Archives for Indy Lights News/Results

Indy Lights at Barber Motorsports Park – Sunday at 11:45am – O’Ward reigns in Birmingham’s rain

Posted by  on Sunday, April 22nd 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Call him the rain-meister. Patricio O’Ward dominated the second race in the Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Cooper Tires at Barber Motorsports Park, in a near-perfect weekend for Andretti Autosport.

O’Ward delivered his third win in four Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series races. While Saturday’s was under sunny skies, today’s was held on a damp track following intermittent but persistent rain.

The second straight Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires race went green under tricky conditions for Indy Lights, barely 15 minutes after Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires completed its second race.

Indy Lights’ eight-pack of cars started on Cooper Tire wet weather tires, rather than slicks as Pro Mazda had. Fortunately for Alfonso Celis Jr., the Mexican driver was able to make the start in his Juncos Racing machine. He’d had an incident in this morning’s qualifying session, and when his car was brought back to the paddock on a wrecker, it was actually dropped on course entering Turn 7.

O’Ward started on the pole ahead of Victor Franzoni, Colton Herta, Santi Urrutia, Aaron Telitz, Dalton Kellett, Ryan Norman and Celis.

At the end of Lap 1, the top two stayed the same but Urrutia got past Herta for third. In a small victory, Telitz completed his first lap of his season in the fourth race, and in fifth place ahead of Kellett, Celis and Norman.

The order stabilized for the opening five laps before Herta got back to third, with a move by Urrutia into Turn 5, deep on the inside. Urrutia then had to hold back Telitz, who was close to his Belardi Auto Racing teammate as well. Telitz got past Urrutia for fourth on Lap 9.

At Lap 10, O’Ward led Franzoni by 6.4154 seconds, with those two well ahead of the rest of the field. Herta was third, more than 25 seconds behind, with Telitz, Urrutia, Kellett, Celis and Norman the rest of the order.

Celis’ adventurous morning continued into the race when he ran wide at Turn 7 with 30 minutes to go. Shortly thereafter, Celis went off at Turn 5, and that allowed Norman through for seventh place. He had another excursion at Turn 5 a few laps later.

On Lap 16, after Celis’ rollercoaster ride, the order is still O’Ward, Franzoni, Herta, Telitz, Urrutia, Kellett, Norman and Celis.

Urrutia fell back into the clutches of Kellett and Norman, and would need to hold them back to ensure another top-five finish.

On Lap 25 the order remains the same, with Urrutia doing everything to hang on. O’Ward has consistently held a six-second lead over Franzoni.

With two to go, O’Ward’s lead over Franzoni is 6.695 seconds. The lead is nearly identical at 6.6725 seconds as O’Ward takes the white flag.

The checkered flag flies at the end of Lap 30, with O’Ward bringing it home for the third time in four races this season, by a final victory margin of 5.8325 seconds.

It’s a near perfect weekend for the Mexican driver. In two races, he led all 60 race laps, won both races, and scored one of two pole positions, and one of two fastest race laps in the No. 27 Riverina CDMX Mexico City Dallara IL-15 Mazda. Not to mention, he did this with his primary race engineer unavailable this weekend and with a backup engineer.

Franzoni finishes second for his first Indy Lights podium. The Pro Mazda champion had been fourth in each of the first three races in the No. 23 Soul Red Mazda for Juncos Racing.

Herta is third for his third podium in four races, all either second or third place, in his No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing entry.

Telitz enjoys his first finish of the season in fourth, and Belardi Auto Racing teammate Urrutia withstands the Kellett and Norman pressure to complete the top five.

Unofficially, O’Ward has 110 points on the board through four races, with Urrutia second on 94 points. Herta (83) and Franzoni (82) are third and fourth while Norman completes the top five in the standings on 68.

Next up for the series is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in three weeks, the second weekend of May.

O’Ward told TSO Ladder after the race he was super motivated to make this weekend like 2016 in Pro Mazda, a year he also won both races after scoring one of the two pole positions. Showing pace in both wet and dry conditions was excellent for his confidence. Knowing he has the rest of the season after this, unlike 2017 when this marked his last Indy Lights weekend, is also huge.

For Franzoni, Barber was a calmer weekend without the pressure of the first weekend of the year and the fact he was debuting in the series. Getting his first podium now was a huge boost. He said the Indy Lights car handles better in the wet conditions than either a Pro Mazda or USF2000 car did, as he’s raced in all three series in the rain at least once. He hailed the turbo of the car and the Cooper wet weather tires. Both Franzoni and Juncos Racing excelled at the IMS road course last year – Franzoni swept the Pro Mazda weekend and Kyle Kaiser won the second Indy Lights race – so they are very excited for May.

Herta’s third place came courtesy of a move on Urrutia at Turn 5. He noted he was better on the brakes, and was able to power through for the move.

Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires Race #2 results

P No Name Laps Diff
1 27 Pato O’Ward 30
2 23 Victor Franzoni 30 5.8325
3 98 Colton Herta 30 35.3325
4 9 Aaron Telitz 30 71.2895
5 5 Santi Urrutia 30 76.4963
6 28 Dalton Kellett 30 77.4531
7 48 Ryan Norman 30 77.9052
8 7 Alfonso Celis 30 83.1844
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: , , , ,

Indy Lights at Barber Motorsports Park – Sunday – 8:45am – O’Ward ends a hectic qualifying session on top.

Posted by  on Sunday, April 22nd 2018     

Quick programming note – the Indy Lights race has been moved up one hour and 20 minutes to a 10:40 am local start.

By Steve Wittich

Five different drivers swapped the provisional pole a total of seven times in the last seven minutes of qualifying for the second Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires at Barber Motorsports Park.

O’Ward last grabbed the provisional pole with at three-minutes left and was able to survive attacks from Victor Franzoni, Colton Herta, and Santi Urrutia.

O’Ward will start on the pole in an Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race for the second time, and is his seventh career Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires pole.

The first series on track at 8 am at Barber Motorsports Park on an overcast Sunday morning was the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series.

The eight entries took to the track at 8 am with an ambient temperature of 64F.

In the first minute of the session, Alfonso Celis, Jr., spun between Turn 7 and Turn 8 out lap, the

Cellis, Jr. told the ADVANCE Auto Parts Network that he got caught out cold tires and spun when the turbo-charged Mazda engine kicked in more than he expected, causing him lose control.

The No. 7 didn’t make contact but did need a wrecker to make it back to the Indy Lights paddock.

No drivers were able to turn a hot lap before the red flag, and with only 17 minutes left in the half-hour session, the track was immediately busy.

Victor Franzoni and Ryan Norman immediately went out on sticker Cooper Tire slicks, with the other five drivers choosing a scuffed set of Coopers.

The first timed hot lap came just past the halfway point of the session, and it was Patricio O’Ward who the quickest driver on that first hot lap.

Saturday’s race winner wasn’t in the provisional pole spot for long, as Aaron Telitz jumped to provisional pole.

With 10 minutes left in the session, the five drivers on scuffed tires came to pit road for sticker Cooper Tires.

Telitz was surpassed by Franzoni, who was able to get his fresh tires up to temperature and was the first driver to crack the 74-second mark with a lap of 73.963 seconds.

With seven minutes left in the session, Andretti Autosport veteran Dalton Kellett moved to the provisional pole and was followed by his teammate Colton Herta.

O’Ward went to the top of the timing screen but Herta went quciker on the next lap.

With four minutes left in the session, Aaron Telitz grabbed the provisional pole.

That lasted for 30 seconds as O’Ward and Herta went even quicker.

With two minutes left in the practice session, all seven drivers on track were within a half-second of O’Ward.

Teltiz, who’s nightmare start to the season continued in qualifying, was penalized his fastest lap for interfering with Norman, moving him from thrid to fifth.

Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires Qualifying #2 results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER FASTEST LAP DIFFERENCE
1 27 Pato O’Ward 1:13.329 –.—-
2 23 Victor Franzoni 1:13.457 0.1278
3 98 Colton Herta 1:13.479 0.1498
4 5 Santi Urrutia 1:13.533 0.204
5 9 Aaron Telitz 1:13.659 0.3304
6 28 Dalton Kellett 1:13.771 0.4426
7 48 Ryan Norman 1:13.873 0.5443
8 7 Alfonso Celis No Time —
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: ,

Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires at Barber Motorsports Park – Saturday Notebook

Posted by  on Saturday, April 21st 2018     

What the Lights drivers had to say

After the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race, TSO Ladder had a chance to catch up with winner Patricio O’Ward, and podium finishers Colton Herta and Santi Urrutia.

Patricio O’Ward celebrates his second Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires win of the year at Barber Motorsports Park (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

O’Ward explained that his pass of Herta for the lead began with a defensive late braking maneuver to keep Urrutia behind him, and ended with Herta leaving him an opening to go up the inside.

The Mexican rookie told TSO that he wanted to win this race to make up for his mistake while leading at St. Petersburg. He also explained that his car was an absolute handful and he’d never been so happy to see a checkered flag.

Herta told us that it’s pretty hard to pass at Barber because of the aero wash and lack of long straightaways and heavy braking zones and that you need to hope that other drivers make mistakes.

The second generation driver also told us that the track seemed to be really “green” this weekend, and not gripping up at all, and it felt substantially different than last year.

Urrutia, who lost the points lead to O’Ward, told us that they don’t quite have the pace in the No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing Mazda/Dallara and that he would love to see a wet race on Sunday. Urrutia’s first Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires win came in a wet race at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, La. in 2015.

Observation from Steve: It appears there is a growing inter-team rivalry between a pair of talented 18 year-olds at Michael Andretti’s Indy Lights team. It’s not boiled to the top yet, but it’s something we’ll be watching very closely as the season progresses. 

The Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires cars are really fast. 

The new Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire PM-18 is really fast around the 2.3-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park natural terrain circuit. Parker Thompson snagged the new track record with a lap of 76.297 seconds, a full four seconds ahead of Spencer Pigot track record that was set in 2014. That’s quicker than the 2011 and 2014 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires pole. 

The Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires IL-15 says not to forget about how quick it is. Colton Herta’s pole lap of 72.577 seconds is just shy of the qualifying track record that Pigot set in 2015. It’s also quicker than the quickest race laps in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Verizon IndyCar Series races at Barber Motorsports Park. 

A few notes from Belardi Auto Racing

The car that Aaron Telitz is piloting is the car that Belardi Auto Racing purchased from Carlin.It has been painted with the familiar red and white Belardi livery. The Mazda powered IL-15 that clobbered the wall at Turn 3 in St. Petersburg is not presently able to be raced. 

Chris Windom, a regular in the USAC Silver Crown, Sprint Car and Midget divisions will be making his Indy Lights debut at the Freedom 100. Windom who will be driving the No. 33 Belardi Auto Racing with Byrd & Baldwin entry, will be doing his Indy Lights oval test at Kentucky Speedway on April 30th. 

Double Duty

Reigning Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda champion Oliver Askew is doing double duty this weekend. He’s racing in the Pro Mazda series and driving the Mazda MX-5 pace car for the Mazda MX-5 Cup races.

Catching up with Will

TSO Ladder had a chance to catch up with Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires grad Will Owen.

The 23-year-old had one win and twelve podiums in three seasons of MRTI competition spread across USF2000 and Pro Mazda.

Owen made a move to sports cars last year, contesting the European Le Man Series (ELMS) in the LMP2 category. Owen partnered with Filipe Albuquerque and Hugo de Sadeleer in Ligier entered by Anglo-American team United Autosport. The trio won twice (Silverstone and Red Bull Ring) and finished second in the standings.

The same three drivers also partnered together at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing fifth overall and fourth in LMP2.

United Autosport with Owen, de Sadeleer, and former F1 pilots Paul di Resta and Bruno Senna finished fourth in the American Endurance classic.

Owen is back for a second year of ELMS action with United Autosport. De Sadeleer will return to partner with Owen, and they will be joined by former USF2000 race winner Wayne Boyd for the regular season and former F1 and IndyCar star Juan Montoya for the 2018 Le Mans 24 hours.

Owen told us that he is having an absolute blast driving in some of the most significant races in the world with some of the biggest names in racing. He did also admit that being here with Pro Mazda and Indy Lights does have him wanting to scratch an open-wheel itch.

Owen is in Alabama after being called into duty to partner with Leo Lamelas in the Mazda Prototype Challenge series.

Owen’s next race after today is the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Monza on May 13, 2018.

 

 

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

Indy Lights at Barber Motorsports Park – Saturday – 2:55pm – O’Ward tames a handful of a car to grab win and points lead

Posted by  on Saturday, April 21st 2018     

By Steve Wittich

After throwing away potential wins in St. Petersburg, Patricio O’Ward and Colton Herta put on a great show at the front field to find a little redemption at Barber Motorsports Park. 

O’Ward, who started outside of pole-sitter Herta grabbed a first lap lead just before the yellow flag came out and held off the charging Herta for all 30 laps. 

“It was definitely a handful,” said the race winner to the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network. “I told the guys from the second lap of the race it was not going to be an easy one. We went a little aggressive on the set-up because we were having problems in qualifying with understeer. Man, that was one of the races where I had to keep myself together. Colton was on my tail the whole time, and he was definitely quicker.” 

The 18 year-old has now led laps in all three Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires races. 

This is O’Ward’s second Indy Lights race win, and overall his ninth Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires victory. It’s also his 15th career MRTI podium. 

Herta nabbed his ninth career Indy Lights podiuim.

Santi Urrutia, who was the points leader coming into the race, stood on an Indy Lights podium for the 19th time, but will start Sunday’s 35-lap race a single point behind O’Ward (78-77).

Andretti Autosport teammates Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward led the eight-car Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires field to the green flag for their 30 lap “sprint” race. The track temperature was 74F and the track temperature was 117F.

The field got cleanly through the first two corners, but Dalton Kellett, who had made a good start, lost the rear end of his No. 28 Andretti Autosport machine in Turn 3. Kellett spun into the path of Telitz and Celis, Jr, with the No. 9 machine of Telitz sustaining extensive right front suspension damage. 

The incident meant Telitz’s nightmare start to the season carried over to the second event of the season, and means the the sophomore has still not completed a single lap in three races. 

Ahead of the incident, O’Ward was able to get a run on Herta, successfully making the pass down the inside of Turn 5 just before the yellow flag came out. 

The running order under caution after the first lap was: Patricio O’Ward, Colton Herta, Santi Urrutia, Victor Franzoni, Ryan Norman, Alfonso Celis, Jr., Dalton Kellett and Aaron Telitz (out).

Kellett and Celis, Jr. both were forced to pit road for repairs. 

The seven remaining cars restarted at the beginning of the fourth lap. O’Ward jumped out to a decent gap, while Urrutia immediately put pressure on Herta. 

O’Ward quickly pulled out to an almost two second lead, but after a few laps, second generation driver Herta started to eat into the Mexican driver’s gap. The teammates were able to pull out a slight gap to Urrutia. 

At the one-third point of the race, O’Ward’s gap was 1.3 seconds over Herta, who had gapped Urrutia by 1.5 seconds. 

The battle for fourth between the Soul Red No. 23 of Franzoni and Journey sponsored No. 48 of Norman was the best one on the track. 

For the next four laps, O’Ward and Herta traded the quickest lap of the race before they settled into a gap of just over one second. 

At the halfway point of the race, the top five were still within 7-seconds of O’Ward. 

Norman, who clearly had the quicker car, continued to pressure Franzoni.

Up front, the Andretti Steinbrenner Racing No. 98 of Herta was inching closer to O’Ward’s No. 27 with a livery resembling the Mexican Flag. When the twosome started Lap 18, O”wards lead was 0.8 seconds. 

But, O’Ward smoked his right front Cooper Tire going into Turn 2, allowing Herta to get right under his teammates rear wing. Herta cut the gap to 0.4 seconds on that lap. 

As they went into Turn 5, Herta made sure to show O’Ward that he was close, popping to the inside before following his teammate through the corner. 

With two thirds of the race gone, the running order was: O”Ward by 0.3 over Herta, Urrutia, Franzoni, Norman, Kellett and Celis, Jr. 

Further back, Celis, who was running seventh continued to get quicker as the race went on. With seven laps left in the race, the Juncos Racing rookie, who is making his Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires debut, was turning laps quicker than the other sixt drivers. 

Herta and Norman continued to pressure O’Ward and Franzoni, but both had significant lock-ups in the downhill braking section to Charlotte’s Web. 

With five laps remaining, the gap between first and second was 0.59 seconds. 

With four laps remaining, Herta was able to increase his gap to 0.89 seconds. Further back Franzoni was still fighting to keep fourth place over Norman, leading him by only 0.48 seconds. 

Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires Race #1 results

P No Name Laps Diff
1 27 Pato O’Ward 30
2 98 Colton Herta 30 1.3247
3 5 Santi Urrutia 30 6.3282
4 23 Victor Franzoni 30 8.2595
5 48 Ryan Norman 30 8.6617
6 28 Dalton Kellett 30 13.4927
7 7 Alfonso Celis 30 20.1303
8 9 Aaron Telitz — Contact

Qualifying for the second of race of the Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires doubleheader is scheduled for 8:30 am tomorrow, but watch our social media channels for possible changes. 

Don’t miss any of the action:

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: , , , ,
  • Comments Off on Indy Lights at Barber Motorsports Park – Saturday – 2:55pm – O’Ward tames a handful of a car to grab win and points lead
  • Email to friend
  • Blog it
  • Stay updated

Indy Lights at Barber Motorsports Park – 2018 – Saturday at 10 a.m. – Qualifying #1 – Herta denies O’Ward pole on third new Cooper Tire run

Posted by  on Saturday, April 21st 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Colton Herta snatched the pole position for the first of two races in the Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires doubleheader, in Saturday’s first qualifying session of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park for the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series.

The 18-year-old is the third fastest qualifier in Indy Lights in as many races, after Aaron Telitz (St. Petersburg race one) and Patricio O’Ward (race two). O’Ward though started from pole in both races, after Telitz was unable to start race one following his accident in qualifying for race two.

Qualifying for the first of two Indy Lights races took place Saturday morning after IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup USA and Pro Mazda sessions, with temperatures of 68 degrees ambient and 75 on track at Barber Motorsports Park.

With the polesitter having won all but two Indy Lights races at Barber since the track joined the calendar in 2010, it’s imperative to get the best starting position possible here. The only other position to win here is third place, Nico Jamin in 2017 race one and Santi Urrutia in 2016 race two.

As this was a 30-minute session, tire strategy became a critical factor with most cars opting to run three sets of Cooper Tires, with two in-session tire changes.

Within the opening minutes of the 30-minute session, nearly all of the eight cars entered eclipsed Urrutia’s Friday fastest time of 1:14.525. Pato O’Ward set the early mark to shoot for at 1:13.2046, with Aaron Telitz, Victor Franzoni and Urrutia also going into the 1:13 bracket.

About halfway into the session, Telitz and Dalton Kellett were the only two cars on track. Teams then began to pit for car tweaks and/or a fresh set of Cooper Tires.

At the 16-minute mark, O’Ward led Telitz by 0.3844 of a second, with Franzoni, Colton Herta, Urrutia, Kellett and Ryan Norman all within 0.646 of a second. Series debutante Alfonso Celis Jr. stood 1.1 seconds back at this point, before drivers headed out for their second qualifying runs.

Telitz got close to O’Ward with a 1:13.2330 after he’d pitted, so was just 0.0284 of a second off the provisional pole.

Times did drop further in the final 12 minutes. Herta jumped to provisional pole at 1:12.8853, but O’Ward regained the top spot shortly thereafter at 1:12.8216.

Urrutia jumped up to third in the final three minutes, with an improved lap of 1:12.9168 to get within a tenth of O’Ward.

Herta though bolted to the top with just two minutes to go, at 1:12.5766 in the No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing entry. That lap is less than two tenths of a second off Spencer Pigot’s qualifying record, 1:12.3865 set in 2015.

This was a busy session with all drivers completing between 13 and 20 laps.

Herta, who won the 400th race in series’ history last year in Barber race two, will line up ahead of O’Ward, Urrutia, Telitz and Franzoni. Kellett, Norman and Celis will complete the field.

Herta started from pole seven times last year, and now has his first of the 2018 season. It took the switch onto the second and third sets of Coopers for his car to come alive.

“We struggled a lot on the first set, and we didn’t know what was going on,” Herta told TSO Ladder. “We had quite a bit of understeer. I was six or seven tenths off. We then tidied up the car a little bit, and my driving. And then yeah, I got onto it on the last two sets.”

He surprised himself with his pace in the final run, although he was disappointed to have just missed Pigot’s old track record.

“I said after the first run, ‘A 12.8 or 12.9 will be pole.’ So you have to do better than that,” Herta said. “I didn’t quite expect that lap time, but I knew I had to go quicker than an 8 for pole.”

O’Ward, by contrast, thought he had the pole and then was befuddled as to where the pace went on his third new set of tires.

“Me too,” he deadpanned when asked if he thought he’d be giving a pole winner interview.

“For some reason, we all put on three sets, but I didn’t even get close to the 12.8. I understeered out of Turn 16 – and by that point the lap is already underway because the timing is Turn 13 – at the downhill. It’s a bit of a bummer because I definitely had a pole car. I’ll be fine in the race.”

O’Ward noted second place isn’t the best to start here, and he’s got a point – if he can pass his teammate to win today’s race, he’ll be the first second-place starter to win an Indy Lights race at Barber.

That first race of the weekend is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. CT and local time this afternoon.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 98 Colton Herta 1:12.577 –.—- 19
2 27 Pato O’Ward 1:12.822 0.2450 20
3 5 Santi Urrutia 1:12.917 0.3402 17
4 9 Aaron Telitz 1:13.195 0.6185 20
5 23 Victor Franzoni 1:13.314 0.7371 13
6 28 Dalton Kellett 1:13.326 0.7498 19
7 48 Ryan Norman 1:13.511 0.9345 17
8 7 Alfonso Celis 1:13.546 0.9698 18
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: , , , ,
  • Comments Off on Indy Lights at Barber Motorsports Park – 2018 – Saturday at 10 a.m. – Qualifying #1 – Herta denies O’Ward pole on third new Cooper Tire run
  • Email to friend
  • Blog it
  • Stay updated

Indy Lights at Barber Motorsports Park – 2018 – Friday – Practice #1 – championship leader Urrutia leads opening practice

Posted by  on Friday, April 20th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

Santi Urrutia will be making his fifth and sixth Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, and it only took the double Indy Lights vice-champion eight laps to go to the top of the timesheet.

The lone 45-minute Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires practice session began immediately after the first Verizon IndyCar Series practice of the day at 12:15 pm. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was a comfortable 64F.

Reigning Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire champion Victor Franzoni was the first driver to top the session, but was quickly topped by Aaron Telitz, and then Colton Herta.

Current championship leader Urrutia spent the early portion of the session sitting on pit road. The No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing team did not have a set of tires that they could carry over from the season-opening event in St. Petersburg, Fla.

One-third of the way through the session and the top five drivers were: Herta, Telitz, Victor Franzoni, Patricio O’Ward and Ryan Norman.

With just under 30 minutes left in the session, Urrutia finally took to the track, and it only took four laps for the Uruguayan to jump to the top of the timesheet.

Urrutia, Herta, Telitz, O’Ward, and Franzoni were the five quickest drivers at the two-thirds point of the 45-minute practice.

Celis, who missed the first race weekend of the season in St. Petersburg, Fla. is making his Indy Lights debut at Barber Motorsports Park. The former F1 test driver was only able to spend one-day testing but didn’t take long to get up to speed. The Mexican finished the session within 1.2 seconds of session leader Urrutia.

The top five drivers were within a half-second of Urrutia, and the eight drivers were all within 1.2 seconds of the top of the timesheet.

The teams may each set four sets of sticker Cooper Tire slicks for the Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires doubleheader, and are allowed to use one set of carry over tires from a previous event during the first practice session. The carry over tires needs to be turned in immediately after the first practice.

Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires Practice #1 Timesheet

RANK CAR NO. NAME QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 5 Santi Urrutia 1:14.525 –.—- 8
2 98 Colton Herta 1:14.609 0.0835 23
3 9 Aaron Telitz 1:14.721 0.1953 23
4 27 Pato O’Ward 1:14.924 0.3986 18
5 23 Victor Franzoni 1:14.987 0.4611 21
6 28 Dalton Kellett 1:15.219 0.6934 24
7 48 Ryan Norman 1:15.254 0.7287 24
8 7 Alfonso Celis 1:15.741 1.2158 24
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: , , , ,
  • Comments Off on Indy Lights at Barber Motorsports Park – 2018 – Friday – Practice #1 – championship leader Urrutia leads opening practice
  • Email to friend
  • Blog it
  • Stay updated

Indy Lights preview – Urrutia leads championship but Barber Motorsports Park is Andretti Autosport territory

Posted by  on Thursday, April 19th 2018     

 

By Steve Wittich

Two-time Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires vice-champion and veteran Belardi Auto Racing pilot Santi Urrutia leads the quest for the $1 million Mazda Motorsport Scholarship. The prize, which includes a guaranteed three race Verizon IndyCar Series deal and a shot to start the 103rd Indianapolis 500, will be awarded to the driver that has scored the most points when the series concludes at Portland International Raceway on Labor Day weekend.

The ultra-quick Uruguayan drove a smart pair of races at the season-opening rounds in St. Petersburg, Fla., and took advantage of mistakes by his competitors to grab an eight-point advantage over Andretti Autosport rookie Patricio O’Ward.

Santi Urrutia celebrates his seventh Indy Lights and 10th career Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires victory on the Streets of St. Petersburg (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Last year Colton Herta came into the second Indy Lights weekend of 2018 with 59 points, which was 10 points more than second place Aaron Telitz. Eventual title winner Kyle Kaiser was in fourth.

The points situation headed into Indy Lights Rounds 3 & 4 at Barber Motorsports Park

RANK DRIVER POINTS
1 Santi Urrutia 55
2 Patricio O’Ward – R 47
3 Shelby Blackstock 42
4 Victor Franzoni – R 38
5 Ryan Norman 37
6 Colton Herta 35
7 Neil Alberico 31
8 Dalton Kellett 28
9 Aaron Telitz 19

Over the past eight years, the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series has contested a dozen races on 2.3-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park natural terrain circuit.

Previous Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires winners at Barber Motorsports Park

Year Driver Team
2017 Race #2 Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
2017 Race #1 Nico Jamin Andretti Autosport
2016 Race #2 Santi Urrutia Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2016 Race #1 Ed Jones Carlin
2015 Race #2 Spencer Pigot Juncos Racing
2015 Race #1 Spencer Pigot Juncos Racing
2014 Race #2 Gabby Chaves Belardi Auto Racing
2014 Race #1 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport
2013 Carlos Munoz Andretti Autosport
2012 Sebastien Saavedra Andretti Autosport
2011 Victor Garcia Team Moore
2010 JK Vernay Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

If past team results at Barber Motorsports Park are any indication, Urrutia will need to be patient, minimize mistakes, and be happy with the points he can earn.

Drivers representing the Belardi Auto Racing stable have struggled at Barber Motorsports Park since the introduction of the IL15. The Brownsburg, Ind. based team has no wins, no poles, no laps led and only one podium (Zach Veach in 2016).

On a personal level, outside of a win in the second race in 2016, Urrutia’s Indy Lights results at Barber have been less than stellar with his other three starts resulting in finishes outside the top 10.

O’Ward, who will be debuting sponsorship from VisitMexico this weekend, has made a half-dozen starts at Barber Motorsports Park. The Monterrey, Mexico born driver will need to look beyond a forgettable trip to Alabama last in Indy Lights, and focus on the two wins he scored in the Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire championship in 2016.

Unfortunately, the current third place championship driver Shelby Blackstock was unable to put together a program to compete this weekend, and the grid will not have any of the distinctive black and yellow cars from the Team Pelfrey stable.

Reigning Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire champion Victor Franzoni will need to find a little more pace in his Soul Red No. 23 if the Brazilian wants to improve on his pair of fourth place finishes from St. Petersburg.

Franzoni will have the benefit of a teammate this weekend, after Alfonso Celis, Jr. was forced to miss the season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Fla. due to licensing issues with INDYCAR.

The 21-year-old from Mexico City has spent the last five years racing in Europe, finishing third in the 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 (won by Dale Coyne Racing’s Pietro Fittipaldi).

When TSO Ladder asked Celis, Jr. what he expected to learn this year in Indy Lights, he told us: “A lot of learning. A lot, a lot of learning. I don’t know the tracks; I don’t know the car. I’m certainly looking forward to it.”

Only nine points separate O’Ward’s Andretti Autosport teammates, Ryan Norman, Colton Herta and Dalton Kellett, who are currently between fifth and eighth in the championship.

The Indianapolis, Ind. based team has five wins, four poles, and 173 laps led in the dozen Indy Lights races at Barber Motorsports Park, the highest total of any other team.

Herta, who won the 400th Indy Lights race last year at this same track, joins Urrutia as the only two entered drivers with Indy Lights wins in The Yellowhammer State.

Second generation racer Colton Herta (Andretti Steinbrenner Racing) collects the 400th Indy Lights winners trophy from James Hinchcliffe (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Last, but not least, is Aaron Telitz, who ended the season-opening Indy Lights with a dreaded pair of D’s. A (D)id Not Start in Race #1 and a (D)id Not Finish in Race #2. The Belardi Auto Racing driver had a memorable 12 days beginning in St. Petersburg, Fla. and ending behind the wheel of a Verizon IndyCar Series car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You can read more about that here —> The lowest of lowest and the highest of highs – 12 days in the life of Aaron Telitz 

To begin paying off his debt to Belardi Auto Racing team owner Brian Belardi, Telitz has started the #AaronNeedsANewCar campaign, selling his t-shirts and paintings.

Telitz does have some success at the park-like Barber Motorsports Park, scoring one-win and seven top-five finishes in eight races.

The key to being successful this weekend will be qualifying in the first two rows, and more specifically on the pole. In the dozen races, the winner has started on the inside of the front row ten times and has never started worse than third.

Some other quick Indy Lights notes from Barber Motorsports Park

  • The fastest race lap with the Indy Lights IL-15 is 73.8312 seconds, which is faster than Scott Dixon’s quickest race lap of 73.8666 seconds in the 2011 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
  • Since the beginning of the 2015 season, the turbocharged Mazda powered Dallara IL-15 has been in service for 52 races, and until this weekend, Shelby Blackstock had taken part in each one of those races. (hat-tip to Tony DiZinno for pointing this out)
  • Nico Jamin, a three-time winner as an Indy Lights rookie in 2018, is not part of the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires for the first time since 2013. The 2015 USF2000 Champion is contesting the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine Engineering in the LMP2 category, and place third in the season-opening event at Le Castellet, France last weekend. The Frenchman is also contesting the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup alongside fellow Indy Lights graduate Felix Serralles in a Mercedes AMG GT3. The pair had fourth and ninth place finishes in the first two races of the season at Circuit Zolder in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.

Don’t miss any of the action:

2017 Barber Motorsports Park Indy Lights Race #1

2017 Barber Motorsports Park Indy Lights Race #2

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

The lowest of lowest and the highest of highs – 12 days in the life of Aaron Telitz

Posted by  on Thursday, March 22nd 2018     

By Steve Wittich

Mistakes and their resulting crashes are an inevitable part of auto racing.

Nigel Mansel once said, “I think life is full of challenges and problems. I don’t believe that anyone is perfect. We all make mistakes. It’s not a bed of roses, and you have to work real hard at it.”

Thankfully, that “working really hard at it” that the Formula 1 and Indy car champion was talking about, often leads to redemption.

Definitely not a bed of roses

Before the 2018 season-opening Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires weekend at St. Petersburg, series sophomore Aaron Telitz had not made very many mistakes.

Telitz, who completed zero of 75 laps in the opening weekend of the 2018 Indy Lights season almost doubled the number of laps he’s failed to complete in his entire four-year Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires career.

The Rice Lake, Wisc. Natives career began with ArmsUp Motorsports in 2014, and over the past four seasons has completed 1,662 of 1769 laps contested across the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series, Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire series and Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series.

Before the opening pair of races to start the 2018 Indy Lights season, Teiltz had completed 94% of the possible laps in the 62 regular series races.

“I think part of it comes from the type of kart racing I did growing up,” said Telitz to TSO Ladder when asked why he thinks his DNF rate has remained so low. “I drove karts on big race tracks (road racing karts) and having a crash or being over aggressive was probably going to end up getting yourself, or someone else hurt. So that carried over into cars. Which is lucky for me because I don’t have a lot of extra budget for crashes!”

The last race that the 26-year-old failed to complete occurred 197 days ago on the 1.25-mile egg-shaped Gateway Motorsports Park oval. Telitz’s day ended on the first lap when he fell victim to an incident involving another pair of drivers.

Prior to that, you need to go back 867 days to find Telitz’s last DNF, when he broke a half-shaft during a rainy USF2000 race at NOLA Motorsports Park in 2015.

Telitz had completed every lap in his last 16 street course races. And, you have to go back 1,807 days to the 2014 USF2000 event in St. Petersburg, Fla., to find the last time that Telitz had a DNF on a street course.

Telitz’s sophomore Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires season began precisely as his freshman campaign ended, with the Belardi Auto Racing driver topping the time sheets.

The Belardi Auto Racing driver led the lone Friday practice session, and later that afternoon set the Streets Of St. Petersburg, Fla. track record on the way to his 13th career Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires pole.

Aaron Telitz wheels the No. 9 Belardi Auto Racing machine to the first pole of the season on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

But, during Saturday’s morning session to qualify for Sunday’s feature race, the Rice Lake Weighing Systems sponsored pilot was rudely shaken awake from his dream start to the season, and placed directly into his worst nightmare.

In the blink of an eye, while on a lap that would have lowered his track record and scored his second pole of the weekend, everything came to a literal crashing end. The No. 9 Belardi Auto Racing Mazda/Dallara came back to the Indy Lights paddock on a flatbed with no hope of repair for Saturday afternoon’s race.

“I was setting up for another pole lap and was just trying to get the most out of the lap,: explained Telitz. “If you want to be fastest at a street course you need to get close to the walls. We’re talking an inch or less away at apex and exit. So when you get something wrong there is no room for error especially on a lap when you’re really going for it. I got the entry to T3 wrong and brushed the inside wall which broke my right front toe-link and sent me straight into the outside wall at 130mph.”

That mistake of inches led to an all-nighter by the Belardi Auto Racing crew, who with the help of Carlin and USF2000 team ArmsUp Motorsports, was able to make an eight-hour round trip drive to collect a borrowed IL-15 and entirely build up a new car for an 8:30 am scheduled hardship installation lap.

The car was ready, and despite losing his fastest lap in Saturday’s forgettable qualifying session was still able to turn in the third quickest lap and start on the inside of the second row.

Unfortunately for Telitz, the weekend turn around story he was trying to write for himself and his hard-working crew came to an end in Turn 2 of the first lap. An overeager competitor bounced off the curbing and into Telitz, sending the now blue and red No. 9 careening into the wall, and leaving the pilot with a goose egg for laps completed in the 2018 season.

Working really hard and a some redemption

It didn’t take Telitz long to find a little bit of redemption when he was tapped by Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to test the No. 5 Arrow Electronics SPM Honda on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course only 12 days after his worst weekend in a race car.

Interestingly, the career of James Hinchcliffe, the regular driver of the No. 5 serves as an interesting comparison to that of Telitz.

The veteran Canadian IndyCar driver made 74 ladder starts on his way to IndyCar, and scored a total of eight wins, 13 poles, 30 podiums, and 41 top fives. The Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver also failed to finish 12 races, a DNF rate of 16.2%

Telitz, to this point in his career, has made a total of 63 Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires starts. Across those four seasons, he has ten wins, 13 poles, 34 podiums, and 46 top-five finishes. Telitz has failed to be running at only five of those races, a DNF rate of only 7.9%.

With testing now extremely limited for Verizon IndyCar Series drivers, taking care of your equipment and consequently completing as many laps as possible during each on-track session has increased importance.

“Yes, of course,” said Verizon IndyCar Series team owner Dale Coyne, who has a recent history of hiring Indy Lights grads, when asked if taking care of equipment is as important as speed is for a rookie driver. “In order to win a race, one must first finish a race, so taking care of equipment is a big part of being a winning driver.”

Telitz is no stranger to digging out of a hole to win a Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires. Telitz is currently 36 points behind his teammate and championship leader Santi Urrutia. That means Telitz needs to make up 2.4 points in each of the remaining 15 races.

Not an easy task, but not an unreasonable one nor one Telitz hasn’t accomplished before. With nine races remaining in the 2016 Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire season, Telitz trailed his teammate Patricio O’Ward by 55 points. Telitz ended up winning the championship by 28 points, meaning he made up an average of 9.2 points in each of the nine races.

Focus will definitely be something that Aaron Telitz needs to do if he wants to get back into the 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires championship fight (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

When TSO Ladder asked Telitz what the poor start means for his season, he told us: ‘It means a lot of extra work for myself trying to figure out how to not only pay for the rest of the season but also pay Brian Belardi back for a new car. I know I’ve got the speed to win the championship this year even with a bad first weekend. I’ve been down before, and I always figure it out.”

Figuring it out starts by getting right back behind the wheel… of an IndyCar.
While you’re thinking about Telitz, please take the time to watch this great video from TODAY’s TMJ4 —> Wisconsin native needs help to make it to the Indy car series

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

Sunday – MRTI Update #11 – Indy Lights Race #2 – Agony and Ecstasy for Belardi Auto Racing

Posted by  on Sunday, March 11th 2018     

Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires Race #2 Unofficial Results

Indy Lights Race #2 – Agony and Ecstasy for Belardi Auto Racing

Sometimes it is better to be lucky rather than good in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, and for both Belardi Auto Racing and its driver Santi Urrutia, that was the case in the second race of the weekend on the streets of St. Petersburg.

Urrutia captured Sunday’s Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Cooper Tires race win, after starting in sixth place in his No. 5 Dallara IL-15 Mazda, after a somewhat bizarre sequence of events occurred that involved three race and championship protagonists to kick off Sunday’s trio of Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires events.

“I said to myself, last year I did some mistakes, and if I want to win the championship this year I have to get big points in every race”, explained the two-time Indy Lights runner-up .” I had a good start, but not too aggressive. I saw the crash in the beginning, the second corner. I found myself in P3. Then Colton crashed. Then Pato spun by himself. I just did my own race, my own pace, and won the race. From where the weekend started it was so difficult and I crashed. Win today, second yesterday, leading the championship is a really good weekend for us.”

Santi Urrutia celebrates the win in the second Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race on the streets of St. Petersburg in 2018 (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Leading into Sunday’s race, it looked as though Patricio O’Ward and Aaron Telitz were joined at the hip from an Indy Lights storyline standpoint. For most of the race, the two protagonists represented “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

O’Ward looked on course to win from the pole for the second straight day in his No. 27 Andretti Autosport Dallara IL-15 Mazda.

Telitz, meanwhile, incurred a second straight impact at the same corner at the second straight day in his No. 9 Belardi Auto Racing car – which today was Carlin blue rather than Belardi red – thanks to a somewhat surreal sequence of events that few movie scriptwriters would believe.

Nine cars started the second race of the weekend, and Telitz was able to become the ninth thanks to a Herculean effort from multiple teams.

After Telitz missed Saturday’s race following an accident at the end of qualifying for race two, a collaborative effort between Belardi Auto Racing, Carlin, and ArmsUp Motorsports helped get a spare car to St. Petersburg, then prepared and running for the second race. Telitz was able to run a morning hardship lap on Sunday to ensure the car was OK to run and start the race from third place.

But Telitz’s dream comeback and redemption story ended with a second heartbreaking gut-punch in a 24-hour period.

Up front, Colton Herta got the jump on polesitter O’Ward around the outside of him into the right-handed Turn 1, and completed the pass into the left-handed Turn 2 with O’Ward following in behind. Keep that track direction in mind for what happened next.

Behind the leaders, Victor Franzoni tried to pass Telitz at the left-handed Turn 2, but clipped the apex, hit the curb, and knocked Telitz into the outside retaining wall, which ended Telitz’s race. Franzoni made it back to the pits to change out his front wing and did not lose a lap as the race went to a full course caution.

Considering the effort to get the car here and going – it arrived back at the St. Petersburg track at midnight from Carlin’s race shop in Delray Beach, Fla. and got prepared through the night at the track – this was a simply unfathomable bit of cruel luck that struck.

“This crew did an outstanding job. We also had huge help from Trevor Carlin and Colin Hale (from Carlin), and Gregg and Brent Borland (from ArmsUp) were there to provide transportation. It’s so hard to see after everyone’s work,” Brian Belardi told Rob Howden of the Advance Auto Parts IndyCar Radio Network.

Asked what he was thinking, Belardi said, “I’m not happy. I can’t say what I’m thinking.”

A despondent Telitz could only shake his head and rue his unfathomable sequence of events this weekend, particularly given he rarely has failed to finish races in his five-year Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires career.

After the first lap, Herta led from O’Ward, Urrutia, Shelby Blackstock, Dalton Kellett, Neil Alberico, Ryan Norman and Franzoni with Telitz out of the race.

Following the restart on Lap 5, O’Ward tried to Herta’s outside at Turn 1, and ran side-by-side before Herta held him off… but only barely. Herta drove off the Turn 3 corner exit, with O’Ward pushing down the inside and through into Turn 4.

Behind the top two runners, the rest of the order on Lap 5 was Urrutia in third, Blackstock and Alberico fourth and fifth, then Norman, Franzoni, and Kellett.

Herta, who was running second in his No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing entry, then crashed on Lap 10, at Turn 8 and sustained significant left side damage. He came into the right-hander too deep, collected the tire barriers and then into the concrete wall. He got out of his car under his own power, but this brought out the second full course caution period of the 40-lap race.

This brought Blackstock, Alberico and Norman into the top five positions prior to the restart at the conclusion of Lap 13, the start of Lap 14.

Norman, who’d pressured Alberico in Saturday’s first race of the weekend, provided an encore on Sunday when battling for fourth place. He started his hunt for the second Team Pelfrey driver for a second straight day and tried repeatedly at Turn 4 to get to Alberico’s inside.

O’Ward banked his lead over Urrutia to 1.9178 seconds by Lap 15, ahead of Blackstock, Alberico, Norman, Franzoni and Kellett. That lead grew to over 3 seconds by Lap 17.

By the end of Lap 23, O’Ward laid down the first race lap in the 1:05 bracket and built his lead to north of 4 seconds over Urrutia, with Blackstock third and more than 8 seconds back.

The gap went up to north of 6 seconds by Lap 29, and the order remained constant with no changes in position.

That was, until Lap 32. O’Ward ran off course into the runoff at Turn 4 with an undetermined issue, which cost him a 6.8693-second lead over Urrutia. O’Ward was unable to resume until the remaining runners got past him, and left him down in seventh place.

This brought everyone else up a position, with Blackstock second, Alberico third, Norman fourth, Franzoni fifth, Kellett sixth and O’Ward seventh.

Urrutia and Blackstock were able to keep going unabated, with Urrutia winning by 11.7406 seconds over Blackstock in the No. 3 Team Pelfrey car. Urrutia started sixth and is only the second winner in eight Dallara IL-15 races at St. Petersburg to win from a position other than pole (Felix Serralles won 2016 race one from seventh). Blackstock advanced from eighth into second.

This marks a career-best finish for Blackstock in his 52nd career start; he has started every Indy Lights race with the Dallara IL-15 Mazda since the car’s 2015 inception. This is also the third straight year a Team Pelfrey driver has scored a podium at St. Petersburg, with Scott Hargrove (2016) and O’Ward (2017) doing so the last two years for the Gary Neal-led team.

“(It’s a) completely different car,” explained Blackstock to TSO Ladder after the race.” The whole weekend was a bit of a struggle. The whole team was behind. Neil (Alberio) and I worked really well together. I thought we had a 2-3 – that would have been beyond a win for the team. That’s one of the best weekends I’ve ever had. Lady luck is definitely on our side. I’m pretty close with Aaron (Telitz). I feel so bad for him. But that helped me get to fourth. Pato’s got me into second. Tough weekend for everyone, but this came together last minute.”

After spending the last two seasons in a familiar Belardi Auto Racing machine, it took some time to get used to seeing Shelby Blackstock in Team Pelfrey yellow (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The battle for third took center stage on the final lap with another Alberico and Norman moment. Alberico defended against Norman through Turns 1 and 2, but contact occurred as Alberico got a cut tire with Norman sustaining a broken wing.

Alberico was almost able to limp home but stalled out at the top of the course in Turns 8 and 9.

Norman, who started seventh, was able to get past for third, and Franzoni got past for fourth. Alberico made it to the flag in fifth, just ahead of Kellett, with O’Ward significantly further back in seventh place.

For the driver of the No. 48 Journey-backed car for Andretti Autosport, Norman’s wheels in the sky kept on turning en route to his first career Indy Lights podium finish. His best career finish just prior to that was fourth at Road America race one last year.

This was a wild race and we’ll be back with post-race reactions from the top finishers a little bit later.

With the win and O’Ward’s demise, Urrutia takes the early points lead unofficially, with O’Ward second and Blackstock – who like Alberico is only confirmed for this weekend at the moment – in third.

Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires Race #2 Unofficial Results

P No Name Team Laps Diff
1 5 Santi Urrutia Belardi Auto Racing 40
2 3 Shelby Blackstock Team Pelfrey 40 11.7406
3 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 40 15.4299
4 23 Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing 40 18.2357
5 2 Neil Alberico Team Pelfrey 40 23.1910
6 28 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport 40 23.9599
7 27 Pato O’Ward Andretti Autosport 40 44.8179
8 98 Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing 9 Contact
9 9 Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing — Contact
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: , , , , , , , ,

Saturday – MRTI Update #10 – Indy Lights Race #1 – O’Ward Dominates after pole sitter Telitz misses race

Posted by  on Saturday, March 10th 2018     

Patricio O’Ward started on the pole for the 35 lap Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Cooper Tires due to the misfortune of Aaron Telitz, but a 6.6-second victory was 100% due to the Mexican’s skill.

The win is the first in Indy Lights for O’Ward, and his eighth overall Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires victory. The 18-year-old, who also won on the Streets Of St. Petersburg two years ago to start the 2016 Pro Mazda season, collected his fourth podium in St. Petersburg.

“It’s definitely a very good start to the season, to start on the right foot, and get some momentum starting, O’Ward told TSO. “I’m looking forward to not losing the momentum, hopefully get some podiums, wins, some good points. And I’m really happy how the race went. It’s never boring around this place. IT’S on the limit every single lap. The Andretti guys gave me an awesome car. The Stellrecht guys. My CDMX Mazda was behaving really well. The Cooper Tires lasted pretty well. I’m happy about that.

“I really enjoy driving street course, St. Pete, Toronto, I like street courses. It feels really fast. It feels raw. The echo, it heightens your senses a bit more than a normal road course. Lap by lap. Don’t tag the wall, be fast, and you’ll take it home. I’m so excited for today’s win.”

Patricio O’Ward “enjoys” a sparkling grape juice shower after winning his first career Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Telitz, who destroyed his No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing Mazda/Dallara in the last minute of qualifying this morning while trying to score his second pole of the weekend, was not able to start after no back-up was available. The Brownsburg, Ind. based team is hoping to lease a car from Carlin, whose cars are at their shop in Delray Beach, Fla., a 254-mile drive from Albert Whited Airport.

Urrutia, who began his 2017 Indy Lights season with a 13th place finish, was happy with his second place finish, espiecially considering he thinks both the team and himself have areas of improvement for tomorrow monrnings race.

He told TSO Ladder: “St. Pete has always been a difficult weekend for me. Coming second today is a strong start for me. When you’re not super fast and you finish second you’re happy. It’s like a win. I’ll start sixth tomorrow. I have to improve my driving. Problem is, in this type of track if you don’t have a lot of grip – I’m super aggressive.

“I think if I put everything tomorrow, probably a little bit of car and a little bit of driver, I’ll try to pass some guys and try to finish on the podium again.”

Herta, who started the race behind winning teammate O’Ward spun the tires when the green-flag came out. He was swamped by Santi Urrutia and Victor Franzoni who made side to side contact with the New York Yankee blue and white No. 98 from the Andretti Steinbrenner Racing stable. The bump caused the 17-year-old to lose grip and the steering wheel and dropped down to fifth.

“Exciting is a terrible word, was Herta’s response when TSO Ladder asked him about the first lap. “I had wheelspin on the start. I thought being on the line it would have been better. I got to the throttle a little bit too soon. Victor just… I don’t know what happened. He came and slapped me on the side. He hit me out of the way. He hit my right front, it just spun, I let go of it. And that’s basically what happened when everyone got in front of me,

“It was a fun race after that. I had to focus and tell myself push push push. We were super consistent. I tried a little bit harder this year to conserve the push to pass, which I ended up not needing in the end. It was showing experience I guess.”

At the end of the first lap, the running order was: O’Ward, Urrutia, Franzoni, Shelby Blackstock, Herta, Dalton Kellett, Neil Alberico and Ryan Norman.

Herta collected himself and quickly started to put pressure on Blackstock, getting by him on Lap 4.

At the ten lap mark, O’Ward had a 1.8-second gap over Urrutia, who was followed in the top five by Franzoni, Herta, and Blackstock.

Two laps later, Herta began to pressure Franzoni, and on Lap 15, the sophomore made a move down the inside going into Turn 1, but couldn’t get slowed down enough, and Franzoni was able to get back underneath Herta. It took another four laps, but Herta was able to successfully go by the reigning Pro Mazda Presented By Cooper Tire champion to move to the final podium spot.

Behind the top four, Blackstock, Norman, Alberico and Kellett were part of a twenty lap battle for the final spot in the top five.

Ryan Norman stalks Neil Alberico on the Streets of St. Petersburg (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Kellett was sliding his No. 28 Andretti Autosport machine around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit trying to get around Blackstock, but was not able to get the pass made.

Blackstock, who had not been in a race car for 187 days before Friday’s first practice session, ended up with an impressive fifth place finish.

On Lap 20, O’Ward turned his quickest lap of the race to that point and had a 3.4 second lead over Urrutia.

With 12 laps to go, Alberico made a late move on Kellett going into Turn 1, Alberico tagged the rear the Canadian’s car, which did a 180-degree pirouette. He kept it running but ended up losing a lap and finishing eighth.

The last third of the race was much quieter, with the only excitement coming when Alberico missed his braking point in Turn 1 and got the bright yellow Team Pelfrey No. 2 stopped just before the concrete wall.

The second Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Cooper Tires is scheduled to take the green flag at 10:45 am on Sunday morning.

Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires Race #1 Unofficial Results

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM DIFFERENCE
1 27 Pato O’Ward Andretti Autosport 35 Laps
2 5 Santi Urrutia Belardi Auto Racing 6.6014
3 98 Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing 10.4205
4 23 Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing 28.9609
5 3 Shelby Blackstock Team Pelfrey 36.1168
6 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 39.4887
7 2 Neil Alberico Team Pelfrey 62.4569
8 28 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport -1 LAP
9 9 Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing DNS

Don’t miss any of the action:

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: , , , , , , ,
Page 8 of 22:« First« 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 »Last »