Archives for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires

Mid-Ohio – Saturday – Indy Lights Qualifying, Pro Mazda Race #1

Posted by  on Saturday, July 30th 2016     

Doing a double dip of quick hitters this morning after a pair of sessions to kick off the day here at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, on the Saturday for the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires.

Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires kicked off the day with a 30-minute qualifying session from 7:50 to 8:20 a.m. ET and local time, followed shortly by the first of two Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires 40-minute races – both of which will run on the same day.

Notes and tidbits to follow:

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Indy Lights Logo

Prior to Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires qualifying for the Cooper Tire Indy Lights Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, TSO caught up with Zach Veach of Belardi Auto Racing, who languished in 12th in Friday’s lone practice session through no fault of his own.

As it turned out, Veach noted a significant horsepower loss caused by his turbo issue. The team diagnosed and fixed the issue and Veach would be higher up the grid in qualifying, albeit not quite in pole contention.

The thus far dominant driver of the weekend has been Uruguayan Santiago Urrutia, who led Friday’s lone official practice session and was also a Pro Mazda race winner here last year for Team Pelfrey.

The Pro Mazda champion, who now drives the Soul Red No. 55 Dallara IL-15 Mazda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, improved more than a second from his practice time on Friday (1:11.9530) to a new best time of 1:10.9428 in qualifying.

To wit, he was also nearly seven tenths quicker on the field following his first pole position of the season for the first of two races this weekend.

Urrutia enters the race in second in points, 24 behind points leader Ed Jones of Carlin.

Another Carlin driver, third-placed in points Felix Serralles, will line up second on the grid.

Andre Negrao made it two SPM cars in the top five in third, ahead of Dean Stoneman and Jones. Shelby Blackstock is a respectable sixth ahead of Veach and Neil Alberico. Past Mid-Ohio Pro Mazda and USF2000 race winner Garett Grist slots into ninth, while Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser had an off session and was 12th.

Times are below.

P No Name FTime Diff
1 55 Santiago Urrutia 1:10.943 0.000
2 4 Felix Serralles 1:11.622 0.6795
3 17 Andre Negrao 1:11.735 0.7925
4 27 Dean Stoneman 1:11.821 0.8784
5 11 Ed Jones 1:11.851 0.9084
6 51 Shelby Blackstock 1:11.944 1.0012
7 5 Zach Veach 1:12.082 1.1394
8 22 Neil Alberico 1:12.135 1.1919
9 3 Garett Grist 1:12.330 1.3870
10 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:12.407 1.4638
11 28 Dalton Kellett 1:12.434 1.4915
12 18 Kyle Kaiser 1:12.467 1.5244

The first Indy Lights race is scheduled for later this afternoon, slotted between 3:30 p.m. and 4:20 p.m. on the schedule.

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Pro Mazda Logo

In the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, TSO caught up with Aaron Telitz, who entered this weekend’s Royal Purple Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, after he qualified second.

The Birchwood, Wis. native indicated he felt he did have an extra tenth available in the bank in qualifying, but ran to a plan for Team Pelfrey in terms of the number of laps completed. He pitted after completing that amount of scheduled laps, but at the same moment when Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing’s Nico Jamin pipped him for pole and the track record that went with it.

With the start – like yesterday’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race – moved from the backstraight into Turn 4 to the frontstraight, passing was always going to be difficult and so whoever emerged ahead from Turn 1 was likely going to have the edge.

That driver on this occasion was Jamin, who took the lead from the green flag ahead of Telitz and Owen.

Jamin was running at a ridiculously quick clip throughout the race, with a new race lap record of 1:18.598 nearly a full 1.2 seconds quicker than the previous lap record of 1:19.773, set last year by Neil Alberico.

And that actually works as a perfect segue to note that Jamin dominated the race, winning by 5.0917 seconds over Telitz, for Cape’s first Pro Mazda win since Alberico pulled off a victory here last year. The 40-minute race lasted 23 laps, and ran without a full-course caution.

For Jamin, it also adds him to the list of Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda champions who’ve now won a race in Pro Mazda as well. It’s his fourth straight victory at Mid-Ohio, having also won all three USF2000 races here last year.

Telitz, thinking more of the championship than the race win, was fully content with second place with Owen leading Juncos Racing’s efforts in third.

Jake Parsons (Juncos) ran an untroubled race to fourth while the battle on the day was for fifth.

With Nico Dapero and TJ Fischer both getting around Pato O’Ward – Fischer being the more notable driver to do so considering he’s the third member of Team Pelfrey and not in the championship fight – the Mexican driver finished seventh, and has thus lost the points lead for the first time this season.

Although O’Ward won six of the first seven races, he’s now finished off the podium in four of the last five races. And that’s swung the title lead to Telitz for the first time.

After the race TSO caught up with all top three drivers.

Jamin said quite simply, “I just love this track!” He added that with the medium speed corners and challenge in passing, if you get on the pole, chances are very good that you’ll win the race.

That might put Telitz in the catbird’s seat for this evening’s second race of the day, set from 6 to 6:50 p.m. If it rains, Telitz said being on the pole will allow for clear vision without any spray.

Telitz focused on defending from Will Owen at the start, rather than attacking Jamin. He said he’s more or less racing O’Ward only in terms of the title, so finishing ahead of him first is most important.

Owen noted that the impressive pace throughout the field speaks to how well the Cooper Tires are coming in and gelling with the track. He’s focused on beating his teammates.

Race results for this race are below, followed by the grid for the second race.

P No Name Laps
1 2 Nico Jamin 23
2 82 Aaron Telitz 23
3 23 Will Owen 23
4 00 Jake Parsons 23
5 31 Nicolas Dapero 23
6 81 TJ Fischer 23
7 80 Pato O’Ward 23
8 13 Bobby Eberle 23
9 57 Bob Kaminsky 23

Qualifying for second race:

Rank Car Driver Time Session
1 82 Aaron Telitz 1:18.2545 Quals
2 2 Nico Jamin 1:18.3482 Quals
3 23 Will Owen 1:18.5858 Quals
4 00 Jake Parsons 1:18.5909 Quals
5 80 Pato O’Ward 1:18.8675 Quals
6 31 Nicolas Dapero 1:18.8737 Quals
7 81 TJ Fischer 1:19.3821 Race 1
8 57 Bob Kaminsky 1:20.6877 Quals
9 13 Bobby Eberle 1:20.9510 Quals

There’s three other Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires events today. The second of three USF2000 races is slotted from 1 to 1:45 p.m. ET.

Then the first Indy Lights race is at 3:30, and the second Pro Mazda race is at 6.

And there might be rain later today, which could make things even more interesting.

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda News/Results
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Mid-Ohio – Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires – Day #1 Recap

Posted by  on Friday, July 29th 2016     

Indy Lights Logo

In a nutshell, the hope for the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend is that the title battle between the three primary protagonists – and the three others who’ve worked their way into contention in recent weeks – doesn’t end in tears for any of them.

Last year proved a hugely pivotal weekend with the Ed Jones and Jack Harvey battle and contact, while Spencer Pigot kept his calm and cool throughout the weekend and moved into position to capture the Mazda advancement scholarship that came with winning the top rung of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder.

RC Enerson (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) and Sean Rayhall (8Star Motorsports) were the two race winners after the chaos.

Heading into Mid-Ohio this year, series sophomore Jones of Carlin holds a 24-point lead (268-244) on 2015 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires champion Santiago Urrutia, of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

A further eight points back is one of Jones’ two Carlin teammates, Felix Serralles, who is three points clear of the stealthily lurking Kyle Kaiser (Juncos Racing) and a further three clear of Dean Stoneman (Andretti Autosport).

After those three, who sit at 236, 233 and 230 points respectively, Zach Veach still has hope alive at 221 points for Belardi Auto Racing. The Stockdale, Ohio native, who will have local support from John Deere this weekend, needs a big one if he’s to stay in the fray.

The grid is reduced to a season-low 12 cars beyond the top half of the field, with the temporary absence of Felix Rosenqvist and the perhaps longer one of Juan Piedrahita after Toronto.

Rosenqvist is racing with past Indy Lights champion Tristan Vautier (2012) and Renger van der Zande in a Mercedes AMG GT3 at the Spa 24 Hours and Belardi is down to one car.

Meanwhile Team Pelfrey, the winning entrant here last year as 8Star, is down to just Garett Grist. Still though, the talented driver out of Grimsby, Ontario is something of a Mid-Ohio specialist – he has won here in both Pro Mazda and USF2000 previously and has five Mid-Ohio poles, including both at Mid-Ohio last year. TSO would not be surprised to see Grist secure his first top-five, or perhaps his first podium, in Indy Lights in one of the two races here this weekend.

TSO thinks we could see the second Belardi car back this year with Rosenqvist, who starred in testing an IndyCar for Target Chip Ganassi Racing last week, but it remains to be seen whether the second Pelfrey car comes back.

Andretti’s other two drivers, Shelby Blackstock and Dalton Kellett, are both hugely experienced at Mid-Ohio and enter this weekend on the heels of being announced to test an Andretti IndyCar next month at Watkins Glen (along with Stoneman).

Neil Alberico is also hugely experienced and a past Mid-Ohio winner for Carlin; it’s only Andre Negrao of Schmidt Peterson who’s down on Mid-Ohio experience by comparison. But the talented young Brazilian has scored podiums at both Road America and Toronto and could be poised to do likewise again this weekend.

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Practice 1 Recap:

Times dropped as the 30-minute opening practice, run from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m., went on this morning. It makes sense given how much the high grip, 2.258-mile road course rubbers in over the course of a session.

By the end of it, Santiago Urrutia – who won one of the two Pro Mazda races here last year – was the top car as the only driver in the 1:11 bracket at 1:11.953 in the Soul Red No. 55 Dallara IL-15 Mazda for Schmidt Peterson.

Shelby Blackstock, who traditionally runs well at Mid-Ohio and scored his first career Indy Lights podium here a year ago, was second in the session in his No. 51 Starstruck entry for Andretti Autosport. He was lowest in the 1:12s at 1:12.177.

Felix Serralles, Kyle Kaiser and Andre Negrao completed the top five in the first practice.

As for the other championship contenders? Points leader Ed Jones was only sixth, with Dean Stoneman in eighth.

Zach Veach later tweeted he had a turbo issue.

Times are below:

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 55 Santiago Urrutia 1:11.953 0.000 16
2 51 Shelby Blackstock 1:12.177 0.2238 16
3 4 Felix Serralles 1:12.403 0.4504 18
4 18 Kyle Kaiser 1:12.549 0.5959 16
5 17 Andre Negrao 1:12.560 0.6072 20
6 11 Ed Jones 1:12.565 0.6123 14
7 28 Dalton Kellett 1:12.595 0.6418 20
8 27 Dean Stoneman 1:12.621 0.6684 19
9 22 Neil Alberico 1:12.869 0.9161 16
10 3 Garett Grist 1:13.190 1.2372 21
11 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:13.510 1.5566 19
12 5 Zach Veach 1:13.551 1.5984 18

Practice 2 Recap:

We’d offer a practice two recap except for one slight problem: it didn’t happen.

Heavy rains that came down during the tail end of second IndyCar practice continued into the scheduled second Indy Lights session of the day, which was supposed to run from 3:30 to 4 p.m. ET and local time.

The one thing we did discover on Friday was that the Andretti Autosport team did diagnose the mechanical issue that sidelined Stoneman’s No. 27 Stellrecht Dallara IL-15 Mazda before it even got to run at Toronto’s second race.

The next session for Indy Lights is qualifying, which is scheduled from 7:50 to 8:20 a.m. ET and local time Saturday morning.

If it rains, the grid would be set by points – a situation which occurred at Iowa Speedway earlier this month.

We’ll check back in with more tomorrow from the Indy Lights paddock, as they qualify and have their first race.

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
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Veach Dominates at Road America to Become Seventh Indy Lights Winner

Posted by  on Saturday, June 25th 2016     
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Zach Veach has developed quite an affinity for the state of Wisconsin. Almost two years on from his most recent race win – at the historic Milwaukee Mile oval – the 21-year-old from Stockdale, Ohio, bounced back to prominence today at Elkhart Lake’s equally renowned Road America circuit by scoring an emphatic victory in the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Road America Presented by Cooper Tires.
Veach qualified his Belardi Auto Racing Dallara-Mazda IL-15 squarely on the pole, then led from flag to flag in the 40-minute, 20-lap race around the challenging 4.048-mile road course. England’s Dean Stoneman, driving for Andretti Autosport, and Carlin’s Felix Serralles, from Ponce, Puerto Rico, rounded out the podium.
Indy Lights’ eagerly awaited return to rural Wisconsin following a 25-year hiatus was witnessed by a huge crowd basking in warm sunshine. Veach made hay in the early stages while the remainder of the field fought for every inch of real estate in his mirrors. Points leader Ed Jones (Carlin) drafted past front row qualifier Santi Urrutia (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian) on the run toward Turn One, but worse was to come for the winner of the 2015 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires when Urrutia found himself squeezed over the curbs at Turn Five by Stoneman. Urrutia resumed in ninth, while Stoneman continued his charge by displacing Jones with an audacious pass on the uphill run toward Turn 13 on Lap Two.
Brazilian Andre Negrao (Schmidt Peterson) also was in the midst of the thrilling battle for second. Jones managed to regain the position with a fine move into Turn One on the third lap, whereupon Negrao’s attempt to overtake Stoneman under braking for Turn Five resulted in him being unceremoniously edged out onto the curb. An aggrieved Negrao resumed in 10th, while Stoneman was assessed a five-second penalty by the race stewards for his part in the incident.
The shuffling continued as Stoneman once again overtook Jones, this time on the approach to Canada Corner on Lap Seven. By then Veach’s advantage had grown to more than five seconds, although that was negated after seven laps when the full-course caution flags flew following a spin by Dalton Kellett at the exit of Canada Corner.
The interruption proved to be but a minor inconvenience to Veach, who again romped clear at the restart to become the seventh different winner in nine races in this year’s Indy Lights Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Stoneman couldn’t match the leader’s pace but did enough to retain second place – and pull out a sufficient margin over his pursuers to overcome his five-second penalty.
Serralles managed to find a way past Carlin teammate Jones to complete the podium, while Jones struggled with a broken front wing yet still managed to maintain fourth at the checkered flag.
Urrutia crossed the line in fifth but he, too, had been assessed a five-second penalty following contact with Juan Piedrahita (Team Pelfrey) in Turn Five which resulted in a spin for the Colombian and relegated him to ninth. Canadian rookie Zachary Claman De Melo inherited the position for Juncos Racing, but it was no more than he deserved after posting an impressive fastest race lap, at an average speed of 115.4403 mph, with just two laps remaining.
Jones now leads the championship standings by a margin of 23 points, 204-181, over Stoneman as the series heads next to the Iowa Speedway oval onJuly 9-10.
Zach Veach (#5 Belardi Auto Racing): “I have to say, 2016 has been quite a learning experience with the new car having come so close to winning the championship two years ago in the old car. I’ve had to completely change everything except the tracks I’m driving on, so I’m happy to finally turn it around. I was trying to build a gap early on, so I got a little worried when the second yellow came out. I was pretty comfortable, I thought I’d be able to drive it home from there. I’m really happy to be at Road America; I love this place. I raced here with USF2000 so I have to thank the Mazda Road to Indy for that.”

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Pos Car Driver Laps Points
1 5 Zach Veach 20 32
2 27 Dean Stoneman (R) 20 25
3 4 Felix Serralles 20 22
4 11 Ed Jones 20 19
5 13 Zachary Claman De Melo (R) 20 18
6 18 Kyle Kaiser 20 15
7 3 Garett Grist (R) 20 14
8 45 James French (R) 20 13
9 55 Santiago Urrutia (R) 20 12
10 17 Andre Negrao (R) 20 11
11 22 Neil Alberico (R) 20 10
12 2 Juan Piedrahita 20 9
13 51 Shelby Blackstock 20 8
14 28 Dalton Kellett (R) 6 7

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Zach Veach Celebrates his win in Race 1 at Road America

Zach Veach Celebrates his win in Race 1 at Road America

category: Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires

Freedom 100 – Indy Lights Practice and Qualifying

Posted by  on Thursday, May 26th 2016     

Indy Lights Logo

It’s a good thing the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires had three hours of test time on Monday, under much sunnier and clearer skies, to prep in advance for Friday’s Freedom 100.

Because the planned three-hour practice was cut in half on Thursday morning as INDYCAR officials entered into hurry-up mode to beat the weather with rain descending on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And then things got worse once qualifying got bumped up to a planned 11:15 a.m. start time after the practice was cut short at 10:30 a.m.

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PRACTICE

In the truncated 90-minute session, the propensity for surprise pacesetters continued with Team Pelfrey’s Juan Piedrahita leading the speed charts at a best speed of 197.957 mph. Piedrahita had one podium finish last year on an oval, third place at the Milwaukee Mile, and looks for his first this year if he can qualify the No. 2 Dallara IL-15 Mazda strongly.

Testing leader Zach Veach was second in the No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing car at 197.936 mph, and RC Enerson was third in the No. 7 Lucas Oil/Curb Records car for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at 197.672 mph.

The top 11 of 16 drivers were separated by 0.2977 of a second only, with Shelby Blackstock in 11th at 196.669 mph.

In the no-tow speed charts, speeds were in the 193 to 196 mph range. Piedrahita led that as well, at 196.852 mph, with Ed Jones second in the No. 11 Jebel Ali Resorts and Hotels car for Carlin at 196.622 mph.

There was one yellow flag for, and this is true, a dog on track. Here’s a quick video from Turn 1 about it.

Practice speeds are below.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps FSpeed
1 2 Juan Piedrahita 45.465 0.000 30 197.957
2 5 Zach Veach 45.469 0.0047 22 197.936
3 7 RC Enerson 45.530 0.0654 33 197.672
4 11 Ed Jones 45.535 0.0703 17 197.651
5 4 Felix Serralles 45.539 0.0745 27 197.633
6 55 Santiago Urrutia 45.569 0.1043 30 197.504
7 18 Kyle Kaiser 45.627 0.1623 39 197.252
8 3 Scott Hargrove 45.654 0.1900 34 197.133
9 22 Neil Alberico 45.665 0.2005 31 197.087
10 27 Dean Stoneman 45.724 0.2600 33 196.831
11 51 Shelby Blackstock 45.762 0.2977 28 196.669
12 28 Dalton Kellett 45.973 0.5083 34 195.768
13 17 Andre Negrao 46.023 0.5587 33 195.554
14 14 Felix Rosenqvist 46.120 0.6556 29 195.143
15 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 46.403 0.9382 41 193.954
16 77 Heamin Choi 46.541 1.0763 39 193.379

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QUALIFYING

Qualifying, meanwhile, was a damp squib – literally.

Half of the 16 cars got a qualifying attempt in before persistent rain decided to wreak havoc on the proceedings, and with the length of time it would take to dry the track, the decision was made to halt qualifying by Race Director Tony Cotman.

It means the grid for tomorrow’s race will be set according to current championship positions per the rulebook. That leaves Ed Jones on pole, ahead of Santiago Urrutia, Kyle Kaiser, Felix Serralles and Dean Stoneman.

Jones was leading the times when the session was halted, with a best speed of 197.125 over two laps.

“The Cooper tires really came in quickly and my Mazda engine performed perfectly,” Jones said. “It’s unfortunate that everyone else didn’t get a run in, but I think we would have been on the front row anyway. We did two pretty good laps and were sitting on pole when the weather came in. But it’s very different for me this year; I know what to expect. Everything I did last year was a guess, whereas this year, I was more confident.

Meanwhile there was a heavy accident for Canadian rookie Zachary Claman De Melo at Turn 1. The driver of the No. 13 Ugg/Seven for All Mankind/Vince/Vilebrequin Dallara IL-15 Mazda for Juncos Racing was checked and released.

The starting lineup, by points, is below.

Rank No Driver Points
1 11 Ed Jones 160
2 55 Santiago Urrutia (R) 139
3 18 Kyle Kaiser 139
4 4 Felix Serralles 125
5 27 Dean Stoneman (R) 125
6 14 Felix Rosenqvist (R) 108
7 5 Zach Veach 103
8 7 RC Enerson 101
9 17 Andre Negrao (R) 87
10 51 Shelby Blackstock 85
11 3 Scott Hargrove (R) 76
12 13 Zachary Claman De Melo (R) 72
13 2 Juan Piedrahita 69
14 28 Dalton Kellett (R) 66
15 22 Neil Alberico (R) 61
16 77 Heamin Choi (R) 5

Meanwhile here’s how the speeds were before De Melo’s accident and the rains came.

P No Name Speed
1 11 Ed Jones 197.125
2 3 Scott Hargrove 196.225
3 51 Shelby Blackstock 195.529
4 28 Dalton Kellett 194.978
5 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 195.099
6 22 Neil Alberico 194.920
7 17 Andre Negrao 194.384
8 18 Kyle Kaiser 193.297

Don’t miss any of the action

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
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Freedom 100 – Indy Lights Preview

Posted by  on Thursday, May 26th 2016     

Indy Lights Logo

A bigger crowd, a live TV appearance and bragging rights in the biggest race of the season.

It must be time for the Freedom 100, for the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Since the revived Indy Lights ran its first Freedom 100 at IMS in 2003, there’s been a bevy of surprises, some stunning finishes and a higher level of interest for this race than almost any other event on the Mazda Road to Indy schedule.

And when you consider 23 of the 33 starters in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 are Mazda Road to Indy graduates, including nine Indy Lights champions, you realize that the Freedom 100 is the site to meet and watch the rising stars before they run the “Greatest Spectacle of Racing.”

Indeed, a record nine Indy Lights champions have qualified for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500: Spencer Pigot (2015), Gabby Chaves (2014), Sage Karam (2013), Josef Newgarden (2011), JR Hildebrand (2009), Townsend Bell (2001), Scott Dixon (2000), Oriol Servia (1999) and Tony Kanaan (1997). In addition, Jon Beekhuis (1988) will work the pit lane for ABC, with Townsend Bell (2001) and Paul Tracy (1990) in the NBCSN booth.

Chaves and Newgarden, of those nine, are past Freedom 100 winners.

Winning the Freedom 100 hasn’t always been a guarantee of success for the rest of the season or for graduating into IndyCar.

Each of the first nine winners from Ed Carpenter in 2003 through Newgarden in 2011 graduated to IndyCar and made at least one series start. However, three of the last four winners – Esteban Guerrieri, Peter Dempsey and Jack Harvey – have a combined zero starts in IndyCar. Dempsey continues to work with Juncos Racing as an engineer, while Harvey has been present with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in coaching and spotting roles. He’s still keen to make it into IndyCar though and has been present this month at the Speedway.

So who might shine this Friday at noon ET, with live coverage on NBCSN?

TSO is particularly noting two series veterans – Zach Veach and RC Enerson – who are the two strongest bets to become the seventh different winner in eight races this year.

Veach, of Belardi Auto Racing, made it over 200 mph in testing at 201.455 mph in his No. 5 Dallara IL-15 Mazda during Monday’s test session. The lap time is unofficial, but nonetheless, the 22-year-old of Stockdale, Ohio is poised for his fourth career series win heading into this weekend.

“To be the first Indy Lights driver to go over 200 mph, then to be P1 in no-tow times and tow times for most of the afternoon is great,” he said. “I was beat in the tow times right at the end by my teammate. I never look at the speeds around here, so when I did the quick lap this morning and came in to the pits, I looked up at the pylon, saw 201 and had to ask if that was the average!

“The lap felt quick, but I didn’t know how quick this car needed to feel to be quick. We were working on qualifying setup this morning, so I set that on my second lap. It had to have had a tow in it somewhere, but we’re still in the 199s in no-tow times, so to be close to 200 mph on our own really speaks to how good our Belardi cars are. I’ve never felt so good going into a Freedom 100.”

Enerson, meanwhile, could lead the Schmidt Peterson four-car brigade this weekend. The native of New Port Richey, Fla., in the No. 7 Lucas Oil/Curb Records-backed car, has endured a number of mechanical woes throughout the season that have limited the talented 19-year-old from fulfilling his potential.

Schmidt Peterson enters this race having finished 1-2-3-4 last year, and with eight wins in the first 13 Freedom 100s (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009-2012, 2015). So whether its Enerson, Pro Mazda champion Santiago Urrutia or race rookies Andre Negrao and Heamin Choi, you expect their cars should be strong. Choi replaces Scott Anderson this race for his second start of the year, having also driven at Phoenix. Likable Brazilian Negrao, meanwhile, was apologetic and keen to recover after his pace lap accident took him out of the second race on the Indy road course before it even began.

While Veach is an oval veteran, teammate at Belardi Felix Rosenqvist makes only his second oval start. Rosenqvist led the afternoon test session on Monday and was wowed by his inaugural experience of the legendary 2.5-mile palace of speed.

“The last time I felt so excited driving a race car was when I was in Macau for the first time, in 2010. After that, nothing really seemed special until I came here. It’s just a fantastic track. It’s awesome to drive here. You have to be so committed turning in to the turns,” said the driver of the No. 14 car.

With Belardi having won in 2013 and 2014 – both in photo finishes led by Dempsey and Chaves – don’t put it past them winning their third Freedom 100 in four years this weekend.

TSO will also be monitoring Kyle Kaiser, team leader at Juncos Racing this year, who came out of the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend a happy camper to end on the podium. In the No. 18 InterVision/NetApp/Juniper Networks car, the cool Californian will look to capitalize on his year of experience and topple the Schmidt Peterson train this weekend. Teammate Zachary Claman De Melo will be learning throughout his first Freedom 100.

Carlin’s trio of points leader Ed Jones, Felix Serralles and rookie Neil Alberico will be interesting. The team is owed a better year on the IMS oval than it did last year. Max Chilton didn’t even get to start the race due to a pre-race fuel leak; Jones, meanwhile, had a late race crash that ended his hopes. Jones has been strong this season, of course, as the only two-time race winner and with a 21-point lead on both Urrutia and Kaiser. Alberico, fourth in testing on Monday and a guest photographer during Indianapolis 500 qualifying weekend, is due for a good result in his Rising Star Racing-supported entry, which sees PennGrade Motor Oil on the sidepods of his Carlin blue No. 22.

At Andretti Autosport, rookie Dean Stoneman is emerging as a man to watch. The Englishman bagged his first win in the most recent race on the Indy road course, and will look to emulate countryman Harvey as an Indy Lights winner of both the road course and oval races while in his No. 27 Stellrecht entry. Teammates Shelby Blackstock and Dalton Kellett should be good as well; Blackstock has an added bonus with mom Reba McEntire confirmed to give the command to fire the Mazda engines for the race.

Team Pelfrey struggled in Monday’s test and with neither Juan Piedrahita nor Scott Hargrove overflowing in confidence heading into the weekend – Hargrove having just returned from a one-off IMSA Porsche GT3 Canada event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – hopes aren’t particularly high here. But the beauty of having lower expectations is that when you exceed them, you become a pleasant surprise and a good story line.

What TSO is watching this weekend.

Tires, tires, tires. The Cooper Tires allow you to run slightly higher in the groove through the turns here than do their IndyCar brethren and as such, drivers may be a little more ambitious going into Turns 1 and 3. But beyond the additional half lane – perhaps full lane if you’re lucky – is tire management. Tire conservation over 40 laps and 100 miles is always a factor and he who hangs on best and most consistently will be one to reckon with in the final few laps.

The points championship is also very important to note here. Just 59 points separate the top half of the 16-car field, from first-placed Jones down to eighth-placed Enerson. A bad result here could knock you even further back and potentially cost you your championship hopes and the shot at the $1 million Mazda advancement scholarship that goes with it. With Rosenqvist, Veach and Enerson 52, 57 and 59 points in arrears, respectively, this could be a pivotal weekend to make hay or fall by the wayside.

Then, there’s a big rivalry starting to develop between Stoneman and Urrutia. It’s really getting scrappy between the two after the last weekend of the year at the Indy road course. If it’s the two of them battling for the win in the final laps, get your popcorn ready.

Freedom 100 schedule

Thursday, May 26, 2016

  • 9am-12pm – Practice
  • 1:15pm-2:15pm – Qualifying

Friday, May 27, 2016

  • 12:30pm-1:20pm – Freedom 100 (40 laps)

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Stoneman Fends Off Race-Long Pressure for First Indy Lights Win

Posted by  on Sunday, May 15th 2016     

Englishman Becomes Sixth Different Winner in Seven Races this Season INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Englishman Dean Stoneman made light of bitterly cold, windy conditions today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course to win another exciting Mazda Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires. The cancer survivor and former FIA Formula 2 champion took the…

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – Indy Lights – Race #2

Posted by  on Saturday, May 14th 2016     

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There’s no shortage of talent in the 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires series and another of those drivers who seemed on the verge of a victory, Andretti Autosport’s Dean Stoneman, broke through Saturday to become the sixth winner in seven races to start the year.

The driver of the No. 27 Stellrecht supported Dallara IL-15 Mazda started fifth but was in the lead at the end of the first green flag lap on Lap 3.

Why Lap 3, you ask? Because the craziness on a cold day at the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course began before the green flag even flew.

Here was the starting grid, and then here’s how the race evolved from there.

Rank Car Driver Time
1 11 Ed Jones 01:15.0014
2 55 Santiago Urrutia 01:15.0914
3 4 Felix Serralles 01:15.1006
4 14 Felix Rosenqvist 01:15.1164
5 27 Dean Stoneman 01:15.1669
6 7 RC Enerson 01:15.1987
7 5 Zach Veach 01:15.4457
8 77 Scott Anderson 01:15.4825
9 3 Scott Hargrove 01:15.5652
10 51 Shelby Blackstock 01:15.5707
11 18 Kyle Kaiser 01:15.6489
12 17 Andre Negrao 01:15.7930
13 28 Dalton Kellett 01:15.8319
14 22 Neil Alberico 01:15.8718
15 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 01:15.9174
16 2 Juan Piedrahita 01:15.9856

RC Enerson spun out of sixth on the grid exiting the final turn, Turn 14, but resumed without damage. Not as fortunate was his teammate at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, rookie Andre Negrao, who made a notable error by losing control of his car on the front straight when warming up his tires. He crashed into the outside retaining wall, knocking off his front wing and damaging both his left front suspension and left front Cooper tire in the process. Negrao limped back to pit lane and apologized to his team afterwards, while Enerson made it to Lap 3 before retiring with mechanical issues.

The first green flag lap, Lap 3, was equally as chaotic as the infamous – or perhaps legendary – Lap 27 in Friday’s first of two races where the lead changed hands three times following a restart.

Polesitter Ed Jones led away from Carlin teammate Felix Serralles and Stoneman, who started fifth, made it up to third. Serralles locked his brakes going in too deep into Turn 1, then proceeded to run through the grass, and claimed he got punted into the corner.

https://twitter.com/felixserralles/status/731552934471839749

Jones and Stoneman looked set to advance into first and second but Stoneman lost the second position to Belardi Auto Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist, who’d started fourth but made it up to second by corner exit.

Serralles, meanwhile, re-entered the course at driver’s left exiting Turn 2, and the field did well to stay right and avoid the stricken Carlin driver as he resumed back to speed.

Jones led Rosenqvist before Stoneman made a move of Rosenqvist on the outside for second on the run to Turn 7.

Then it all went haywire there at the second of two notable 90-degree turns, like Turn 1. Jones ran wide on corner exit and fell to eighth; behind them, Zach Veach clipped his teammate Rosenqvist into a spin to knock the Swede back in the field.

In the chaos, Stoneman led with Santiago Urrutia, who’d fallen back to fourth off his initial second starting position, back into second with Scott Anderson having survived all the madness and running third in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson entry – easily his best lap of the season.

The order was Stoneman, Urrutia, Anderson, Serralles and Scott Hargrove the top five with Kyle Kaiser, Shelby Blackstock, Jones, Juan Piedrahita and Zachary Claman De Melo the top 10.

Serralles quickly got around Anderson, who didn’t have the pace to remain as high up.

On Lap 7 Anderson ran wide ahead of Jones and De Melo and continued to drop.

Urrutia started closing a bit on Stoneman as the race progressed. The gap was 0.6375 of a second on Lap 8 and 0.3120 a lap later. The tightening at the top also allowed Serralles, who was often two to three tenths of a second quicker per lap, to close on Urrutia.

On Lap 12 Jones set what had been the fastest lap of the race to date as he tried to recover.

Serralles made it by Urrutia for second on Lap 14 around the outside into Turn 1.

The order on Lap 15 was Stoneman up by 0.7806 of a second over Serralles with Urrutia, Kaiser and now Jones in the top five. Rosenqvist, Hargrove and Anderson completed the top half of the field.

Hargrove, Anderson and De Melo ran seventh through ninth and got a bit too racey from there. Going into Turn 4 on Lap 18 De Melo tried a three-wide passing attempt and speared Hargrove, with Anderson stuck on the outside with nowhere to go. All three went into the gravel but the only driver to retire from the accident was De Melo. The race stayed green.

On Lap 22, Veach pitted for a new front wing, his primary wing having taken a battering from hitting Rosenqvist on the opening lap.

Up front Stoneman held the gap from Serralles and Urrutia.

The final dramatic moment of the race came on Lap 29. Serralles closed to within 0.4477 of a second on Lap 28, but a lap later went in too deep at Turn 12 and ran off course. That gave Stoneman more than a one-second buffer over Urrutia and promoted Kaiser to third with Serralles back to fourth.

Jones got Serralles for fourth a lap later, on Lap 30. Dalton Kellett and Neil Alberico also had off course excursions in the same time frame, with Alberico also sustaining front wing damage.

Urrutia closed to within half a second of Stoneman but got no closer.

Hargrove was on the tail end of the lead lap but did not come into play ahead of the leaders.

Stoneman came through 0.8659 of a second clear of Urrutia to claim the win over Kaiser in third, with Jones and Serralles completing the top five.

Post-race Stoneman was more relieved than anything, noting how much better the team has gotten despite no testing in preseason prior to Phoenix. He said he learned from his dramatic battle with Urrutia on Friday and defended expertly throughout the day.

Urrutia said he let Serralles by because he thought Serralles was faster, but he otherwise drove a smart race free of drama.

For Kaiser, the difference was using an extra set of sticker Cooper tires, noting many in the field hadn’t gone for that strategy throughout the weekend. Considering he said the Juncos Racing team didn’t have the outright fastest car this weekend, he was very pleased to come away with a podium. Having three years of track experience also meant he knew where the trouble spots were, and he was smart to avoid trouble throughout the weekend.

Jones maintained his points gap and unofficially leads Kaiser and Urrutia by 21 (160-139, with the latter two tied), while Stoneman moves into a tie with Serralles for fourth on 125 points. Rosenqvist (108), Veach (103) and Enerson (101) are also over the century mark in points before the series races the Freedom 100 on May 27.

Unofficial results are below.

P No Name Laps
1 27 Dean Stoneman 35
2 55 Santiago Urrutia 35
3 18 Kyle Kaiser 35
4 11 Ed Jones 35
5 4 Felix Serralles 35
6 14 Felix Rosenqvist 35
7 51 Shelby Blackstock 35
8 77 Scott Anderson 35
9 3 Scott Hargrove 35
10 5 Zach Veach 34
11 2 Juan Piedrahita 34
12 28 Dalton Kellett 34
13 22 Neil Alberico 29
14 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 18
15 7 RC Enerson 3
16 17 Andre Negrao —

—

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – Indy Lights – Warmup and Race #2 Grid

Posted by  on Saturday, May 14th 2016     

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You never want to be a guinea pig on a day where ambient temperatures are south of 50 degrees.

But with 46-degree ambient temperatures, the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires field of 16 competitors were first to venture out on the cold, dark and overcast 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for a crucial 20-minute morning warmup session to kick off the Mazda Road to Indy activity on Saturday.

Santiago Urrutia had a tough start to the session with IndyCar Radio reporting the driver of the No. 55 Soul Red Mazda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was stuck in the pits with an apparent fuel pump issue, which sidelined the Uruguayan for the remainder of the session.

After incidents in race one of the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis, both Team Pelfrey cars of Juan Piedrahita and Scott Hargrove, plus Andretti Autosport’s Dalton Kellett, all returned to the track.

Up front Felix Rosenqvist posted a best time of 1:15.4152 in the No. 14 Belardi Auto Racing entry ahead of Hargrove, Dean Stoneman, Friday winner and series points leader Ed Jones and Kyle Kaiser.

Zach Veach’s car, the second Belardi Dallara IL-15 Mazda, was stranded just prior to pit-in and needed a tow-in.

Warmup times are below.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 14 Felix Rosenqvist 1:15.415 0.000 10
2 3 Scott Hargrove 1:15.681 0.2655 10
3 27 Dean Stoneman 1:15.791 0.3760 12
4 11 Ed Jones 1:15.850 0.4351 14
5 18 Kyle Kaiser 1:15.872 0.4572 12
6 4 Felix Serralles 1:15.907 0.4915 14
7 17 Andre Negrao 1:15.994 0.5787 9
8 22 Neil Alberico 1:16.176 0.7612 14
9 77 Scott Anderson 1:16.230 0.8146 11
10 7 RC Enerson 1:16.298 0.8832 14
11 28 Dalton Kellett 1:16.311 0.8959 14
12 5 Zach Veach 1:16.348 0.9328 12
13 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:16.447 1.0313 11
14 2 Juan Piedrahita 1:16.620 1.2052 10
15 51 Shelby Blackstock 1:16.689 1.2736 14
16 55 Santiago Urrutia No Time — —

—

Meanwhile here’s the starting grid for race two of the weekend, which has an estimated 1:25 p.m. green flag.

Jones and Urrutia are set to resume their battle from Friday, with the pair of Felixes third and fourth and Stoneman starting fifth.

Rank Car Driver Time
1 11 Ed Jones 01:15.0014
2 55 Santiago Urrutia 01:15.0914
3 4 Felix Serralles 01:15.1006
4 14 Felix Rosenqvist 01:15.1164
5 27 Dean Stoneman 01:15.1669
6 7 RC Enerson 01:15.1987
7 5 Zach Veach 01:15.4457
8 77 Scott Anderson 01:15.4825
9 3 Scott Hargrove 01:15.5652
10 51 Shelby Blackstock 01:15.5707
11 18 Kyle Kaiser 01:15.6489
12 17 Andre Negrao 01:15.7930
13 28 Dalton Kellett 01:15.8319
14 22 Neil Alberico 01:15.8718
15 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 01:15.9174
16 2 Juan Piedrahita 01:15.9856

—

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Jones Wins at Indy, Becomes First Repeat Winner in Indy Lights Thriller

Posted by  on Saturday, May 14th 2016     

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After a disappointing weekend to begin his Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season in St. Petersburg, Ed Jones and the Carlin team have been on a tear. The Dubai-based Englishman this afternoon won a thrilling Mazda Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires contest at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand…

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – Indy Lights – Race #1

Posted by  on Friday, May 13th 2016     

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In 2013, Indy Lights staged one of the most dramatic finishes in racing history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a four-wide photo finish to the Freedom 100, won by Peter Dempsey.

In 2016, the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires made a Kodak moment on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with arguably one of the most dramatic restarts in recent memory in the closing laps of the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis, won by Ed Jones.

Though polesitter Jones, of Carlin, delivered in a flag-to-flag triumph for his second win of the year, saying it was just a straightforward pole-to-flag victory would not do this restart – and the finish of this race – justice.

Jones took his No. 11 Jebel Ali Resorts and Hotels Dallara IL-15 Mazda to the win over the Soul Red No. 55 Mazda of Santiago Urrutia and the No. 27 Stellrecht Andretti Autosport entry of Dean Stoneman, and how they got there came courtesy of Stoneman’s lap number – 27 – being the deciding lap.

At the start of the 30-lap race, Jones held the lead from Urrutia in second, with RC Enerson making a run in his No. 7 Schmidt Peterson car up to third. Slight contact occurred between the SPM teammates and Enerson, who was on the outside with Urrutia in the middle and Jones on the inside, was forced off course into the runoff area of oval Turn 4 on the 2.439-mile road course.

Behind them, Kyle Kaiser was forced to take evasive action and there was a separate incident where Zachary Claman De Melo, Neil Alberico and Shelby Blackstock all lost time in the melee. De Melo was spun around and the three of them fell to the rear of the 16-car field.

After the first lap, Jones led Stoneman, second-starting Felix Rosenqvist, Urrutia, Zach Veach and Scott Anderson. Enerson and Kaiser fell to 11th and 12th.

A further incident occurred on Lap 2 when Dalton Kellett hit Juan Piedrahita entering Turn 1, with both cars sustaining too much damage to contine. A less than pleased Piedrahita told IndyCar Radio he thought Kellett had no idea what he was doing, following a rare mistake from the Canadian.

On Lap 6, Urrutia passed Rosenqvist for third on the inside of Turn 12.

On Lap 10, Jones led Stoneman by 0.8321 of a second with Urrutia, Rosenqvist, Veach and Felix Serralles the top six.

By Lap 15, the only change at the top of the order was Serralles by Veach for fifth place.

Enerson, who’d been trying to recover from the first lap, then closed on Anderson for seventh. He tried a move at Turn 7 on Lap 20 but overcooked his entry and locked the brakes.

Things escalated two laps later once Enerson was already past. Anderson and Scott Hargrove in the No. 3 Team Pelfrey entry collided entering Turn 12 and the damage, with Hargrove’s car high-sided, brought out a full course caution.

And that was what led to the dramatic finish.

The restart was initially planned for Lap 26 but was waved off after the formation was out of order. Jones led Stoneman, Urrutia, Rosenqvist, Serralles and Veach.

Then Lap 27 happened.

To start it off, Jones had to defend against both Stoneman and Urrutia. Jones held his lane in the middle of the track going into Turn 1 before Stoneman went to the inside and made it past for the lead. Jones locked up on corner entry but was able to sustain enough momentum to carry through the corner; problem was, Urrutia then made it through on the inside into second.

Rosenqvist tried to get a run on the ailing Jones but when he caught him, he got caught in dirty air. Serralles then tried to get a run on Rosenqvist but was unable to pass.

Stoneman led Urrutia into Turn 7, but gradually, then more increasingly, moved to driver’s left heading into the 90-degree left-hander. Urrutia made it past Stoneman into the corner but both drivers ran wide on corner exit, and so Jones had a path through on the inside to retake the lead after Stoneman and Urrutia had both held it.

The Stoneman/Urrutia lead battle then hurt both of them exiting the corner and they fell into the Felix battle of Serralles and Rosenqvist.

Serralles then proceeded to pull off a double move, briefly getting into third in the No. 4 Carlin car after passing to Rosenqvist’s inside for a right-hander and then to Stoneman’s outside for a left-hander. But then he ran wide exiting Turn 10 and the would-be third place fell away from him; Stoneman and Rosenqvist got back by immediately and Veach tried a corner later for fifth. There were several other cars – Kaiser, Andre Negrao and even Blackstock – who tried to make headway in the closing laps.

The crescendo of activity started and peaked at Lap 27 and following that, the race ran to a less dramatic conclusion, but still with Jones up front and winning by 0.9501 from Urrutia and 1.8290 from Stoneman.

It was the same podium as at Barber last race, albeit in a different order – Urrutia and Jones swapped spots following Urrutia’s Turn 5 pass there. Carlin now joins the list of recent winners at IMS after Schmidt Peterson and 8Star won here last year.

Rosenqvist and Veach made it two Belardi cars in the top five, with Kaiser recovering nicely to sixth ahead of Serralles, Enerson, Blackstock and Negrao in the top 10.

Unofficially Jones has 140 points having extended his championship lead, with Kaiser on 117 and Urrutia on 114. Serralles is fourth with 109.

After the race Jones said he was probably a little more cautious this year than he might have been last year. He worked to avoid collisions and then capitalized on his opportunity.

Urrutia had a loose race car for most of the race, but said the balance wasn’t off too bad following his hectic first lap. When he tried to move on Stoneman, he said Stoneman was working hard to close the door, and that opened the door for Jones.

Stoneman said he felt he had a lot left to use, with the Safety Car proving a valuable assist. He said the team is using the first day of a weekend as a test day to get better; he expects to start fifth and said he knows what he needs to go quicker.

Unofficial results are below and the second race of the weekend occurs tomorrow at 1:25 p.m.

P No Name Laps
1 11 Ed Jones 30
2 55 Santiago Urrutia 30
3 27 Dean Stoneman 30
4 14 Felix Rosenqvist 30
5 5 Zach Veach 30
6 18 Kyle Kaiser 30
7 4 Felix Serralles 30
8 7 RC Enerson 30
9 51 Shelby Blackstock 30
10 17 Andre Negrao 30
11 22 Neil Alberico 29
12 77 Scott Anderson 29
13 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 29
14 3 Scott Hargrove 22
15 2 Juan Piedrahita 2
16 28 Dalton Kellett 1

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