia 1:15.476 -0.2031
4 Zach Veach 1:15.607 -0.3341
5 Felix Serralles 1:15.647 -0.3737
6 Sean Rayhall 1:15.827 -0.5538
7 Garett Grist 1:16.071 -0.7981
8 Dean Stoneman 1:16.081 -0.8079
9 Andre Negrao 1:16.082 -0.8085
10 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:16.129 -0.8555
11 Shelby Blackstock 1:16.225 -0.9522
12 Neil Alberico 1:16.368 -1.0951
13 Dalton Kellett 1:16.587 -1.314
14 Heamin Choi 1:17.758 -2.4844
15 Davey Hamilton Jr 1:21.047 -5.7733

The first of two Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Cooper Tires races this weekend is scheduled for 3:10pm (PT) or 6:10pm (ET). Your options to follow along are:

Or directly here:

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO

Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – “Soul Red Finale” practice #2 –

Posted by  on Friday, September 9th 2016     

Indy Lights Logo

Fresh tires or no fresh tires was the story of the second Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire practice session, but first let’s get to what happened in the session.

Andretti Autosport’s Dean Stoneman turned the quickest lap of the practice session at 1:16.098 and was followed by Sean Rayhall (Team Pelfrey), Shelby Blackstock, (Andretti Autosport), Ed Jones (Carlin), Garett Grist (Team Pelfrey), and Zachary Claman de Melo (Juncos Racing), who were all within one second of Stoneman.

Heamin Choi spun in Turn 6 on his out-lap only one minute into the session. The Korean driver stalled the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian Mazda powered Dallara. He received a push start from the Holmatro Safety Team and made his way back to the pits, but did not return during the half-hour session. .

The track went back green with 23 minutes left in the 30 minute session.

With ten minutes gone in the session the top five were: Ed Jones, Felix Serralles, Santiago Urrutia, Dean Stoneman and Zach Veach.

With ten minutes to go in the half-hour session the top five were: Jones, Urrutia, Stoneman, Veach and Kaiser.

A number of drivers put on new Cooper Tire slicks in the last few minutes of the session and were able to set their quickest lap of the day as the checkered flag fell.

One of those drivers was Sean Rayhall, who turned a quick lap of 1:16.329 to move to the top of the time sheet. He was quickly surpassed by Dean Stoneman who was able to go eight-hundredths of second quicker. He went even quicker on his next and last lap when he turned the quickest lap of the session with a lap at 1:16.098. Surprisingly, that was the first road and street course practice that Stoneman has led all season.

So who put on fresh tires and who didn’t.

Stoneman, Rayhall, Blackstock, Grist, Claman de Melo, and Kellett all put on new tires. Jones, Urrutia, Kaiser, Veach, Serralles and Negrao all stuck with used tires.

TSO had a chance to chat with a number of drivers this weekend, and the one common comment from almost everyone was that the track does not have as much grip so far this year. The second most common comment was that Jones is clearly the class of the field heading into qualifying.

After a rough start in practice session #1, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian Indy Lights team manager Dave Higuera said the were happy and also relieved with the progress they made between the two sessions.

Second Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire practice session time-sheet:

RANK DRIVER QUICK LAP GAP
1 Dean Stoneman 1:16.098 0.000
2 Sean Rayhall 1:16.329 -0.2309
3 Shelby Blackstock 1:16.805 -0.7065
4 Ed Jones 1:16.810 -0.7116
5 Garett Grist 1:16.898 -0.7996
6 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:17.003 -0.9048
7 Santiago Urrutia 1:17.109 -1.011
8 Kyle Kaiser 1:17.268 -1.1701
9 Dalton Kellett 1:17.327 -1.2292
10 Zach Veach 1:17.403 -1.3047
11 Felix Serralles 1:17.514 -1.4156
12 Neil Alberico 1:18.107 -2.0087
13 Andre Negrao 1:18.156 -2.058
14 Davey Hamilton Jr 1:21.504 -5.4056
15 Heamin Choi 1:44.069 -27.9704

With the differing tire strategies, the combined time-sheet was a very mixed-up affair. Stoneman was the quickest of the drivers that used new tires and Jones was the quickest of the drivers who did not go to fresh Cooper Tire slicks.

Combined Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire time sheet:

RANK DRIVER TOP LAP TIME TOTAL LAP
1 Dean Stoneman 1:16.098 27
2 Sean Rayhall 1:16.329 28
3 Ed Jones 1:16.509 31
4 Shelby Blackstock 1:16.805 31
5 Garett Grist 1:16.898 29
6 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:17.003 27
7 Santiago Urrutia 1:17.109 26
8 Felix Serralles 1:17.192 29
9 Kyle Kaiser 1:17.237 31
10 Dalton Kellett 1:17.327 32
11 Zach Veach 1:17.841 28
12 Neil Alberico 1:17.728 27
13 Andre Negrao 1:18.035 28
14 Heamin Choi 1:18.506 14
15 Davey Hamilton Jr 1:21.504 26

The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire series qualifies tomorrow morning at 9:20am.

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
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Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – “Soul Red Finale” practice #1 – 3:41pm

Posted by  on Friday, September 9th 2016     

Indy Lights Logo

The fight for the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship began in earnest during the first Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire practice session at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The session was led by Ed Jones with a lap of 1:16.509. That quick lap was half a second ahead of Dean Stoneman, who currently sits in third in the championship. Championship leader Urrutia had a eventful session and ended up with the sixth quickest time, almost one second behind Jones.

Sean Rayhall who is making his first appearance in an Indy Lights car in 369 days impressively turned the third quickest lap time.

Championship contenders Felix Serralles (Carlin) and Dean Stoneman (Andretti Autosport) had the fourth and fifth quickest lap times.

Only a few minutes into the first session and the No. 13 Juncos Racing machine of rookie Zachary Claman de Melo came to a stop in Turn 6 after having a problem after leaving the pits. The Ugg/Seven for All Mankind/Vince/Vilebrequin sponsored car was towed back to the pits by the Holmatro Safety Team. Claman de Melo did get back on track, but was only able to turn the 14th quickest lap of session.

No drivers had a chance to turn a hot lap before the track went red.

The green flag flew again with 22 minutes left in the session and the hills around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course were immediately filled with the song of 14 2.0L turbo-charged Mazda engines.

Most of the drivers were able to get a couple of hot laps in before Claman de Melo caused his second red flag of session. The young Canadian spun and hit the tire barriers on the right hand side between Turn 3 and Turn 4. He was able to continue, but left his front wing behind.

At this point there was just over ten minutes left in the session and the top five were: Jones, Veach, Serralles, Choi and Blackstock.

With seven minutes left in the session, championship leader Urrutia got all four wheels off the track at Turn 9 and tore the front wing off the Soul Red Juncos Racing No. 55. Fellow championship contender Stoneman just missed clipping Urrutia as he came back on the track.

With only a few minutes left in the session, Heamin Choi spun off track at going up the hill right after Turn 6. He was able to continue on his own.

The session ended with Urrutia blowing the checkered flag, drawing the ire of race control.

The 15 entries turned a total of 200 laps on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course. Kyle Kaiser, Shelby Blackstock, and Dalton Kellett.

First Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire practice session

RANK DRIVER TOP LAP TIME GAP
1 Ed Jones 1:16.509 0.000
2 Dean Stoneman 1:17.012 -0.5032
3 Sean Rayhall 1:17.023 -0.514
4 Felix Serralles 1:17.192 -0.6831
5 Kyle Kaiser 1:17.237 -0.7286
6 Santiago Urrutia 1:17.436 -0.9279
7 Shelby Blackstock 1:17.653 -1.1445
8 Neil Alberico 1:17.728 -1.2189
9 Zach Veach 1:17.841 -1.3322
10 Garett Grist 1:17.985 -1.476
11 Andre Negrao 1:18.035 -1.5263
12 Dalton Kellett 1:18.301 -1.7924
13 Heamin Choi 1:18.506 -1.9974
14 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:19.293 -2.7843
15 Davey Hamilton Jr 1:22.886 -6.377

The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire drivers are back on track at 4:25pm this afternoon for their final practice session before qualifying on Saturday.

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
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Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire – Soul Red Finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca- preview

Posted by  on Thursday, September 8th 2016     

For the fifth straight year, the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire championship will be decided at the final event of the season and in the state of California. This year, there is a sextet of drivers that head to the “Soul Red Finale” at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with a chance to win the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship and a guaranteed seat for three Verizon IndyCar Series races.

In 2012, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian teammates Tristan Vautier and Esteban Guerrieri battled for the title at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California with Frenchman Vautier coming out on top by a scant 8 points. 

2013 once again saw two Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian teammates battling on the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval for the title. This time, it was Sage Karam beating Gabby Chaves to the title by 11 points.

The following year, the Indy Lights championship moved north to the San Francisco Bay area and Sonoma Raceway where the action was even hotter. After 14 hard-fought races, Belardi Auto Racing’s Chaves and SPM w/CA’s Jack Harvey tied at 547 points a piece. With the two drivers tied at four wins apiece, the championship was decided on count backs of second place finishes, where Chaves held a five-to-one edge.

A move to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2015 meant that the Indy Lights champion would be crowned at a third different California track in three years.  Spencer Pigot entered the final weekend of the season with a six point deficit to Harvey, but two wins meant that the current Ed Carpenter Racing IndyCar driver surpassed Harvey and won the title  by 27 points.

You can watch Spencer Pigot win the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire in the 2015 finale from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca:

 

Heading into the single race event at Watkins Glen International last weekend, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian rookie Santiago Urrutia held a somewhat comfortable 16 point lead over 2015 third place finisher and Carlin sophomore Ed Jones.  Urrutia’s lead over the other championship contenders, Dean Stoneman, Felix Serralles, Kyle Kaiser, and Zach Veach, ranged from 25 to 52 points, but issues with tire wear relegated Urrutia to a 12th place finish meaning that all five drivers that were chasing him moved closer to the championship lead.

With an average finish of eighth in his first four races, the reigning Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire champion Urrutia did not have an ideal start to his rookie Indy Lights campaign.

“I didn’t make mistakes last year (in Pro Mazda) except the first oval where I crashed. We have always been right there (this year). From preseason we were always top three. Everything comes to us. The team did a really good job of that. We didn’t approach the weekends (first events in 2016) in the right way… then we changed a lot of things on the team that helped a lot.”

Helped it did. Since that rough four race patch, the 20 year-old has four wins and nine top five finishes in the past dozen races, taking over the points lead after a dominant performance at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where he scored 65 of a possible 66 points.

For the second straight year, Jones had an early and comfortable Indy Lights championship lead disappear before the finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

“I led for so long this year. It seemed even when I did something wrong we held the lead, explained Jones. “So it became a bit weird … I then became a bit complacent and relaxed. It’s good to be chasing for once. Now you can take more risks. Take more care when trying to pass someone.”

In 2015, the 21 year-old came to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in third place facing an 18 point deficit, and this year he’ll enter the finale in second place with only a one point deficit. The difference in 2016, is that Jones has some momentum after an impressive drive to second place at Watkins Glen International.

With two drivers and 23 points separating Stoneman from the championship and an IndyCar ride, the 25 year-old will need to convert his super quick race pace into qualifying pace on a Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca circuit that can make passing difficult. At 6.2, Stoneman’s average stating position only ranks eighth among the Indy Lights field, and has been countered by his superior race pace. Stoneman has had one of the two quickest laps of the race on five different occasions in 2015 and his quickest race lap average of 5.5 ranks him third, behind only Urrutia (4.4) and Rosenqvist (5.1).

With a late start to his campaign and some very bad luck with two mechanical issues at Barber Motorsports Park and the Honda Indy Toronto, the fact that Cancer surrvior even has a chance to win the $1million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship is a testament to his immense fortitude.

“I came in this season with no testing before the season started so it was a learning curve for me and for the team. We’ve figured out where the car needs to be so I’m confident going into the last three races of the year,” said Stoneman prior to the event last weekend at Watkins Glen International. “If you win races in Indy Lights, I believe you’re good enough for IndyCar and I’d like to move forward with Andretti Autosport next year. I’d like to be loyal to them, since they’ve been very good to me. The championship is a big factor in what happens next year. It would be great to have the Mazda scholarship to get into the Verizon IndyCar Series. It’s a huge factor.”

After a successful debut Indy Lights season in 2015, Serralles made the decision to switch teams and Carlin ended up being the perfect fit for him.

“I knew where I wanted to go this year,” said Serralles. “I wanted to be a part of the championship this year, and Carlin is a championship-winning team in everything they do. They have that attitude. I get along so well with everyone: (team manager) Colin Hale, my engineer, all the guys – and especially Neil and Ed.

“I’ve known Neil and Ed a long time.” Serralles continued. “Neil was a finalist in the Team USA Scholarship program, and when Spencer and I won, he decided to come to England anyway, to watch and be in the environment. He stayed on to run Formula Ford and I was racing Formula Renault, so over a few beers, we decided to share a place. We shared an apartment for about a year, which was great since we didn’t know anyone. Ed and I were teammates at Fortec in Formula Renault. There was none of that awkwardness of getting to know each other; we just dove right in and got ready to race. We work well together and we all like to work hard. We can be in the office for hours, talking about setup and working on going faster so it’s a really good environment.”

An up-and-down season that has included two wins, and eight top fives, but also four finishes outside of the top 10, has left Serralles with an outside shot at picking up the Indy Lights title. With three drivers to pass, and 38 points to make up, he will need some help from the drivers in front of him.

Kaiser, from nearby Santa Clara, California, has a tough task to make up the 40 point deficit to Urrutia as well as pass the four drivers ahead of him in the points standings, but if the 20 year-old has a comeback in him, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be the place it happens.

Hailing from nearby Santa Clara, California, Kaiser, who will be making his 65th Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire start, has turned A LOT of laps on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn home track. Kaiser also had his best results of his rookie Indy Lights campaign on the same track last year, leading three of the four practice sessions, qualifying and finishing second in the first race, and qualifying second and finishing a disappointing 10th after bering spun in the Andretti Hairpin on Lap 1 of Sunday’s race.

TSO would not be surprised to see Kaiser win one or both races this weekend. Where that leaves him in the championship will depend entirely on how the driver ahead of him in the championship deal with the pressure.

Belardi Auto Racing veteran Veach, the most recent winner at Watkins Glen International, left The Empire State fourth in points and 30 points behind Urrutia, but enters The Golden State sixth in points and 40 points back. Unfortunately, the No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing machine failed post race inspection due to a floor height issue and the 21 year-old driver was penalized 10 points. 

It will certainly be a tough road for the Stockdale, Ohio native to win the championship, but TSO expects him to at the very least play a spoiler role this weekend. Veach has two wins, four podiums and seven top fives in the nine road course races so far this year. 

 

Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire tale of the tape

Santiago Urrutia
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian
Hometown: Montevideo, Uruguay
Age: 20
Points (rank): 319 (1st)
wins (rank): 4 (1st)
poles (rank): 3 (tie 2nd)
podiums (rank): 6 (tie 2nd)
laps led (rank): 106 (3rd)
races led (rank): 4 (tie 2nd)
% of laps completed (rank): 98% (3rd)
bonus points scored (rank): 10 (1st)
average starting position (rank): 3.3 (1st)
average finishing position (rank): 5.5 (2nd)
average of quickest race lap (rank): 4.4 (1st)
MRTI career starts: 32
MRTI career wins: 7
MRTI career poles: 5
MRTI career podiums: 16
MRTI career fastest laps: 3

Ed Jones
Carlin
Hometown: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Age: 21
Points (rank): 318 (2nd)
wins (rank): 4 (1st)
poles (rank): 2 (tie 3rd)
podiums (rank): 7 (tie 1st)
laps led (rank): 141 (1st)
races led (rank): 7 (1st)
% of laps completed (rank): 96.8% (6th)
bonus points scored (rank): 9 (tie 2nd)
average starting position (rank): 3.8 (2nd)
average finishing position (rank): 4.9 (1st)
average of quickest race lap (rank): 6.4 (4th)
MRTI career starts: 32
MRTI career wins: 5
MRTI career poles: 9
MRTI career podiums: 14
MRTI career fastest laps:4

Dean Stoneman
Andretti Autosport
Hometown: Corydon, England
Age: 25
Points (rank): 296 (3rd)
wins (rank): 2 (tie 2nd)
poles (rank): 0
podiums (rank): 7 (tie 1st)
laps led (rank): 64 (6th)
races led (rank): 3 (tie 4th)
% of laps completed (rank): 88.3% (10th)
bonus points scored (rank): 4 (tie 5th)
average starting position (rank): 6.2 (8th)
average finishing position (rank): 5.8 (3rd)
average of quickest race lap (rank): 5.5 (3rd)
MRTI career starts: 16
MRTI career wins: 2
MRTI career poles: 0
MRTI career podiums: 7
MRTI career fastest laps: 2

Zach Veach
Belardi Auto Racing
Hometown: Stockdale, Ohio
Age: 21
Points: 288 (4th)
wins (rank): 2 (tie 3rd)
poles (rank): 1 (5th)
podiums (rank): 6 (tie 3rd)
laps led (rank): 81 (5th)
races led (rank): 4 (tie 2nd)
% of laps completed (rank): 99.2% (1st)
bonus points scored (rank): 6
average starting position (rank): 6.1 (tie 6th)
average finishing position (rank): 6 (5th)
average of quickest race lap (rank): 6.3 (5th)
MRTI career starts: 83
MRTI career wins: 6
MRTI career poles: 7
MRTI career podiums: 26
MRTI career fastest laps: 7

Felix Serralles
Carlin
Hometown: Ponce, Puerto Rico
Age: 24
Points (rank): 281 (5th)
wins (rank): 2 (tie 3rd)
poles (rank): 0
podiums (rank): 5 (tie 6th)
laps led (rank): 38 (7th)
races led (rank): 1 (tie 6th)
% of laps completed (rank): 97.4% (4th)
bonus points scored (rank): 2 (tie 7th)
average starting position (rank): 5.3 (4th)
average finishing position (rank): 6.1 (6th)
average of quickest race lap (rank): 5.6 (4th)
MRTI career starts: 36
MRTI career wins: 3
MRTI career poles: 0
MRTI career podiums: 8
MRTI career fastest laps: 4

Kyle Kaiser
Juncos Racing
Hometown: Santa Clara, California
Age: 20
Points (rank): 279 (6th)
wins (rank): 1 (7th)
poles (rank): 2 (4th)
podiums (rank): 6 (tie 3rd)
laps led (rank): 90 (4th)
races led (rank): 1 (tie 6th)
% of laps completed (rank): 92.6 (8th)
bonus points scored (rank): 4 (tie 5th)
average starting position (rank): 6.1 (tie 6th)
average finishing position (rank): 5.9 (4th)
average of quickest race lap (rank): 7.6 (tie 8th)
MRTI career starts: 64
MRTI career wins: 2
MRTI career poles: 2
MRTI career podiums: 12
MRTI career fastest laps: 2

Can Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian rebound times two??

After a tough weekend for the team and championship leader Urrutia at Watkins Glen International, how will Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian (SPM w/CA) respond coming to a track they struggled for pace at and lost the championship at in 2015?

Coming to the 2015 Indy Lights finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian’s Jack Harvey held a six point lead in the championship, but fifth and ninth place finishes combined with two Spencer Pigot wins, relegated Harvey to his second straight Indy Lights runner-up finish.

Harvey was part of a five car Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian effort that struggled all weekend to find competitive pace at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course. During practice for the 2015 double-header, the best that a Schmidt driver could do in practice was the 6th quickest lap that was turned by RC Enerson. Qualifying didn’t go much better when Harvey qualified a team best fifth and fourth. Things for the Indianapolis, Indiana based team didn’t improve once racing started. In Saturday’s first race, the fastest of the Schmidt drivers in race pace was Harvey, who had the eighth quickest lap in the race. RC Enerson was able to snag the fifth quickest lap of the race in Sunday’s championship decider, and his five teammates could do no better than 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th of the 13 drivers.

TSO will be watching Friday’s opening practice session very closely to see if the team's Indy Lights engineers, Tim Neff, and Chris Weyer, were able to find a solution to the team’s pace deficit at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Six very important points.

With only one point separating first and second place in the Indy Lights championship, don’t be surprised if bonus points come into play to determine the winner of the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship.

Each Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire race has three bonus points on offer: one for winning pole, one for leading the most laps, and one for turning in the quickest lap of the race.

The one point advantage that Urrutia currently holds over Jones going into the “Soul Red Finale” just happens to be how many more bonus points Urrutia has collected.

2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire bonus points to date:

Rank Driver Points
1 Santiago Urrutia - R 10.0
2T Ed Jones 9.0
2T Felix Rosenqvist - R 9.0
4 Zach Veach 6.0
5T Kyle Kaiser 4.0
5T Dean Stoneman - R 4.0
7T Zachary Claman de Melo - R 2.0
7T Felix Serralles 2.0
9 Neil Alberico - R 1.0

Reading the road course tea leaves

Prior to suffering a tire failure at Watkins Glen, Urrutia had won three straight races on natural terrain road courses (one at Road America and two at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course).

With four wins and seven podiums in nine natural terrain road courses races, Urrutia still holds a slight advantage over Jones in total road course points.

After an average finish of 8.5 at Road America and Mid-Ohio, Jones collected his fourth road course podium (two wins) at Watkins Glen International.

Veach, who’s win Saturday at Watkins Glen International was his second on a natural terrain road course has an average finish of 2.8 in the last five road course races.

Indy Lights Road Course Points

RANK DRIVER ROAD COURSE POINTS
1 Santiago Urrutia - R 211
2 Ed Jones 188
3 Zach Veach 182
4 Dean Stoneman - R 177
5 Andre Negrao - R 145
6 Felix Serralles 136
7 Kyle Kaiser 134
8 Shelby Blackstock 131
9 Zachary Claman de Melo - R 124
10 Neil Alberico - R 93
11 Dalton Kellett - R 86
12 Juan Piedrahita 58
13 Garett Grist - R 58
14 Felix Rosenqvist - R 55
15 RC Enerson 53
16 Scott Anderson 41
17 Scott Hargrove  - R 36
18 James French - R 26

Other things we are watching…

1 -- In 18 previous Indy Lights races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca the average starting position of the winner was 1.9, meaning that the two race winners this weekend will most likely be a driver that excels in qualifying on Saturday morning. Only one time has a driver won from outside the first two rows. Fabrizio Barbazza won from the inside of third row in 1986. Fourteen of the eighteen winners on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course have started the race on the front row. Last year, Spencer Pigot won from the third starting spot in Saturday’s race and from the second starting spot in Sunday’s race.

2 --  How teammates impact the title fight. Can Andre Negrao steal points for Urrutia? Can Shelby Blackstock or Dalton Kellett steal points for Stoneman. Can Zachary Claman de Melo help Kyle Kaiser? What role will fellow championship contender play in Ed Jones’ weekend, and how will what Jones does impact Serrales. Last year’s Verizon IndyCar Series finale at Sonoma Raceway was a perfect example of how big of an impact your teammates can have on the title fight.   On one hand, Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball were able to place themselves between Scott Dixon and Juan Montoya and steal valuable points from Montoya.  While on the other hand, contact while racing teammate Will Power very likely cost Montoya his second IndyCar championship.

3 -- Of the six drivers fighting for the championship, five have experience in dealing with immense pressure of being in contention for a title.

Urrutia was in the mix for the 2013 European F3 Open Championship (that was won by Ed Jones) before 2 DNF’s in the final three events dashed his hopes. In 2015, the Uruguayan had two podiums in the finale to one-up Neil Alberico in their season long battle.

Jones won three of the last five races in the 2013 European F3 Open Championship to beat Sandy Stuvik, Nelson Mason and Urrutia to the title. In 2015, the 21 year-old led the first half of the Indy Lights campaign before faltering in the second half of the year.

It not surprising that Stoneman, the elder statesman among the championship contenders, also has the most experience dealing with the pressure of contending for a championship. In 2007, the then 17 year-old Stoneman held the lead of the British Formula Renault championship heading into the final round at Oulton Park, but ended up second after Hywel Lloyd won both races. The next time he Corydon, England driver was in serious contention for a championship, he was able to hold off current Renault Formula 1 pilot Joylon Palmer to win the 2010 Formula 2 crown. After sitting out three seasons while fighting cancer, Stoneman was in contention for the 2014 GP3 crown in his open-wheel comeback, but finished second to countryman Alex Lynn.

Berardi veteran Veach was in the mix for the 2014 Indy Lights championship before finishing third.

In 2010, Serralles battled with current Indy Lights driver Spencer Pigot and Isaac Lyons for the Skip Barber National Championship before coming home in 3rd. Serralles was once again in contention for a championship in British F3 where he ended up third, only 20 points behind winner and two-time Indy Lights runner up Jack Harvey, and six points shy of second place Jazeman Jaafar, but beating Alex Lynn, Harry Tincknell, Carlos Sainz, Jr, and Pipo Derani.

The only only driver that has a chance to win the Indy Lights championship this weekend that does not have previous experience fight for a championship is Kyle Kaiser.

So what’s this all mean. In a lot of words, it tells us that the majority of the drivers fighting for the championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend know what it feels like to both win and lose a championship.

How they deal with those feelings and emotions this time around with the pressure of the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship on the line will determine who we see in IndyCar next year.

4 -- Can the boys behave, or will boys be boys?

After playing bumper cars at Road America, the championship leading threesome of Urrutia, Jones and Stoneman were all placed on probation for the rest of the season by race director Tony Cotman. It’s been six races, and all three have been on their best behavior. TSO will be watching to see how the pressure of a guaranteed IndyCar ride changes things.

Debutante

After an on-again, off-again, on-again start to his Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire career, third generation race car driver Davey Hamilton, Jr. will make his series debut with McCormack Racing.

Hamilton, Jr., who goes by “DJ” has spent 15+ test days in an IL-15 and older generation Lights car at the 3.1 mile Buttonwillow Raceway Park located just north of Bakersfield, California.

"I'm glad to have the opportunity to compete in the Indy Lights with Jack McCormack and to make my debut on the road course," Hamilton, Jr., who is working on putting together a full 2017 Indy Lights program together, said.  "I'm looking forward to getting some laps under my belt to have a solid weekend."

Hamilton, Jr. has extensive oval track experience, but will be making his first competitive start on road-course.

Davey Hamilton, Jr. "DJ" will be making his Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire debut this weekend in the No. 34 McCormack Racing Mazda/Dallara (Photo Courtesy of Andersen Promotions)

The 19 year-old has extensive experience in Wing, Non-Wing, Midget and Super-Modifieds. The Boise, Idaho native currently leads the King of The Wing Championship, a pavement Wing Sprint Car Series and just won Rookie-Of-The-Year honors at the 60th Classic Weekend at Oswego Speedway, the most prestigious Super-Modified race in the world.

The 19 year-old competed at Oswego with his dad, Davey Hamilton (who finished an impressive 5th, and beating his son). The elder of the two Davey’s is a two-time IndyCar championship runner up and has made 11 Indianapolis 500 starts, finish 4th in 1998.

Hamilton, Jr’s grandfather, Ken Hamilton, is a legendary name in Winged Sprint Car, and Super Modified racing. The 75 year-old who made two IndyCar starts in 1981 and 1982, is still a regular behind the wheel of a Winged Sprint Car.

Returning

After making the last thee starts as a one-car team for Garett Grist, Pompano Beach, Florida based Team Pelfrey will return to a more familiar two-car squad for the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca finale when the Gary Neal led team will add a familiar face in  Sean Rayhall. Rayhall drove for the team in 2015 when it was known as 8Star Motorsports.

“We are excited to work with Sean again as we have had two seasons together at 8Star Motorsports and with the help of our engineer, Yves Touron we achieved several wins and many podium finishes,” said team manager, Gary Neal. “It will be very beneficial having two cars and being able to compare notes from both drivers and to find good setup for the final two races.”

Among the nine Indy Lights starts that the Winston, Georgia native made in 2015 were two wins (the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), and six top fives. Rayhall had a good weekend at the 2015 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca finale, starting sixth and finishing fourth in Race #1, and starting sixth and finishing second in the final race of the season.

“I am extremely excited to return to Indy Lights this time with Team Pelfrey IL even though it’s the same group of guys.” Said Rayhall. “It’s been a busy year for me and I am blessed to add this [Indy] Lights weekend to the schedule. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca has always been a great place for me as a driver and I hope to deliver a good result for Dale [Pelfrey] and the rest of the team.”

The 21 year-old has had a busy year so far in 2016, with full programs in WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (Prototype - Delta Wing) and the European Le Mans Series (LMP3 - Graff Racing).

Testing, 1… 2… 3…

Before heading to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the “Soul Red Finale,” three Indy Ligths drivers will get their first chance to sample an IndyCar. Zach Veach (Ed Carpenter Racing), Andre Negrao (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) and Urrutia (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) will share a test day at the 2.385-mile Sonoma Raceway road course on Thursday, September 8th.

“I’m just happy. Trying to sum it into words is hard,” exclaimed the 21 year-old Veach. “Just a big smile! I get to drive an IndyCar and a whole other side. My team manager keeps busting me… I’m smiling. It’s been a nine-year process. It’s your dream. It’s what you want to get to. We have a lot of work to get there full-time. But I’m so thankful for Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires. If it goes well, we hope to step up.”

By the time Thursday’s test ends, 10 drivers that have appeared in Indy Lights during the 2016 season will have had a chance to experience Verizon IndyCar Series machinery.

Complete list of drivers who have benefitted from the Indy Lights/IndyCar testing program in 2016.

  • Shelby Blackstock (Andretti Autosport) - Watkins Glen International
  • Zachary Claman de Melo (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
  • RC Enerson (Dale Coyne Racing) - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
  • Ed Jones (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) - Watkins Glen International
  • Dalton Kellett (Andretti Autosport) - Watkins Glen International
  • Andre Negrao (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) - Sonoma Raceway
  • Felix Rosenqvist (Chip Ganassi Racing) - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
  • Dean Stoneman (Andretti Autosport) - Watkins Glen International
  • Santiago Urrutia (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) - Sonoma Raceway
  • Zach Veach (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) - Sonoma Raceway

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.)

Don't miss any of the action

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
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Watkins Glen Race Results

Posted by  on Saturday, September 3rd 2016     

By Patrick Stephan

Now that was an entertaining race, particularly in terms of the point battle, so lets just get to it.

I watched this one from the pit lane, but with a monitor to view for replays. Nice to be back down in the action, and there was plenty of it – particularly for a racing series that doesn’t have scheduled pit stops. And also consider everyone the race.

Zach Veach got a great start and went from 5th to 2nd and then on to first at the Bus Stop to take the lead in today’s Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race. When he got by pole sitter, Urritia at the Bus Stop, the point leader locked his left front tire, an ominous sign for the rest of the race.

There was early contact in the esses between Zachary Claman De Melo and Felix Serralles, with Felix getting the worst of it.  They would both have to pit for repairs, before rejoining the fight.

By the end of lap 3, Veach was leading Urritia, Jones, Negrao, Kaiser and Stoneman was 6th, and things were settling down.

By lap 7, Alberico had gone from 12th to 7th. Around that same time, two Andretti Autosport teammates made contact in the bus stop fighting for 9th. Shelby Blackstock had gotten a run, and moved to the left on corner entry (right hander), with Dalton Kellett on the right as they approached the quick left turn ahead.  Blackstock just missed clearing Kellett, but his right rear made contact with Kellett’s left front wing, knocking the entire assembly off at that first left kink – it slid mostly off line and the safety crew was able to retrieve it without a yellow.

Kellett would pit for a new front wing and also seemed to have a blister starting on the right rear tire. This would send everyone on the pit lane to watching out for tire wear.

On lap 11, Veach was 4.6 seconds ahead of Urrutia who had a one second lead over Jones.  The next lap Jones made a run in to the Bus Stop, but after Urrutia took away the inside line, he went outside, but just wasn’t able to get far enough up to make a move.

Lap 16 and both Jones and Negrao pass Urrutia who locked up his left front tire again.  Kaiser would get by Urritia later in the lap, dropping the point leader to fifth.

On Lap 17 Veach was up 7.4 seconds over Jones, Negrao, Kaiser and Urrutia, with Stoneman, Alberico and Blackstock following.

Things then got really interesting on lap 19 as point leader Urrutia saw his left front tire delaminate as he started his run up the hill at the start of the esses. He managed to keep it on track, but the flapping tire tread forced him to limp the car back around to the pit lane. Interestingly he took the full lap, not using the NASCAR short cut, but he did make it back for 4 new tires and a new front wing.

Shortly after that, Dean Stoneman would pit for four new tires (and some tape on his front wing to help hold it together from previous on track damage). As his tires came off, I took a look and the inside shoulder’s of both rear tires were blistered and starting to “chunk.” Those tires weren’t going to last much longer.

I talked to Dave “Poppy” Popielarz, who oversees the Andretti Autosport Indy Light’s team, and learned something interesting from the veteran IndyCar mechanic.  “Poppy” said that he could hear Stoneman’s voice fluttering on the radio – and that told him the vibration from the tires was severe enough that they needed to bring him in for tires.

Once on new rubber Stoneman was able to get back out and he achieved the two goals for that stop.  First, he beat Urrutia (the championship leader), and also picking up the point for fastest lap of the race – which Stoneman turned on lap 24.

As the race ran to the finish, tire wear continued to be a concern, and Veach slowed a bit, conserving his tires and allowing Veach to beat Jones to the finish by 3.9 seconds.

Zach Veach (#5 Belardi Auto Racing): “I saw an opportunity and I had to take it. I noticed that the inside lane was moving faster at the start so I knew I would be in a good position. When I found myself beside Negrao going into Turn One, I thought I had a chance. I had to get off the corner well and get into Santi’s draft and I did just that. We knew how fast Santi was and I wasn’t sure I had the car to match him, so my goal was to get around him and lead as many laps as I could. My pace stayed the same and I saw him dropping off and then disappear, so I had to work on keeping the gap and just keep going.
“It’s so emotional. This is one of my happiest wins. In all my previous wins, we’ve been fast all weekend and here, we had clutch problems in qualifying, then had a starter problem just before the race and we had to come from fifth to win. I pushed hard to build up a gap and I managed my Cooper tires to the end.”
Ed Jones (#11 Jebel Ali Resorts and Hotels – Carlin):  “At the start I went to the outside, which didn’t quite work out, and I fell back a few places. I just sat behind Santi a little bit, because when I was using ‘push-to-pass,’ he was using it as well but eventually I got by. After about 10 laps, the degradation was really high on the tires already and I expected it to get much worse but after that, if anything, it got a little better.”
Santi Urrutia (#55 Mazda/SPM with Curb-Agajanian): “For sure, it is a little bit disappointing after taking the pole position. We started the race thinking we should win. The car was really fast, but we had a problem on the first lap with understeer. It was really strange. And then I was working with the tires and driving really slow, especially on the right-hand corners, but it is what it is. Today we lost but we are still leading the championship by one point. Everything is going to finish at Mazda Raceway next week so we are going to go with the same mindset that we came here and that is to win, so we are going to go for pole position and to win both races.”

After the race Jones also said, “I’m really confident going in to Laguna, we had a fast car last year and think we should be fast there again.”

TSO Ladder checked over the tires of the front runners, and Veach’s looked pretty good – though he had picked up so many marbles it was a little tough to know for sure, particularly the right rear inside shoulder – that was the area of concern.

Jones did have a small patch of blisters on his right rear, but they were a couple inches inside of the shoulder itself. Interesting to see that variance – probably coming from different camber settings.

This race really does create an interesting point battle heading to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the season ending double header next weekend.  Urrutia is now just one point up on Jones, and Stoneman is just 23 back, and Veach 31.  And while anything further back makes it a long shot, Serralles and Kaiser are still “in” this title fight. A good first race and a bad one for Urrutia and Jones could move either of them in to contention.

And note, TSOLadder.com will be there to cover this championship battle.  It’s going to be very entertaining, particularly with a 3 race IndyCar Series deal on the line for the winner.

Here are the updated points (Unofficial):

RANK DRIVER POINTS
1 Santiago Urrutia – R 319
2 Ed Jones 318
3 Dean Stoneman – R 296
4 Zach Veach 288
5 Felix Serralles 281
6 Kyle Kaiser 279
7 Andre Negrao – R 241
8 Shelby Blackstock 206
9 Zachary Claman de Melo – R 186
10 Felix Rosenqvist – R 185
11 Dalton Kellett – R 171
12 Neil Alberico – R 167
13 Juan Piedrahita 135
14 RC Enerson 111
15 Scott Hargrove  – R 93
16 Garett Grist – R 86
17 Scott Anderson 61
18 James French – R 26
19 Heamin Choi – R 25

Unofficial Race Results

 

Pos Car # Name Laps Diff FL FTime Team
1 5 Zach Veach 25 5 1:34.610 Belardi Auto Racing
2 11 Ed Jones 25 3.6268 3 1:35.293 Carlin
3 17 Andre Negrao 25 4.1322 21 1:35.308 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian
4 18 Kyle Kaiser 25 6.0913 19 1:35.368 Juncos Racing
5 22 Neil Alberico 25 12.6164 25 1:34.787 Carlin
6 51 Shelby Blackstock 25 14.7333 23 1:35.034 Andretti Autosport
7 4 Felix Serralles 25 16.5477 5 1:34.382 Carlin
8 3 Garett Grist 25 41.1031 21 1:36.979 Team Pelfrey
9 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 25 69.5228 20 1:35.302 Juncos Racing
10 27 Dean Stoneman 25 89.6110 24 1:33.692 Andretti Autosport
11 28 Dalton Kellett 24 1 LAPS 23 1:34.192 Andretti Autosport
12 55 Santiago Urrutia 24 1 LAPS 4 1:34.869 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian
The Watkins Glen Indy Lights Podium.

The Watkins Glen Indy Lights Podium.  Veach (c), Jones (l), Negrao (r) IMS Photo

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO

Santiago Urrutia grabs his third straight Indy Lights pole at Watkins Glen

Posted by  on Saturday, September 3rd 2016     

By Patrick Stephan and Steve Wittich With a very last minute flyer, Santiago Urrutia was able to grab his third straight Indy Lights pole and also the important bonus point that goes along with that. Urrutia’s quickest lap of 1:32.300 obliterated the almost decade old track record of 1:36.7418, that was set in 2007 by Wade…

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category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
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