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Meet the Contenders: Santi Urrutia
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Meet the Contenders: Kyle Kaiser
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Meet the Contenders: Oliver Askew
With the single-race season finale at Watkins Glen looming large, Askew understandably prefers to focus on the things he can control and let the chips fall where they may.
“It would solidify my place on the Mazda Road to Indy and my career path. It would be my third scholarship in a year and a half, which is the kind of thing you dream of. I can’t believe that I’m in this situation – a year ago I was in the worst place of my life. I didn’t know if I could even continue racing so to be here, with the possibility of winning another scholarship and continuing my racing career, is surreal.”
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Meet the Contenders: Rinus VeeKay
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Martin Tightens Pro Mazda Title Rivalry by Winning at Mid-Ohio
LEXINGTON , Ohio. – Anthony Martin, from Perth, Australia, scored a narrow victory over title rival Victor Franzoni, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, this afternoon in the first of three races which will comprise the Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Presented by Allied Building Products. The pair are now separated by just three points as they chase a Mazda Scholarship worth over $790,000 to assist in the progression to Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the final step on the Mazda Road to Indy open-wheel development ladder, in 2018.
Californian TJ Fischer rebounded from a disappointing weekend at Road America last month to complete the podium for Team Pelfrey.
Qualifying this morning for Round Seven of this year’s Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires threw up a surprise as Fischer’s young Brazilian teammate, Carlos Cunha, claimed the pole position ahead of title rivals Martin and Franzoni, who came into the weekend separated by just seven points after each winning three times in the opening six rounds.
After the first attempt at a start was waved off, Cunha edged away cleanly at the second time of asking, but he led only as far as Turn Four where a bold move to the inside under braking enabled Martin to claim the position. A close-following Franzoni also took advantage of his countryman’s loss of momentum to sneak through into second place.
The two leaders quickly stretched their lead, trading fastest laps as they edged away from Cunha, who in turn was unable to shake off Fischer.
Martin and Franzoni were never separated by more than a second, even as they worked their way past some slower traffic, but Martin maintained the upper hand to win by just 0.3847 second, securing Cape Motorsports its fourth Pro Mazda race win in succession at Mid-Ohio dating back to 2015 and yet another PFC Award.
The battle for third was just as intense until Lap 18, when Cunha inadvertently made contact with the lapped car of Jeff Green (Juncos Racing) at Turn Two. Cunha, who had been struggling with excessive understeer, was assessed a drive-through penalty but ended up losing only one position to Fischer – and still finishing ahead of the third Team Pelfrey car of Nikita Lastochkin, who had started a lowly seventh.
Max Hanratty (ArmsUp Motorsports), from Milwaukee, Wis., claimed sixth place and the Staubli Award following a race-long battle with Kris Wright (JDC MotorSports), from Pittsburgh, Pa.
Bob Kaminsky from Homer Glen, Ill., finished eighth overall and won the National Class for the third time this season, closing to within one point of Brendan Puderbach in the point standings.
Another qualifying session at 8:35 a.m. tomorrow will set the grid for this weekend’s second and third races, which will be held at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday and 10:20 a.m. on Sunday.
Anthony Martin (#8 Mazda/Burgess BLA-Cape Motorsports): “It was a perfect day – we just have to do that two more times this weekend! It’s a “one down” type feeling today, since we’re only halfway through our season. I have to focus forward and get as many points as I can. I got a good run on Carlos coming out of the Keyhole and was able to get to the inside of him, though I think the right side of my car was in the grass. It was quite slippery under braking but I was able to get past. I locked it up going through the corner but I was able to gather it up and go on my merry way. It was hard having someone filling up your mirrors so you have to focus on making no mistakes. It’s hard to pass here so I just had to be fast in the places he was fast. The Capes have done well here in the past so that gives me the motivation to push hard because I know I have the equipment to do it.”
Victor Franzoni (#23 Juncos Racing): “The points are really even now so we have to go for the win and try to increase that again. But today really came down to qualifying. The track changed so much between practice and qualifying and we were lost. The whole Juncos team sat down after qualifying and they gave me a great car to race. I was faster than Anthony but I couldn’t pass him. I had to let off to get a gap so I could get the point for the fastest lap. But we have found the car and are fast again and that will be important for the rest of the weekend.”
TJ Fischer (#82 Project O2-Team Pelfrey): “It’s been a very challenging weekend so far, so thanks to the Pelfrey team for working so hard. I hung in there during the race and was able to get by Carlos. We’ll hit the reset button and plan for qualifying tomorrow – two laps there will change your world, since Race Two goes off your quick lap and Race Three goes off your second quick lap. You have to bank not one, but two good laps so now that we’re in a good position, we’ll do our best to get to the front.”
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Askew Takes Win Number Seven of the Season at Mid-Ohio
LEXINGTON, Ohio – Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda rookie Oliver Askew was under a lot of pressure as he arrived at the challenging Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a pair of races this week that could well determine the outcome of the championship and a Mazda Scholarship worth almost $400,000 which will assist in graduation to the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, the next level on the Mazda Road to Indy open-wheel development ladder, in 2018.
The 20-year-old from Jupiter, Fla., in his first full season of car racing, had seen his once comfortable 60-point advantage whittled away to just 18 markers over fellow rookie Rinus VeeKay (Pabst Racing), from Hoofddorp, The Netherlands, with only three races remaining in the season. Today, Askew qualified Cape Motorsports’ Soul Red Tatuus-Mazda USF-17 comfortably on pole position, then led throughout the 30-minute race to secure his seventh win out of 12 races.
USF2000 veteran Parker Thompson, from Red Deer, Alb., Canada, who scored the first two victories for the Exclusive Autosport team just two weeks ago on the streets of Toronto, continued his excellent form by finishing a strong second ahead of title aspirant VeeKay.
Subsequently, Askew, who had on probation for previous start violations, was adjudged to have accelerated before the prescribed marker at the initial start and was assessed a 10-point championship penalty. He now leads VeeKay by 19 points with only one more race tomorrow and the season finale at Watkins Glen International in early September remaining.
Askew led from Kohl at the start, with Thompson and VeeKay anxiously looking for a way past. Thompson made his move for second place stick on the third lap, while VeeKay followed suit next time around. The trio traded fastest laps as they pulled well clear of Kohl, who in turn was under no pressure from teammate Calvin Ming, from Guyana, South America.
Just when it looked like Askew had the race under control, an incident between Kaylen Frederick (Team Pelfrey), from Potomac, Md., and Moises de le Vara (DEForce Racing), from Guadalajara, who were battling mightily over seventh place, ended with contact at Turn Five, which necessitated a full-course caution. The restart came with less than five minutes remaining, and Askew was up for the challenge as he made an exemplary getaway to cement his advantage over Thompson and VeeKay.
Askew took the checkered flag 1.3282 seconds in front of Thompson, with his constant shadow VeeKay – on his very first visit to Mid-Ohio – right behind in third.
Kohl held on for fourth ahead of Ming and David Malukas (BN Racing), from Chicago Ridge, Ill., who earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award following his impressive drive from 17th on the grid. Frederick, Kory Enders (DEForce Racing), from Warwick, N.Y., who snagged the Staubli Award, and Darren Keane (Newman Wachs Racing), from Parkland, Fla., also were in close attendance at the finish line.
The Cape brothers, Dominic and Nicholas, claimed another PFC Award as the winning team owners.
Qualifying for the penultimate round of the 14-race season will take place tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. EDT, followed by the green flag at 12:10 p.m.
Oliver Askew (#3 Mazda Motorsports/MC Racing-Cape Motorsports): “The penalty doesn’t change my mindset. The focus is to just keep on winning races and the championship will come in the end. We have the speed to qualify on pole and that’s huge here because it is quite difficult to pass. There was a ton of pressure going into this weekend and that pressure is still there. Cape Motorsports has dominated here the past few years, winning every race, so I know I’ll have a fast car again tomorrow and can go for the pole and the win again.”
Parker Thompson (#91 Exclusive Autosport Openhwy): “I’m going to try to get as many wins for Exclusive Autosport as I can and when the dust settles on the championship, then it settles. I knew going in that I had a mathematical shot at the championship but realistically, it was going to be pretty hard to close that gap up. We had a shot for pole and for a win and that’s great. We ran old tires in the race today so that we would have new tires for qualifying and Race Two tomorrow, which puts us on a different strategy than everyone else so that’s going to be interesting!”
Rinus VeeKay (#21 Jumbo Supermarkets The Netherlands/Total-Pabst Racing): “It was tough after qualifying. I had a pretty good session but I had a two-position grid penalty which put me in P4 and I was not so happy with that. I went into the race not sure what was going to happen, but focusing on just running hard. Third was the best spot I could get but it wasn’t enough to catch Oliver. We are going to go back now, watch videos, look at a lot of data and try to learn as much as possible. Hopefully we’ll have a super qualifying and win tomorrow to take some of these points back.”
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Askew Romps to Sixth Win of the Season in Sole Oval Outing
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Leist Wins Iowa Speedway Thriller
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Claman DeMelo Maintains Carlin’s Indy Lights Streak with Emphatic First Win
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VeeKay’s USF2000 Dutch Delight for Local Pabst Team at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – A dramatic first of two Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Road America Powered by Mazda races this afternoon ended with Dutch teenager Rinus VeeKay claiming an emphatic maiden victory for the locally based Pabst Racing team.
Chicago’s David Malukas, in just his second USF2000 weekend, qualified on pole and finished second for BN Racing, while Brazilian youngster Lucas Kohl drove by far his most impressive race since joining Pabst Racing this season by finishing in third.
Making light of difficult, drying conditions this morning in qualifying, Malukas also took full advantage of some setup work completed recently by former USF2000 race winner (and current Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires points leader) Victor Franzoni to claim the pole. Runaway series leader Oliver Askew qualified second for Cape Motorsports, but it was his distinctive Soul Red Tatuus USF-17 which jumped into the lead as soon as the green flag flew.
Malukas, having been caught out slightly, tucked into second place before making his move back into the lead on the long downhill run between Turns Three and Five. The Pabst pair, VeeKay and Kohl, also became embroiled in a thrilling battle for the lead which lasted for almost half of the 30-minute race.
Malukas used every inch of the race track to maintain his advantage for the first four laps, but it seemed to be only a matter of time before VeeKay would make his move. Sure enough, next time around, the Dutchman drafted past to take the lead.
Askew posted the fastest lap of the race on Lap Six as he continued to battle for second with Malukas, but just as he seemed set to make the position his own – and perhaps even re-challenge VeeKay for the lead — he abruptly slowed and pulled into the pit lane. The camber shims had inexplicably worked loose on his left-front wheel, causing a severe vibration. Some rapid work by the crew enabled the Floridian to rejoin at the back of the field in time to salvage a 17th-place finish.
VeeKay extended his lead to almost six seconds at the checkered flag. Malukas earned the Staubli Award by finishing a clear second ahead of Kohl and Guyanan Calvin Ming, who fought his way from 15th on the grid to fourth in a third Pabst Racing entry. Ming easily secured the Tilton Hard Charger Award. The PFC Award went to winning car owner Augie Pabst III, whose Oconomowoc, Wis.-based organization has now moved ahead of Cape Motorsports into the lead of the Team Championship.
Canadian Parker Thompson took fifth for Exclusive Autosport, followed by Team Pelfrey’s Kaylen Frederick, who also had a lot of ground to make up after qualifying 12th. Frederick just got the better of teammate Robert Megennis in the closing stages, while Devin Wojcik, driving for another local team, ArmsUp Motorsports from Sheboygan Falls, Wis., just nipped Illinois racer Colin Kaminsky (John Cummiskey Racing) for eighth on the final lap.
VeeKay’s well deserved victory enabled him to virtually halve the deficit to Askew from 60 points to 34 (193-159) heading into tomorrow’s eighth round of the 14-race Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season. Another qualifying session later this afternoon will set the grid, with the green flag set for 2:10 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Live timing and live streaming will be available on the Road To Indy TV App, at RoadToIndy.TV, usf2000.com and indycar.com.
Rinus VeeKay #21 Jumbo Supermarkets The Netherlands/Total-Pabst Racing): “It feels so great to finally win! When I was coming up the hill to the finish, I was just screaming on the radio – my engineer must have pain in his ears! I was so happy for me and for the team, to finally get a win and for it to be here, at their home race. I learned to be very patient in this race. I was behind Oliver and David early and sometimes when I made a move, it worked and sometimes I made a little mistake. But I learned from it. It was a great battle – we touched wheels but it was very fair, a real fight like you want to have. I love this track, it reminds me of Spa, with the long straights with very technical corners. It really brings the driving part of you out. I can’t wait for tomorrow!”
David Malukas (#79 BN Racing): “The first part of the race was really fun, three-wide and two-wide in almost every corner. Every corner was another pass! After that, it was a matter of basically accepting what had just happened. I will say, I was a little surprised to be on pole, and by such a big margin. Victor Franzoni has been coaching me here and that has been a big help – without him, I don’t think we’d be here right now. My Dad used to drive a Corvette here so he taught me some of the tips and tricks as well, but I’d only driven here once before, when we tested a few weeks ago. I’ve been driving in Europe, so this is only my sixth race (weekend) in a car. The team has worked day and night since Indy – that was our first race in the series and we were so new to everything. We had older tires on the car today so we’ll put new ones on tomorrow and see what we can do.”
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