Archives for Mazda Road To Indy PR

Frost Heats Up Barber by Leading Lights Practice

Posted by  on Friday, April 29th 2022     

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Friday, April 29, 2022) – Danial Frost started the Indy Lights Grand Prix of Alabama race weekend hot by pacing Friday’s sole Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires practice session.

Frost turned a best lap of 1 minute, 12.6511 seconds in the No. 68 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing car around Barber Motorsports Park after being the first driver to dip below the 1:13 mark.

SEE: Practice Results

Frost, from Singapore, showed his strength throughout practice, besting his top lap of the session multiple times in the 45-minute practice around the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road course.

“We’re just kind of getting in the rhythm of things and starting off the weekend pretty well,” Frost said. “It’s always about momentum, so we’ve got a good start. I think it’s going to be pretty good for the rest of the weekend right now.”

Last year’s Indy Pro 2000 champion Christian Rasmussen was second fastest in the No. 28 Road to Indy/Stellrecht car at 1:12.6684, with 2021 Barber-1 winner Linus Lundqvist third at 1:12.8248 in the No. 26 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing car and Benjamin Pedersen fourth at 1:12.8544 in the No. 24 Global Racing Group with HMD car.

Hunter McElrea rounded out the top five at 1:13.0577 in the No. 27 Andretti Autosport car.

So far this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama, the Indy Lights field appears to be incredibly close on the time sheet. The top 10 drivers are separated by less than a second, as Jacob Abel produced the 10th-best time at 1:13.4244 in the No. 51 Abel Speedwagon, just .7733 of a second behind Frost’s quick time.

“Now we have to keep digging in and looking for more time, because these guys are going to be doing the exact same thing,” Frost said. “Fourteen cars behind me looking for the same spot as I am. I have to do the actual work and now look for where I can find a little bit more.”

Abel was at the center of the most noteworthy incident to come out of practice. As time was running out in the session, he exited Turn 4 side-by-side with Kyffin Simpson in the No. 21 TJ Speed Motorsports car. Abel dipped his right-side tires off track and did a 360-degree spin, but he sustained no damage to the car and continued.

Indy Lights will be back in action Saturday for practice at noon (ET), followed by qualifying at 3:35 p.m. The INDYCAR Live! streaming platform and the INDYCAR Radio Network will provide live coverage of both sessions.

About Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires

Celebrating 35 years, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires develops drivers and teams to compete in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Past champions include INDYCAR SERIES champions Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Paul Tracy and Cristiano da Matta. In 2021, 20 drivers in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES were Indy Lights graduates, including rising stars and race winners Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward and Rinus VeeKay. The 2022 season consists of 14 races in the United States. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Indy Lights, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IMS Productions are owned by Penske Corporation, a global transportation, automotive and motorsports leader. For more information on Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, please visit www.indylights.com. For more information on INDYCAR and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, please visit www.indycar.com.

About Cooper Tire

Cooper Tire, a subsidiary of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT), specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger car, light truck, medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. Cooper is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design operations located in more than one dozen countries around the world. For more information on Cooper, visit www.coopertire.com, www.facebook.com/coopertire or www.twitter.com/coopertire.

About Goodyear

Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. It employs about 72,000 people and manufactures its products in 55 facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.

category: Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires

Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport

Posted by  on Wednesday, April 7th 2021     

ANDRETTI STEINBRENNER AUTOSPORT ANNOUNCES POWERTAP HYDROGEN FUELING CORP. AS PRIMARY SPONSOR ON DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO’S INDY LIGHTS ENTRY

 

INDIANAPOLIS (April 5, 2021) – Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport announced today that PowerTap Hydrogen Fueling Corp. will be featured as the primary sponsor on the No. 17 Indy Lights entry piloted by Devlin DeFrancesco. PowerTap Hydrogen is a part of the hydrogen sector within Clean Power Capital Corp. and focuses on its intellectual property to take charge as the leader in developing cost-effective infrastructure for incorporating hydrogen fueling into daily life. The partnership with Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport marks the company’s first venture within the motorsports industry.

“We are excited to welcome PowerTap Hydrogen to the Andretti-Steinbrenner partner ecosphere,” said George Michael Steinbrenner IV, owner, Steinbrenner Racing. “The partnership will be a new one on the racetrack, representing an extension of existing relationships with PowerTap in the business sector for myself and the Andretti family. Adding another innovative company within the green energy and sustainability sector also brings unique opportunities both for our team and among fellow sponsor/partner companies that can lead to cool ideas and integrations.”

“It is great to have PowerTap Hydrogen within the team represented on Devlin DeFrancesco’s Indy Lights car,” said Michael Andretti, Chairman and CEO, Andretti Autosport. “As there is a goal within the paddock to achieve a carbon neutral environment as well as across the world, we believe PowerTap Hydrogen’s experience with their proprietary technology is a small step to begin achieving that goal.”

“Hydrogen vehicles will be introduced into many verticals in the coming years including auto racing,” noted Raghu Kllambi, CEO, PowerTap Hydrogen Fueling Corp. and Clean Power Capital Corp. “As our unique onsite PowerTap hydrogen fueling technology can refuel vehicles of all types, a prominent sponsorship of Devlin DeFrancesco and the Andretti Steinbrenner team makes sense as we launch PowerTap as a leading hydrogen fueling brand.”

Along with the PowerTap Hydrogen’s primary sponsorship in the Indy Lights program for DeFrancesco, Andretti and Steinbrenner IV are both founding partners on the PowerTap Hydrogen Advisory Board, providing expertise from the motorsports industry to assist in adopting hydrogen fuel in everyday vehicles.

DeFrancesco joined the Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport stable in 2020 competing in the Indy Pro 2000 series. The Italian-Canadian driver finished second in the Indy Pro 2000 championship after collecting two wins, three pole positions and six podiums. Following an impressive rookie campaign in Indy Pro 2000, DeFrancesco will make the step up to the Indy Lights field in 2021.

DeFrancesco will make his 2021 on-track debut in the No. 17 machine at the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season opener on April 17 at Barber Motorsports Park.

For more information, visit www.AndrettiAutosport.com

category: Andretti Autosport
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Linus Lundqvist to Make Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Debut with Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports

Posted by  on Tuesday, January 19th 2021     

“FR Americas Champion moves to Road to Indy with eye on IndyCar”

Linus Lundqvist will make his Road to Indy debut as the third driver named to the Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports partnership

January 19, 2021 – Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports are excited to announce the third driver who will be joining the newly-formed partnership for the 2021 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Championship. Linus Lundqvist – reigning Formula Regional Americas Powered by Honda Champion and recipient of the first Honda Performance Development Indy Lights Scholarship – is set to join the field in a Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports entry and make his debut in the Road to Indy.
“We are thrilled to have Linus join Indy Lights in 2021 and happy that we can continue our working relationship,” explained GRG’s Christian Pedersen. “Linus has one goal, and we look forward to helping him achieve that. The partnership between Global Racing Group and HMD Motorsports solidifies the defined commitment for success and Linus will be part of a very strong four car driver lineup in the partnership.”
“Linus’ performance in 2020 was incredible,” added HMD Motorsports Owner Henry Malukas. “We are happy that he is racing in our program, and not against it.”
The 21-year-old Swedish driver made a massive impact in his first season racing in the United States. After claiming the BRDC British F3 Championship in 2018 and finishing fifth in the Euroformula Open in 2019, Lundqvist made the move over to the Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda for the 2020 season – where he accomplished a nearly perfect season. Over the course of 17 races, Lundqvist and Global Racing Group earned 15 wins, 16 podiums, 16 pole positions, 14 fastest laps and set new track records at five of the six venues.
After claiming the FR Americas Championship, Lundqvist was presented with a scholarship from Honda Performance Development to help move him to the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires in Indy Lights. New to the Road to Indy program, Lundqvist will experience all new tracks [with the exception of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Barber Motorsports Park – which he competed on in FR Americas in 2020] in the 2021 season and will get his first taste of oval and street course action. This past season, Lundqvist conquered new and unfamiliar tracks each weekend and is looking to continue dominating new circuits in the upcoming season.
“Finally, able to announce my intentions for 2021 and shift my focus to race wins and the quest for the championship,” explained Lundqvist. “The partnership between Global Racing Group and HMD Motorsports has really formed a powerhouse program in the Road to Indy and their support together with Honda’s scholarship program has allowed me to put together what I believe to be the best possible foundation for a successful 2021”.
“HPD is pleased to support Linus in his next career move to Indy Lights with Global Racing Group,” added John Whiteman Commercial Motors Division Manager for HPD. “The intent of HPD and the F4 US and FR Americas series is to provide racers with an accessible platform to develop their skills and achieve their dreams. We look forward to watching Linus continue his success in the INDYCAR paddock.”
Lundqvist has already completed a two-day test at the Sebring International Raceway and will join Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports at a handful of private tests prior to making his Indy Lights debut in the 2021 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama over the April 9 – 11th weekend.
One additional driver announcement from HMD Motorsports will be communicated in the coming weeks.
To stay up to date with Global Racing Group, follow @GlobalRacingGroup on Instagram and @GRGInfo on Twitter and Facebook or visit GlobalRacingGroup.com. Please be sure to also follow HMD Motorsports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by searching @HMDMotorsports or visit HMDMotorsports.com.
category: HMD Motorsports, Indy Lights News/Results

Antonio Serravalle moves up to Indy Lights in a third car for HMD Motorsports

Posted by  on Thursday, February 27th 2020     

Young Canadian levels up to Indy Lights program

Brownsburg, Ind. – With the start of the 2020 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Championship season quickly approaching, HMD Motorsports has added a third driver to their growing lineup. 17-year-old Canadian standout Antonio Serravalle, one of Canada’s top prospects for a bright career in the NTT IndyCar Series, will be moving up the Road to Indy ladder system and will pilot the Ferrari & Associates / Tycoon Capital No. 11 HMD Motorsports entry.

With plans to compete in five weekends, Serravalle will be joining HMD Motorsports at upcoming tests at Barber Motorsports Park and the series sanctioned Spring Training test at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kicking the season off at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the Canadian is slated to compete in the top rung of the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder until his home event in Toronto and hopes to complete the full season pending current partnership negotiations.

“I’m excited to be moving up to Indy Lights,” said Serravalle. “I was able to test with HMD Motorsports in December, and it was a great experience! The team was extremely helpful getting me settled into the car and up to speed, and we were ultimately able to run towards the front of the field during the test. They are an experienced and professional team with nearly every team member having IndyCar experience, and I am grateful and excited to be working with them this season.”

Serravalle competed in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires for the past two seasons as a privateer effort alongside his father (who acted as engineer), where he earned a best finish of fourth. Gaining knowledge along the way and learning the Road to Indy program, he made the jump from karts to Indy Pro 2000 just two short seasons ago. Not having the opportunity to compete with a high caliber team or a consistent engineer and mechanic program week in and week out, Serravalle has managed to run fairly successful seasons while continuing to gain valuable on-track experience.

“Antonio will be a great addition to the team in 2020,” said HMD Team Owner, Henry Malukas. “After a hectic season last year, we were still able to be a frontrunning team and we expect nothing less this season. We are much more prepared and have put the proper people in the right positions. Antonio tested very well with the team in Sebring a few months back and working alongside a pair of returning Indy Lights drivers I imagine he will only continue to improve throughout the season. The goal is to get the first few events out of the way and assist him in finding the necessary pieces to the puzzle to be a long-term addition.”

Linked to Acura, Serravalle has received praise from the upper management of Honda Canada.

“Antonio’s experience is years ahead of his actual age,” stated a Honda Canada manager. “He is destined for greatness and will be great to follow through Indy Lights and onwards into IndyCar.”

Serravalle will be joining HMD Motorsports alongside returning Indy Lights drivers David Malukas and Santiago Urrutia. Before the start of the season, HMD Motorsports will be heading to Barber Motorsports Park for a private test early next week followed by Spring Training at Homestead-Miami Speedway the following week.

category: HMD Motorsports
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Santiago Urrutia Joins HMD Motorsports for the 2020 Indy Lights Season

Posted by  on Monday, February 3rd 2020     
Santiago Urrutia Joins HMD Motorsports for the 2020 Indy Lights Season
“Urrutia returns to Indy Lights”
February 3, 2020 – HMD Motorsports has signed their second driver for the 2020 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Championship season. Multi-time Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires race winner, Santiago Urrutia, will be joining the Road to Indy Paddock once again, driving the #55 Dallara IL-15. Urrutia will be competing in his fourth Indy Lights season and has one goal, the championship.
“I have worked extremely hard to be back in the Indy Lights paddock as my ultimate goal is IndyCar,” explained Urrutia. “The HMD Motorsports team is on the rise and in my opinion, a major threat for the championship. I am happy to be reunited with my engineer from the past, Tim Neff, and working with David Malukas. I can’t wait to get the season started.”
Like many Indy Lights drivers, Urrutia has worked his way through the ladder program. Beginning in the Road to Indy in 2015, Santiago moved over from the GP3 Series to compete in the Pro Mazda Championship (now Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires) where he earned three wins, ten podiums and ultimately took home the championship. In 2016 he moved up to Indy Lights where he remained through 2018. In his time in Indy Lights, Urrutia collected eight wins, two second-place championships and a third-place championship.
“Santiago will be a great asset to the team in 2020,” added AJ Smith. “Over the years, he has competed in numerous championships and has always been able to battle for wins and been one of the top drivers in the field, and we are expecting nothing less in 2020.”
The Santiago Urrutia announcement video can be seen HERE.
Urrutia will be joining HMD Motorsports and Indy Lights sophomore David Malukas as both drivers intend on battling for wins and ultimately the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Championship title.
Stay tuned for more announcements from HMD Motorsports in the coming weeks.
category: HMD Motorsports
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Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires at Laguna Seca – Saturday – Kirkwood on the Cusp of Indy Pro 2000 Title With Laguna Win

Posted by  on Sunday, September 22nd 2019     

Please note that this is Press Release that the series sent out. This race took place during the press conference crowning Oliver Askew as Indy Lights champion, so I was not able to take adequate notes.

Kirkwood on the Cusp of Indy Pro 2000 Title With Laguna Win

MONTEREY, Calif. – Kyle Kirkwood is an unstoppable force in this year’s Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The 20-year-old from Jupiter, Fla., overcame a deficit of more than three seconds to polesitter Sting Ray Robb in this afternoon’s Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca before grasping the lead when Robb ran briefly off the road at Turn Five with just over four laps remaining. Kirkwood needed no second bidding as he reeled off the laps to claim his ninth victory in
10 races for RP Motorsport USA.

The result means Kirkwood needs only to take the green flag in tomorrow’s 16th and final race of the season to clinch his second successive Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires championship crown. Kirkwood has amassed a remarkable record of 21 Road to Indy race wins in just two years following an equally dominant performance in last year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship.

A crestfallen Robb had to settle for second place – for the fifth time this season – while Juncos Racing teammate Rasmus Lindh’s championship aspirations were all but extinguished after his distant third-place finish.

Robb, from Payette, Idaho, maintained his recent run of form by securing his second pole position in the last three races during qualifying yesterday. He seemed to be sitting pretty after setting a torrid pace in the opening stages and opening up a commanding lead of over three seconds inside the first 15 laps. But then, quite suddenly, the momentum shifted. While Robb’s pace slowed by almost a second per lap as his tires began to wear on the notoriously slippery and immensely challenging 2.238-mile road course, Kirkwood began to reap the benefits of a relatively conservative drive during the first half of the 25-lap contest.

The gap came down steadily, first to 2.8 seconds, then 2.5, 1.7 and 1.5 on consecutive laps. With five laps remaining, the two leaders were virtually nose to tail. Then, agonizingly and to his intense frustration, Robb’s car suddenly slipped sideways on the approach to Turn Five. He tried his darnedest to retain control but succeeded only in sliding wide onto the dirt, whereupon Kirkwood gratefully slipped past and into a lead he was able to hold comfortably until the finish.

Robb remained well clear of a surprisingly lackluster Lindh, from Gothenburg, Sweden, who nevertheless claimed his 12th podium of the season. But his 20-point deficit to Kirkwood at the start of the weekend has now ballooned to 28 points, such that Kirkwood’s tally is now out of reach as long as the Floridian starts tomorrow’s season finale.

In Lindh’s wake, Canadian Parker Thompson (Abel Motorsports) fought hard to hang onto fourth place after a race-long battle with Artem Petrov (RP Motorsport USA), from Saint Petersburg, Russia, and Singapore’s Danial Frost (Exclusive Autosport). Thompson’s teammate, Jacob Abel, also was hot on the heels of this group after a tigerish drive. Abel, who started fifth, had to lift abruptly off the throttle soon after the start when he ran out of space while trying to pass teammate Thompson, costing him several positions. He was trapped behind Los Angeles-based Russian Nikita Lastoshkin for the first 11 laps, but once past he quickly erased a deficit of more than four seconds to finish directly behind Frost.

RP Motorsport USA gained its ninth  PFC Award of the campaign, although it was not enough to prevent Juncos Racing from clinching the coveted Teams Championship for the second straight year.

Canadian Antonio Serravalle (Pserra Racing/RP Motorsport USA) earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award after improving from 13th on the grid to 10th at the finish line.

Provisional championship points after 15 of 16 rounds:
1. Kyle Kirkwood, 412
2. Rasmus Lindh, 384
3. Parker Thompson, 319
4. Danial Frost, 309
5. Sting Ray Robb, 308
6. Nikita Lastochkin, 229
7. Kory Enders, 189
8. Jacob Abel, 181
9. Moises de la Vara, 179
10. Antonio Serravalle, 175

Lindh will start on pole position for tomorrow’s final race of the season. The green flag will wave at 3:20 p.m., immediately following the NTT IndyCar Series finale.

Kyle Kirkwood (#28 Mazda/Firstex Industries/Bell Helmets/Sabelt-RP Motorsports USA Tatuus PM-18): “This has relieved a lot of pressure on me and on the team. It was tough today, with both Juncos cars ahead of me, and I was nervous going in, especially with Rasmus on the pole tomorrow. Going into the race, we knew all we had to do was finish ahead of Rasmus, so going for a pass on his teammate was not something I was willing to do. I turned up the wick toward the end, so I did push for a few laps and the car kicked out on him, which created an opportunity for me. I never expected that to happen but it worked out for the championship. Tomorrow will be fun, which is a real change from all the pressure this year.”

Sting Ray Robb (#2 Go Out Local/Big Idaho Potato Truck/OMP/Intervention.com-Juncos Racing Tatuus PM-18): “I don’t know what happened. I nearly spun in a spot I shouldn’t have spun. It was just one of those things that happens so fast. I tossed the race away and then frustration kicks in. But this is my first time here, so to come out of practice fourth and take pole in one race and qualify third in the second, I was really happy. It was good to get a jump on the weekend. Hopefully we can get it tomorrow.”

Rasmus Lindh (#10 Chicago Pneumatic/PWR Junior Team/SKF-Juncos Racing Tatuus PM-18): “The team has done a great job with the car, (although) we’ve been struggling with qualifying lately. We didn’t focus so much on the race pace so I think we need to do that for tomorrow, so we can win tomorrow and make the championship a bit closer in the end. We’ve had a very consistent year and I’m getting experience every step of the way. This is only my second year in cars so I’m learning every time I go out.”

 

 

category: Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires
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Road To Indy in Toronto – Saturday – Frost bounces back with impressive win in Toronto

Posted by  on Saturday, July 13th 2019     

After a forgettable weekend in Wisconsin, Exclusive Autosport rookie Danial Frost needed a bounce-back weekend. The 17-year-old made that happen with an aggressive first lap, first turn move to get onto the top step of the podium and lead all 25 laps on the way to his second win of the season.

It’s the first Indy Pro 2000 win for Exclusive Autosport, the only Canadian team in the race.

Points leader Rasmus Lindh, started second and finished second, but it wasn’t as easy as the box score made it appear.

Parker Thompson who was bitten by an aggressive qualifying strategy and red flag put in a lunch pail effort to grab his 29th career Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires podium.

The lone Indy Pro 2000 session on Saturday is the first Cooper Tires Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products which is scheduled to get the green flag at 9:25 am.

The first race of the weekend, the Indy Pro 2000 Cooper Tires Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products, got underway at 9:25 am. The ambient temperature was 72F, and the track temperature was 87F.

Pole sitter Kirkwood got a great jump with Lindh matching him. But it was Frost, from his inside second row starting spot, that got a better jump; making an aggressive three-wide inside move and grabbing the lead as they exited Turn 1.

Kirkwood and Lindh made the long run down Lakeshore Drive side-by-side with both drivers smoking the tires under braking. The pole-sitter could not get it slowed down enough and Lindh was able to get underneath Kirkwood who kept it off the tire barriers.

Kirkwood immediately came under pressure from his RP Motorsport teammate Rodriguez, and the two drivers made contact in Turn 5. Kirkwood’s Soul Red No. 28 he began to fall through the field after suffering wing damage.

At the end of the first lap, the running order was Frost, Lindh, Kirkwood, Ian Rodriguez, Robb, Nikita Lastochkin, Antonio Serravalle, Moisés de la Vara, Phillippe Denes, Kory Enders, Charles Finelli, and Jacob Abel.

Kirkwood was forced to pit road for repairs and lost a lap while the RP Motorsport repaired his damaged PM-18.

The 25 lap race settled in for the next five laps before the first caution came out when DEForce Racing veteran Moisés de la Vara made significant contact in Turn 11. The Mexican was able to get out of his No. 6 under his own power.

During the clean-up for de la Vara’s incident, race control announced that Rodriguez was being penalized for avoidable contact and being sent to the rear of the field. Due to attrition, the Guatemalan was able to move his way back through the field for a solid fifth-place finish, his third straight top five.

The green flag came back out as Frost started his ninth lap. Behind the leaders, Finelli looped his No. 83 as he got back to the gas. A disaster was avoided as Rodriguez barely avoided t-boning the No. 83 Fatboy Racing! machine.

On Lap 12, Robb surprised his teammate, braking deeper than Lindh in Turn 3 and moving to the second step of the podium. Behind that battle, Thompson was able to move past Lastochkin for fifth.

Lindh immediately began putting immense pressure on his teammate, and the next lap returned the favor in Turn 3.

On the next lap, Robb was pushing too hard and made contact with the concrete wall in Turn 6. The Juncos Racing veteran was forced to pit road and retired from the race.

On Lap 15, Thompson moved to the podium, getting by fellow Canadian Serravalle for the final spot on the podium

The full course yellow came out for the second time when Finelli ended up in the Turn 8 tire barriers. The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team got him pointed in the correct direction, and the green flag came back out with five laps remaining.

Frost got a great jump on Lindh, but the Swede was able to put pressure on the Exclusive Autosport rookie, getting beside him in the Turn 3 braking zone, but the Singapore driver was able to hold on to the lead for the final three laps, crossing under the checkered flag 0.4500 seconds ahead of Lindh.

Cooper Tires Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products Indy Pro 2000 Race #1 – Unofficial Results

RANK CAR NO NAME TEAM DIFFERENCE
1 68 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport 25 LAPS
2 10 Rasmus Lindh Juncos Racing -0.45
3 8 Parker Thompson Abel Motorsports -1.7381
4 11 Antonio Serravalle Pserra Racing/Jay Howard Driver Development -3.0377
5 5 Ian Rodriguez RP Motorsport Racing -6.448
6 51 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports -6.7097
7 7 Kory Enders DEForce Racing -11.0195
8 28 Kyle Kirkwood RP Motorsport Racing -1 LAP
9 98 Phillippe Denes FatBoy Racing -5 LAPS
10 90 Nikita Lastochkin Exclusive Autosport -10 LAPS
11 2 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Racing -11 LAPS
12 83 Charles Finelli FatBoy Racing -11 LAPS
13 6 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing -21 LAPS

That’s the lone Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires session of the day, the middle rung of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires will be back on track at 9:55 am on Sunday.

category: Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires

Road To Indy in Toronto – Friday – Christian Rasmussen grabs first career pole

Posted by  on Friday, July 12th 2019     

A rookie pole for a rookie team.

Christian Rasmussen, a 20-year-old from Copenhagen, Denmark scored his first and Jay Howard Driver Development’s first USF2000 pole in a red flag shortened session.

“It feels amazing,” said Rasmussen to TSO Ladder. “Being on the streets of Toronto feels amazing. I’m glad I could finally do it; it’s been a long way here. We’ve been struggling a little the first part of the season, so it’s good to back where I feel I belong. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

Christian Rasmussen wheeling the JHDD/CSU | One Cure/Lucas Oil sponsored No. 6 around the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

For the fourth time this season, Cape Motorsports veteran Darren Keane will start a race from the front row. The driver who led the morning session turned a quick lap of 73.758 seconds.

Starting behind Rasmussen is the Soul Red No. 22 of Hunter McElrea. The American born Kiwi wasn’t sure he would make the qualifying session after a meeting with the Turn 8 tire barriers in the morning practice.

Keane’s rookie teammate, 14-year-old Reece Gold will start a career-best fourth.

Current points leader Braden Eves will have some work to do tomorrow. The 20-year-old start the race from the outside of the third row.

Before we get into our qualifying report, here are few clarifications on the USF2000 incidents from this morning.

The first red flag occurred when Yuven Sundaramoorthy made heavy contact in Turn 10/11. The S-team Motorsports No. 21 was subsequently clobbered by Jak Crawford’s No.52, which also sustained substantial damage.

The second red flag came out when Hunter McElrea was swallowed by the tire barriers at the exit of the right-hand Turn 8. His teammate Colin Kaminsky was following closely behind him and was unable to avoid t-boning the Mazda/Doric NZ/Miles Advisory Partners No. 22. Reece Gold, who was right behind Kaminsky, made the smart choice of nosing it into the tire barriers instead of tagging the two stranded Pabst Racing cars.

All three Pabst Racing cars made it out for qualifying and ended up third (McElrea), fifth (Kaminsky) and 14th (Sundaramoorthy). Crawford made a last minute appearance, completing one lap. He’ll start the race in the 17th spot.

I’ll have more on the impressive effort by the Pabst Racing crew to fix their three damaged cars between practice and qualifying later tonight.

The USF2000 session began on time under hazy skies.

Jay Howard Driver Development rookie Christian Rasmussen was the early leader in a 20-minute session that was interrupted by a 13+ minute red flag.

The cause of the red flag was hard contact with the tire barriers at the exit of Turn 8 by Zach Holden in the No. 14 Legacy Autosport USF-17. It appeared the Greenfield, Ind native got too deep into the bumpy right-hander. The rear of the car made contact with the tire barriers tearing of the rear wing and damaging at a minimum the left rear suspension.

It took a while to get the track crew a while to get the tire barrier appropriately situated, and when the green flag came out, only 90 seconds were remaining in the session. None of the 17 drivers were able to get enough heat in their Cooper Tires to improve their lap times.

It the first career USF2000 pole for Rasmussen and Jay Howard Driver Development.

The season-opening races of the season in St. Petersburg, Fla. was the first time the Dane had driven on a street course, and it’s a discipline he appreciates.

This is my second street race,” explained Rasmussen to TSO Ladder. “I like it. There are consequences if you go off. If you go off, you actually hit a wall. On a lot of the other tracks, you can push it a bit too far, and you can rejoin the track with no harm done. If you do that here, there is a consequence. I appreciate that.”

USF2000 Unofficial Qualifying Results For Race #1

RANK CAR NO NAME TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 6 Christian Rasmussen Jay Howard Driver Development 1:13.545 –.—- 6
2 2 Darren Keane Cape Motorsports 1:13.758 0.2131 6
3 22 Hunter McElrea Pabst Racing 1:14.135 0.5903 6
4 3 Reece Gold Cape Motorsports 1:14.499 0.9542 6
5 23 Colin Kaminsky Pabst Racing 1:14.527 0.9814 6
6 8 Braden Eves Cape Motorsports 1:14.559 1.0140 6
7 24 Bruna Tomaselli Pabst Racing 1:15.051 1.5057 6
8 73 Cameron Shields Newman Wachs Racing 1:15.057 1.5120 6
9 41 Eduardo Barrichello Miller Vinatieri Motorsports 1:15.143 1.5975 6
10 40 Jack William Miller Miller Vinatieri Motorsports 1:15.253 1.7078 6
11 27 Matt Round-Garrido BN Racing 1:15.270 1.7248 5
12 14 Zach Holden Legacy Autosport 1:15.524 1.9790 2
13 12 Manuel Sulaiman DEForce Racing 1:15.662 2.1164 6
14 21 Yuven Sundaramoorthy Pabst Racing 1:15.800 2.2551 6
15 7 Christian Bogle Jay Howard Driver Development 1:15.817 2.2719 6
16 36 Nolan Siegel Newman Wachs Racing 1:16.014 2.4686 6
17 52 Jak Crawford DEForce Racing 1:22.316 8.7710 1

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship teams and drivers will start a full day of on-track activity at 8 am on Saturday at the Honda Indy Toronto.

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO
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Road To Indy in Toronto – Friday – Kirkwood beats rivals to Indy Pro 2000 pole

Posted by  on Friday, July 12th 2019     

Advantage Kyle Kirkwood. The pole-sitter in all 11 previous Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires races held on the streets surrounding Exhibition Place has gone on to visit victory lane.

The pole lap is the first of the season for Kirkwood’s Soul Red No. 28 from the RP Motorsport stable. It’s the 20-year-old’s sixth career Road To Indy pole.

Kyle Kirkwood navigates the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit on the way to his first Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires pole (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

The inside front-row start is the first pole in Toronto for RP Motorsport.

Kirkwood set the pole-winning lap of 68.698 seconds just after the half-way mark of the session, withstanding a strong push from points leader Rasmus Lindh, who will start on the outside of the front row for the second time this season.

Danial Frost, who tapped the wall during the morning practice session will start behind Kirkwood, his best road or street course starting spot of the season.

Lindh’s Juncos Racing teammate Sting Ray Robb will start fourth, the seventh time he’s started in the front two-rows this year.

Parker Thompson, who is second in the championship and won the first two street course races of the year, will have some work to do in Saturday’s race. The Canadian will start the race from the seventh spot.

Due to an extended track clean-up from the Stadium Super Truck practice, the 20-minute qualifying session began four minutes late. The ambient temperature was 74F, and the track temperature was 94F. The humidity was a sweat-inducing 61%, which was down from an uncomfortable 68% during the first NTT IndyCar Series practice.

Lindh, Kirkwood, and Robb all led during the first 10 minutes of the 20-minute session, with Kirkwood’s 68.698-second lap leading the way.

The red flag came out with four minutes remaining for an incident involving Jacob Abel in Turn 4.

The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team got the No. 51 out of the way and the green flag came back to allow drivers one flying lap to improve.

The top 10 when the green flag came back out were Kirkwood, Lindh, Frost, Robb, Rodriguez, Lastochkin, Thompson, Denes, Serravalle, and Enders.

Rodriguez and Thompson were both able to improve their lap times, but their positions did not improve.

Indy Pro 2000 Unofficial Qualifying Results For Race #1

RANK CAR NO NAME TEAM QUICK LAP DIFFERENCE TOTAL LAPS
1 28 Kyle Kirkwood RP Motorsport Racing 1:08.698 –.—- 15
2 10 Rasmus Lindh Juncos Racing 1:08.939 0.2410 15
3 68 Danial Frost Exclusive Autosport 1:09.127 0.4292 11
4 2 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Racing 1:09.169 0.4711 15
5 5 Ian Rodriguez RP Motorsport Racing 1:09.307 0.6090 15
6 90 Nikita Lastochkin Exclusive Autosport 1:09.431 0.7336 14
7 8 Parker Thompson Abel Motorsports 1:09.473 0.7753 12
8 98 Phillippe Denes FatBoy Racing 1:09.772 1.0740 13
9 11 Antonio Serravalle Pserra Racing/Jay Howard Driver Development 1:10.286 1.5879 15
10 7 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:10.846 2.1478 11
11 83 Charles Finelli FatBoy Racing 1:18.196 9.4979 1
12 51 Jacob Abel Abel Motorsports 1:19.956 11.2579 3
13 6 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing No Time — —

The third Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires session of the day, qualifying for the Sunday morning race, rolls off at 6:30 pm, giving the teams four hours to get their PM-18 turned around.

category: Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires
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Chris Griffis Memorial Road to Indy Test Returns to Indianapolis

Posted by  on Thursday, June 27th 2019     

 Chris Griffis Memorial Road to Indy Test Returns to Indianapolis

Expanded Program Includes Road to Indy Summit Educational Program Opportunities
PALMETTO, Fla. – The ninth annual Chris Griffis Memorial Road to Indy Open Test will take place at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 19/20 providing new drivers the opportunity to test the waters in the unparalleled driver development platform and returning drivers the chance to make a head start on their 2020 campaigns. This year’s test will see an enhanced structure with additional value-added elements as part of the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires traditional Summit program – an educational driver development component of the three ladder series.
The 2.439-mile, 14-turn Grand Prix road course will host the two-day outing named in memory of the former team manager of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports who passed away suddenly in September 2011. All three levels of the Road to Indy will be on deck – the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires – with each series enjoying four and a half hours of track time over the course of the two-day test.
“With the recent announcements of our new partnerships with the Castrol Toyota Racing Series and the Lucas Oil School of Racing, we are extremely excited about this year’s Chris Griffis Test and the opportunity to introduce new drivers to our outstanding teams and series,” said Dan Andersen, Owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions. “The test is always a great value-for-money outing and we are taking things a step further this year to enrich the experience for drivers off the track with additional components as part of our Summit training program.
“We look forward to seeing the drivers we currently have in our series sample the next step in their progression up the professional motorsports ladder and to welcoming a new crop of talent.”
Almost three dozen drivers representing 15 nationalities took part in last season’s Chis Griffis Open Test. Among them were several drivers seeking to move up the ladder, including Rinus VeeKay, Oliver Askew and Robert Megennis, all of whom were sampling the virtues of Indy Lights after successful campaigns previously in USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000, and newcomers such as New Zealander Hunter McElrea, who had aspirations of joining the Road to Indy after emerging as a front-runner in the Australian Formula Ford Championship.
“For me, driving at the Chris Griffis test was extremely useful,” said McElrea, who went on to win last year’s Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout and last weekend scored his first USF2000 win. “In 2017, it was my first taste of wings and slicks and I finished P4 overall. Last year was my second time and I finished P1 overall after another year of experience in Australian Formula Ford. It is not only a great way to get laps in Road to Indy machinery at the Speedway, but also to measure yourself against your potential competitors.”
The Chris Griffis test has proven just as valuable for teams as they begin preparations for the following season. Last year BN Racing ran an Indy Lights Dallara-AER IL-15 for the first time after starting out in USF2000 and then adding an Indy Pro 2000 element in 2018. Legacy Autosport, Jay Howard Driver Development and Miller Vinatieri Motorsports all used the 2018 test as an initial outing after previously confirming plans to join the USF2000 fray in time for the 2019 season.
“The Chris Griffis test is good for any driver looking to come to the Road to Indy because it gives them an opportunity to sample the cars, the tracks and the teams, and see how professional we are,” said Bryn Nuttall, BN Racing team principal. “Being a little later in the year, the test will be better for the European drivers who have finished their season, and obviously it’s good for drivers who are already here to step up to next year’s machinery and get started on preparations for next season.

“The additional off-track activities are a really good idea because the more engaging it can be for everyone, the more value we can add for people who are interested in the Road to Indy, the better it will be for everybody.”

Summit program activities will take on Friday, October 18, in addition to a track walk, and will include a behind-the-scenes visit to the headquarters of Ed Carpenter Racing, whose stable of drivers include Indy Lights champions Ed Jones and Spencer Pigot with Carpenter, himself, a graduate of Indy Lights; a tour of NTT IndyCar Series and Indy Lights chassis manufacturer Dallara, including its high-performance professional driver simulator; a presentation and demonstration by Jim Leo of PitFit Training – the industry leader in the development and implementation of driver performance training; and an evening outing/reception at Sarah Fisher’s Speedway Indoor Karting in Speedway, Ind., featuring special guests.
Registration details and a full schedule will be announced in the near future. Interested drivers can find contact information for teams on the respective series websites, and can also contact Series Development Director Jonny Baker at jb@roadtoindy.net.
category: Andersen Promotions PR
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