Archives for Mazda Road To Indy PR

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

GARETT GRIST TO MAKE DEBUT WITH TEAM PELFREY INDY LIGHTS

Posted by  on Thursday, June 16th 2016     

Team Pelfrey logo

GARETT GRIST TO MAKE DEBUT WITH TEAM PELFREY INDY LIGHTS

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. (June 14, 2016) – Team Pelfrey Indy Lights announced today that Mazda Road to Indy veteran Garett Grist will pilot the No. 3 BuyGapGuard.com Team Pelfrey Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Mazda machine for the remaining road course races in 2016.

“I am very excited to be joining team Pelfrey for the rest of the 2016 Indy Lights season,” said Grist. “The team has proven they can win races and run up front. I’d like to thank Dale Pelfrey for the opportunity he has given me. It wouldn’t be possible without him and my other supporters, Lander Property Management and Mac tools.”

The Grimsby, Ontario-native has been competing in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires for the past two and a half seasons, recording 5 wins and 30 top-10 finishes. The 21 year-old finished third in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered By Mazda in 2013 and repeated the feat during the 2015 Pro Mazda season.

“I have been watching Garett for quite some time now,” said Team Pelfrey Indy Lights Team Manager, Gary Neal. “I am very happy that we have been able to put together a program for Garett to join Team Pelfrey Indy Lights team for the final road course events this season to prepare him for a full program in 2017. Our expectations at the track are always to be in the mix for the win and we aim to deliver a competitive car for Garett in his first event at Road America.”

Grist’s first race with the team will come at the inaugural Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Road America Presented by Cooper Tires. He is partnered with Mac Tools, Spyder Active, Lander Property Management, Sparco and Bell Helmets. He will be teaming up with Juan Piedrahita in a pair of trademark yellow Team Pelfrey Indy Lights cars.

“We know it won’t be easy coming in half way through the year. But we plan to workhard, and improve every time we are on track. I am looking forward to working with everyone on the team and learning from each of them,” said Grist.

Rounds 9 and 10 of the 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season take place June 24-26 at the historic 4.048-mile, 14-turn Road America circuit. You can follow Garett on Instagram @GarettGrist and Team Pelfrey Indy Lights @TeamPelfrey on twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

category: Team Pelfrey
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Lucas Oil Raceway – USF2000, Pro Mazda Races

Posted by  on Saturday, May 28th 2016     

USF2000 logo

Who says you need a huge field to make a competitive race?

Despite a sizable drop from 27 cars at the most recent Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race at the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend to just 12 cars for Friday night’s Mazda Freedom 75 at Lucas Oil Raceway, traffic and drama still were present during the seventh round of the season to kick off the Mazda Road to Indy doubleheader race.

Australia’s Anthony Martin out of Kalgoorlie in the No. 8 Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing entry was cagier and more decisive in traffic, using slower traffic to his advantage to pass and beat teammate and polesitter Parker Thompson, in the No. 2 car, out of Red Deer, Alberta.

The decisive moment of the race came on Lap 62. Thompson was leading over Martin before the two drivers encountered Austin McCusker of Chastain Motorsports, the rookie who was running several laps down.

Thompson tried to surpass McCusker exiting Turn 2 but lost momentum on corner exit, which allowed a hole for Martin to pass him for the lead and ultimately, the win.

It was a breakthrough pass for Martin, who had come close on the low side a couple laps earlier through the corners but was unable to pass.

From pole, Thompson led Martin, Victor Franzoni, Jordan Lloyd, Robert Megennis, Yufeng Luo, Ayla Agren, Luke Gabin, McCusker, Lucas Kohl, Dakota Dickerson and Garth Rickards at the end of the first lap.

Minor movement occurred further down the order with Rickards getting Dickerson and later McCusker, with Dickerson also around McCusker by Lap 15. By Lap 20, the overall leaders had caught the Chastain driver.

For a couple laps from Laps 21 and 22, Thompson and Martin ran side-by-side with Thompson able to defend the lead. Gabin, Kohl and Dickerson also had a good battle further down the order.

At halfway on Lap 38, it was still Thompson clear of Martin by 0.6 of a second with Franzoni and Lloyd running unopposed in third and fourth and Megennis seeking to defend fifth from Luo.

While Thompson stretched the lead to north of a second he wasn’t able to fully sustain it when cycling through traffic and by Lap 50, he only had a 0.5 of a second gap to Martin.

It closed to just 0.2196 of a second on Lap 60 with Martin continuing to surge, also having saved his Cooper Tires over the course of the stint, and then came the dramatic moment.

Martin made it past on Lap 62 and led the remaining laps to the finish to secure his second win of the year by 1.3037 seconds.

It’s also Cape’s fifth consecutive win this season and first for the team at Lucas Oil Raceway since Neil Alberico in 2013. A year earlier in 2012, Spencer Pigot beat teammate Matthew Brabham, following a similar, thrilling battle for the lead.

Franzoni ended third for his third podium in a row and fourth this season, with Lloyd fourth and Luo having gotten around Megennis for sixth. Those were the only six drivers to finish on the lead lap.

After the race, Martin admitted the rarity his car was actually more comfortable on the low side of the track and that helped him when it came to making the pass for the win. He was ebullient with a smile as wide as the 0.686-mile oval.

Thompson looked more downcast having lost a sure win, but that being said, noted that a mechanical failure on an already reduced test day on Thursday limited his running and his practice. Although he and Martin are teammates and both ran for single-car teams here last year (JDC Motorsports and John Cummiskey Racing, respectively), the data points aren’t similar because both have such different driving styles. Thompson called the opportunity to lead the Freedom 100 in his Cape car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the pace laps one of his racing career highlights.

With Franzoni having run alone most of the race, he was pleased to bag another podium. He said the team really needs to make up points at Road America if he is to have any shot of catching the Cape twins for the title.

The 75-lap race ran caution free, complete in just under half an hour.

Results are below.

P No Name Laps
1 8 Anthony Martin 75
2 2 Parker Thompson 75
3 9 Victor Franzoni 75
4 21 Jordan Lloyd 75
5 23 Yufeng Luo 75
6 80 Robert Megennis 75
7 22 Garth Rickards 74
8 33 Ayla Agren 74
9 18 Dakota Dickerson 74
10 34 Lucas Kohl 73
11 91 Luke Gabin 72
12 5 Austin McCusker 70
13 72 Tazio Ottis —

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Pro Mazda Logo

The Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires seventh round of the season, the Cooper Tires Freedom 90, was not the world’s most entertaining race but it still had a fair bit of intrigue to see whether Pato O’Ward’s incredible run of form to start the year would roll on.

Spoiler alert: It did.

The talented 17-year-old out of Monterrey, Mexico took his sixth win in seven races in the No. 80 Gap Guard/Topo Chico car for Team Pelfrey, in a flag-to-flag triumph and first win on an oval in his Pro Mazda career.

Throughout the race, O’Ward defended from Garett Grist, who advanced to second off the start of the race around Juncos Racing teammate Nicolas Dapero. With O’Ward having taken the high line on the start, he had the edge and Grist was able to power past his teammate on the opening lap.

As it turned out, Grist’s pass of Dapero for second was the only pass for position in the entire field, in the entire race. The drivers who started first, then fourth through eighth, all finished directly where they started with the short field.

Grist stayed within a few tenths of a second of O’Ward throughout the race and by Lap 75, he was only 0.2 of a second behind and closing.

But O’Ward controlled the gap and won by 0.4117 of a second.

Grist, in the No. 5 Lander Property Management/Mac Tools/Blacklist Lifestyle car and teammate Dapero, the Argentine rookie in the No. 31 Federal Seguros/American Brocker/S.O.S car, completed the podium and both had their best finishes of the season.

For Dapero, it is his first podium of his Pro Mazda career. It’s also his first top-five finish; the 18-year-old’s best prior result was seventh, twice, at both Barber races.

Jake Parsons and Aaron Telitz finished where they started in fourth and fifth. Telitz, who had been O’Ward’s closest title rival, should hold second in the championship albeit a ways back.

With Will Owen in sixth, Grist will move ahead of him for third in points. Grist entered the race two points behind him and two points ahead of Nico Jamin.

The Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing twins of Jamin and Jake Eidson were non-factors and also ended where they started at the tail end of the field.

The 90-lap race took barely more than 32 minutes to complete and like the USF2000 race earlier, without a caution.

For O’Ward, he was incredibly satisfied to have – along with the Team Pelfrey team – made huge strides with its oval setup compared to last year. Having controlled the race from the start, O’Ward noted how hard it was to save tires over the 90 laps, but his added experience paid dividends. As has been the case with every weekend thus far, he’s hoping for further support to continue his outstanding start to the season. But he called his leading the field in his Pro Mazda car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of the Freedom 100 an amazing moment in his career.

Grist, admittedly, was disappointed with second. The talented Canadian has a good record here – second, first, fourth and second in four starts – but has had to struggle with finishing further behind O’Ward in most race this year. That being said, he knew how to make a move on the start and that was enough to get him into second place.

Dapero blamed his loss of position on the start to a lack of experience. But considering this was his first oval race ever and all he had as a reference point was private testing, he was overjoyed to grace his first podium in the Mazda Road to Indy. It means that all four Juncos Racing drivers have now scored at least one podium finish this season.

Pro Mazda runs next a doubleheader at Road America at the end of June.

Results are below.

P No Name Laps
1 80 Pato O’Ward 90
2 5 Garett Grist 90
3 31 Nicolas Dapero 90
4 00 Jake Parsons 90
5 82 Aaron Telitz 90
6 23 Will Owen 90
7 2 Nico Jamin 90
8 3 Jake Eidson 89
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda News/Results, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
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Lucas Oil Raceway – Pro Mazda, USF2000 Qualifying

Posted by  on Friday, May 27th 2016     

Pro Mazda Logo

The Pato O’Ward show rolled on in Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires qualifying, with the No. 80 Gap Guard/Topo Chico entry taking the pole position for tonight’s Cooper Tires Freedom 90 at the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, Ind.

O’Ward, 17, headed into the weekend with a pre-race engine change but still not slowing down on the heels of his five wins in six races to open the campaign.

He’ll look for his first oval win tonight after wins at St. Petersburg (street course), Barber Motorsports Park (road course) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course (infield road course).

Compared to the usual Team Pelfrey domination in Pro Mazda, it’s actually two Juncos Racing cars behind him. Nicolas Dapero has a career-best second place on the grid, ahead of Garett Grist.

Nico Jamin slotted into fourth in the first of the two Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing cars ahead of Jake Parsons (Juncos), Aaron Telitz (Pelfrey), Will Owen (Juncos) and Jake Eidson.

The 90-lap race is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. ET. Qualifying speeds are below.

P No Name FTime
1 80 Pato O’Ward 119.860
2 31 Nicolas Dapero 118.634
3 5 Garett Grist 118.668
4 2 Nico Jamin 118.344
5 00 Jake Parsons 118.333
6 82 Aaron Telitz 117.791
7 23 Will Owen 117.830
8 3 Jake Eidson 116.227

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USF2000 logo

Qualifying for tonight’s Mazda Freedom 75 for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda is in the books from Lucas Oil Raceway, with Parker Thompson scoring the pole in his No. 2 Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing entry.

The young Canadian lapped the 0.686-mile oval at a two-lap average speed of 109.599 mph, which slotted him ahead of teammate Anthony Martin in the No. 8 car.

The Cape team has not won at Lucas Oil Raceway since 2013 when Neil Alberico scored the victory. ArmsUp Motorsports won in 2014 with Aaron Telitz, while Pabst Racing’s Jake Eidson beat the Cape twins of Nico Jamin and Telitz last year.

Jordan Lloyd rolls off third for Pabst ahead of Victor Franzoni of ArmsUp. Robert Megennis, in the lone standing Team Pelfrey entry, completes the top five. Seems hard to believe, but tonight marks Lloyd’s first oval start.

The already reduced field of 14 cars dropped to one with Nikita Lastochkin, the third Cape car, pulling out of the weekend after testing and had another car had an accident in qualifying. Tazio Ottis spun through Turn 2 and hit the outside retaining wall. The JDC Motorsports crew will now need to work to repair the No. 72 car before the race.

The 75-lap race goes green at 6:10 p.m. Meanwhile, qualifying results are below.

P No Name Speed
1 2 Parker Thompson 109.599
2 8 Anthony Martin 109.512
3 21 Jordan Lloyd 108.764
4 9 Victor Franzoni 108.702
5 80 Robert Megennis 108.625
6 33 Ayla Agren 107.453
7 23 Yufeng Luo 106.992
8 5 Austin McCusker 106.329
9 91 Luke Gabin 106.270
10 34 Lucas Kohl 106.421
11 22 Garth Rickards 104.498
12 18 Dakota Dickerson 63.014

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Don’t miss any of the action

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda News/Results
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Indy/Lucas Oil Raceway – Tatuus USF-17 Reveal, Pro Mazda and USF2000 Practice Notes

Posted by  on Friday, May 27th 2016     

IMG_0086 (1)

The new Tatuus USF-17 chassis was revealed Friday morning on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pagoda Plaza, and she’s a beauty.

The car is the second new car on the Mazda Road to Indy to be revealed at IMS, following the launch of the Dallara IL-15 Mazda in May, 2014.

The new USF-17 chassis debuts in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series next year.

A number of speakers were present at the announcement, including Dan Andersen, Mazda’s John Doonan, project manager Scot Elkins, INDYCAR’s Mark Miles, Gianfranco De Bellis of Tatuus and others. Chris Pantani of Cooper Tires and a host of other key stakeholders were there during the announcement.

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Here’s a bit more info following the car’s launch:

Dan Andersen told TSO that the testing of the prototype begins almost immediately with trips to the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park, Barber Motorsports Park, Road America (day after Verizon IndyCar Series weekend) and at the Lucas Oil Raceway Oval.

Doing the test driving will be Joel Miller and Spencer Pigot.

Miller is currently the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda’s driver coach/steward and also a Mazda Motorsports factory driver, where he is one of four regular drivers of the Mazda Prototype in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

A mechanical engineering degree from the University of California Riverside combines perfectly with the 28 year-olds recent experience helping with the development of the Mazda prototype program.

Pigot, the reigning Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire champion, will be taking part in his first Indianapolis 500 this weekend.

Tatuus constructs an F4 and F3 car, and while the new USF2000 and Pro Mazda cars will share some similarities with those cars, they could not come “straight off the shelf.”

The USF-17 will have a superior PFC F3 brakes, a better data system and increased safety enhancements. Jeff Horton, INDYCAR’s director of engineering, has been working with USF-17 project manager on all of the safety upgrades. Those upgrades include a double bulkhead, side intrusion panels and an approved INDYCAR head surround.

Orders for the new car are very strong, with the first delivery of 15 that will be arriving in December, being long sold out, and the second container arriving in December well on the way to being sold out. TSO has also learned that a significant number of the orders are from teams not already competing in the Mazda Road To Indy.

TSO also had a change to ask Tatuus principal Gianfranco De Bellis a couple of questions about this new American adventure.

1) I know that you have produced 1,700+ junior formula chassis over the last 15 years. Do you attribute your success to concentrating on building the best junior open wheel car that you can, instead of trying to move up categories?

“We always had a great success in the entry level category, I believe that we have always approached the project to try to make quality cars upper to requests. We believe that this can now also be brought to higher Championship, we are confident that we now have a a great technical office ready and prepared to make successful cars in higher categories.”

2) What has it been like working with an American based sanctioning body? Are the expectations similar to what you’ve found in Europe and Asia?

“For us the opportunity to these two new American projects is very important, we have set up immediately a good contact and technical exchange with Scot, from the very beginning our goal was to repay the trust of Dan and making a great car, we wish that the Americans teams and drivers will be happy about this change.”

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Before today’s Cooper Tires Freedom 90 and Mazda Freedom 75, both the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda held test and practice sessions Thursday at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Rain interrupted proceedings at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and it was no surprise that just west of the mecca that is IMS, rain stopped play at the short track that has a lovely high school-size feel to it in Clermont.

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Pro Mazda Logo

In the Pro Mazda evening practice session, Pato O’Ward topped the times once more. The young Mexican edged Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing’s Nico Jamin, in easily the USF2000 champion’s best session of the season. O’Ward’s teammate, Aaron Telitz, clocked in only sixth.

Telitz ran only 40 laps, the fewest, while O’Ward banked 87 laps. The eight cars entered still turned more than 500 laps.

In a humorous Pro Mazda note, we’re not sure if the man whose Andersen Promotions organization runs and operates the Mazda Road to Indy – Dan Andersen – has ever considered running for political office. But judging by this hat he rocked on Thursday in a tweet posted by Anders Krohn, we wouldn’t put it past him.

Speeds from Thursday are below:

P No Name FSpeed Laps
1 80 Pato O’Ward 120.263 87
2 2 Nico Jamin 120.222 53
3 5 Garett Grist 119.385 56
4 00 Jake Parsons 118.965 64
5 31 Nicolas Dapero 118.902 63
6 82 Aaron Telitz 118.225 40
7 3 Jake Eidson 118.072 65
8 23 Will Owen 117.824 74

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USF2000 logo

In the USF2000 session, Parker Thompson went out early, set the eventual session flier, and enjoyed watching as everyone else shot and missed it.

The 18-year-old Canadian ran a best lap of 111.198 mph and only competed seven laps in the session. Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Anthony Martin was second, with his Australian countryman Jordan Lloyd of Pabst Racing in third.

Only 13 of the 14 cars entered took times in the official practice, with the third Cape car, Nikita Lastochkin, not running in that session. Lastochkin did run 50 laps in a morning test session.

There were 890 laps completed in the USF2000 practice. Beyond Thompson’s seven laps only, the remaining drivers completed between 57 and 96 laps in the session – Victor Franzoni of ArmsUp Motorsports posted the 96 laps.

Speeds are below:

P No Name FSpeed Laps
1 2 Parker Thompson 111.198 7
2 8 Anthony Martin 110.819 72
3 21 Jordan Lloyd 110.556 57
4 9 Victor Franzoni 110.556 96
5 23 Yufeng Luo 109.512 59
6 18 Dakota Dickerson 109.318 75
7 22 Garth Rickards 109.158 58
8 33 Ayla Agren 108.870 80
9 5 Austin McCusker 108.827 69
10 34 Lucas Kohl 108.439 91
11 72 Tazio Ottis 107.744 81
12 91 Luke Gabin 106.969 57
13 80 Robert Megennis 106.734 88

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Next up for both series is qualifying. USF2000 is out from 4 to 4:25 p.m, and Pro Mazda is out from 4:30 to 4:55 p.m.

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Meanwhile first up today is the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Freedom 100 from IMS. Coverage is at noon ET on NBCSN with estimated green flag time of 12:30 p.m. ET.

Don’t miss any of the action

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda News/Results
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Lucas Oil Raceway – Pro Mazda, USF2000 Previews

Posted by  on Thursday, May 26th 2016     

If there’s one constant about the recent years of Mazda Road to Indy action for the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda at Lucas Oil Raceway, it’s that there hasn’t been a single constant.

Change has been the norm at the series’ smallest track, the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, Ind., just outside Indianapolis.

The race was first off traditionally part of the “Night Before the 500,” which as its name would suggest, ran the night before the Indianapolis 500. And it ran late into the night, worse if there was any rain to sabotage or delay proceedings.

Last year, the powers-that-be decided that the “Night Before the 500” would become the “Day Before the Night Before the 500.” The Pro Mazda and USF2000 races were moved up to Saturday afternoon, thus ensuring an early night out for anyone affiliated in the Mazda Road to Indy to make it to IMS early Sunday morning if need be.

For a third straight year, however, the event has changed. It’s now back to the night – but Friday night rather than Saturday – along with the USAC Silver Crown series. The event is now called the “Carb Night Classic.”

Testing and practice runs all day Thursday, before qualifying and the races on Friday. Passing is traditionally difficult at the track that primarily sees high groove running, and will thus make qualifying that much more important.

The Pro Mazda and USF2000 races are the second and third of the day for the Mazda Road to Indy, at two different tracks. The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires’ Freedom 100 is scheduled for earlier Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Additionally, the USF2000 series’ new car, the Tatuus USF-17, will be unveiled on the IMS Pagoda Plaza at 9 a.m. ET and local time on Friday.

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Pro Mazda Logo

The Pro Mazda field is down to just eight cars and the story going into the Cooper Tires Freedom 90 weekend to go along with the reduced car count is whether Aaron Telitz can eat into teammate Pato O’Ward’s points lead, which currently stands at 39 points (188-149).

O’Ward, the 17-year-old from Monterrey, Mexico has opened the year on a tear, having won five of the first six races in the No. 80 Gap Guard/Topo Chico car. He should be able to improve upon a seventh place that he achieved last year.

Telitz may well be the early favorite here though. The Wisconsinite, in the No. 82 Rice Lake Weighing Systems car, is a past Lucas Oil Raceway winner. He dominated the 2014 USF2000 race here driving for ArmsUp Motorsports. A win with O’Ward finishing second might not be a huge cut into the points lead, but it will be enough to give him momentum heading into his home race next month at Elkhart Lake’s Road America.

The remaining six drivers in the field will likely be vying over the final podium position. Garett Grist, who won this race for Andretti Autosport in 2014, remains the driver with the best odds to break up the Team Pelfrey parade at the front of the field. The diminutive but talented Canadian drives the No. 5 Lander Property Management/Mac Tools/Blacklist Lifestyle car for Juncos Racing and is no doubt keen to get his first win of the season. Teammate Will Owen finished second here last year in his No. 23 AMR entry and looks to go one better this time around.

Nico Jamin and Jake Eidson, along with Telitz, were part of the USF2000 win battle here last year – Eidson ultimately prevailed – but neither has yet been able to showcase their ability as well in their respective steps up to Pro Mazda this year with Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.

Rookies Nicolas Dapero and Jake Parsons of Juncos will look to get comfortable for Juncos in their maiden oval bows.

Winning at Lucas Oil Raceway hasn’t been a great harbinger of championship success. The last five winners here are Weiron Tan, Grist, Matthew Brabham and Connor De Phillippi, who won two in a row from 2011 to 2012. Brabham is the only one to have gone on to win the Pro Mazda title.

Tan’s tenure with Team Pelfrey was halted after testing during the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend and it remains to be seen if the Malaysian, or that No. 81 car, will reappear at a later point this season. The four National class drivers that ran there have also opted to pass up the oval race.

Cooper Tires Freedom 90 schedule

Thursday, May 26, 2016

  • 10:15am-10:45 am – Rookie Testing
  • 10:45-11:15am – Testing
  • 1:30pm-2:30pm – Testing
  • 3:30pm-4:30pm – Testing
  • 6:15-6:45pm – Practice

Friday, May 27, 2016

  • 4:30pm-4:55pm – Qualifying
  • 7:10pm-7:45pm – Cooper Tires Freedom 90 (90 laps)

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USF2000 logo

Forgetting its nightmarish first weekend at St. Petersburg, the USF2000 season has now begun to follow a familiar script: domination by Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing as the team seeks its sixth straight championship, with four straight wins heading into Round 7, the Mazda Freedom 75.

On the heels of three wins and a second place in his last four starts, talented 18-year-old Parker Thompson out of Red Deer, Alberta has ascended to a 28-point lead over teammate Anthony Martin, out of Kalgoorlie, Australia. Martin nabbed a win during the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course weekend as well, so now both of the top-returning drivers from 2015 are on the victory scoreboard in 2016.

A driver who could well add his name to that list this weekend is Brazilian Victor Franzoni of ArmsUp Motorsports, driving the team’s No. 9 car. Franzoni drives for a team that won here in 2014 with Aaron Telitz driving, and is renowned for its oval preparation and setup from engineer John Walko. Franzoni isn’t new to the podium at Lucas Oil Raceway, either – he finished third here in 2014 driving for Afterburner Autosport.

Franzoni enters the weekend fourth in points as part of a four-way logjam and battle for third behind the Cape twins. He sits six points behind Round 1 winner Jordan Lloyd of Pabst Racing, but three ahead of Lloyd’s Pabst teammate Yufeng Luo and five clear of JAY Motorsports’ Luke Gabin.

Franzoni raced here in Pro Mazda last year while Lloyd will be making his short oval debut. Luo finished fifth, Gabin eighth last year in USF2000.

Others making an encore appearance in USF2000 after racing here last year included Pabst’s Garth Rickards (finished ninth), Cape’s Nikita Lastochkin (12th) and John Cummiskey Racing’s Ayla Agren (11th).

Rookies set to debut at the track include Mazda Scholarship recipient Dakota Dickerson of Afterburner, Lucas Kohl of Cummiskey, Robert Megennis of Team Pelfrey, Austin McCusker of Chastain Motorsports and Tazio Ottis of JDC Motorsports.

A couple notes from that last batch: Kohl, the young Brazilian, enjoyed his best run of the year on the Indy road course with finishes of sixth and eighth, continuing to grow with driver coach and mentor Roberto Moreno.

Meanwhile, you’ll note Megennis is the only car entered for Team Pelfrey, after the team started the year with four.

TSO understands that both James Munro and, more recently, 15-year-old rising star Jordan Cane are no longer with the team. The status of T.J. Fischer remains a question mark since he’s not entered. The potential exists Cane, who only just turned 15 on May 21, could reappear later this year with another team in the USF2000 paddock.

Other notable absences include RJB Motorsports with its two cars, Sam Chastain (Chastain Motorsports), and the respective second ArmsUp and JAY entrants.

Pabst’s Jake Eidson won this race last year, with Aaron Telitz having taken it for ArmsUp in 2014. Cape won three in a row before that with Neil Alberico in 2013, Spencer Pigot in 2012 and Petri Suvanto in 2011, although Suvanto was the only one of those three to go on to win the title.

Pigot prevailed in a memorable side-by-side duel with Matthew Brabham in 2012 and now the pair of two-time Mazda Road to Indy champions are making their Indianapolis 500 debuts on Sunday.

Mazda Freedom 75 schedule

Thursday, May 26, 2016

  • 9am-9:30am – Rookie Testing
  • 9:30am-10am – Testing
  • 11:30am-12:30pm – Testing
  • 2:45pm-3:15pm – Testing
  • 5:30pm-6pm – Practice

Friday, May 27, 2016

  • 4pm-4:25pm – Qualifying
  • 6:10pm-6:45pm – Mazda Freedom 75 (75 laps)

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Don’t miss any of the action

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda News/Results
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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

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category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
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Team Pelfrey Pushes Into Crucial Weekend With New Structure And Motivation

Posted by  on Thursday, May 26th 2016     

Team Pelfrey logo

Team Pelfrey Pushes Into Crucial Weekend With New Structure And Motivation

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (May 26, 2016) – One of the largest teams in the Mazda Road to Indy paddock, Team Pelfrey, is pushing into one of the most important race weekends of the year with a revised team structure, and ready to continue the great on track results.

Dale Pelfrey,founder and owner of Team Pelfrey, has re-acquired control of the team with the focus of bringing all of his teams under the same roof, providing a direct line from entry level open wheel racing all the way to the Verizon IndyCar Series.

“I am extremely appreciative of everything Nigel [Tuckey] has achieved with the team for the past few years.” Commented Pelfrey. “He’s helped build the team into a real powerhouse, and while I’m sad to see him go, what we have done is secure a stronger future for our team. I’m confident we’ve got the best crew and drivers around to keep winning races and championships, and I can’t wait to see what the second half of 2016 has in store.”

While Dale Pelfrey will oversee the outfit that competes in the Formula F1600 Championship Series, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Jonny Baker will continue in an expanded fashion as Director of Team Operations.

Team Pelfrey will be competing with their star USF2000 driver Robert Megennis and Pro Mazda drivers Pato O’Ward and Aaron Telitz at Lucas Oil Raceway this weekend as a part of the Carb Night Classic event. Team Pelfrey currently lead the Driver and Team championships in Pro Mazda and have also scored two podium finishes with rookie Megennis in USF2000.

category: Team Pelfrey
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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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category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
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CAPE MOTORSPORTS CONTINUES USF2000 WIN STREAK AT INDIANAPOLIS

Posted by  on Thursday, May 19th 2016     

Cape Motorsports with /WTR logo

CAPE MOTORSPORTS CONTINUES USF2000 WIN STREAK AT INDIANAPOLIS

Anthony Martin and Parker Thompson split victories on Indy road course

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (May 18, 2016) – After dominating the action in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda doubleheader at Barber Motorsports Park in late-April, Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing fueled their momentum even further when two of their drivers split the victories during the Mazda Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.  Australian talent Anthony Martin drew first blood on Friday as he scored his maiden Mazda Road to Indy win, while Canadian Parker Thompson made it three wins in four races as he was victorious on Saturday, adding to his double-win total from Alabama. Cape’s third driver, Russian-born Nikita Lastochkin, was collected in an incident on Friday and then battled back to 11th in the second race on Saturday.

“What a brilliant job our whole USF2000 team did at IMS,” offered Nicholas and Dominic Cape. “It’s a constant fight every session to try to be on top, with all the front runners pressing as hard as they can. Anyone could be on the pole and anyone could win a race, it’s truly fantastic to be a part of.”

In the opening race on Friday afternoon, Martin led from the green flag after starting on the pole thanks to turning the fastest lap during morning qualifying.  Thompson started alongside his teammate but was outrun into the opening corner by Pabst Racing’s Jordan Lloyd.  Contact deeper in the pack on the opening lap put the race into a full course caution and, on the ensuing restart, Martin again managed his lead while Thompson found a way around Lloyd to move into second.  For the remainder of the 30-minute race, Parker pushed hard to chase down Anthony, but it was not in the cards as the 2015 USF2000 Rookie of the Year was brilliant all day and cruised to the first Mazda Road to Indy win of his young career by a margin of 0.514 seconds in his #8 Burgess BLA entry.  Thompson had a large gap over the third place car, while Lastochkin was not able to finish the race after he was struck by another car that was attempted to get back onto the track after an off into the grass.  He was officially classified in 23rd.

Thompson’s second fastest lap in qualifying earned him the pole for Race 2 on a chilly Saturday morning, and the Canadian bolted away at both the green flag and on the restart after a long early yellow flag period in his #3 Weyburn Energy / Uber / #AlbertaStrong Van Diemen. The series point leader picked up where Martin left off from Friday, running off to a 0.711-second win, his third of the year and Cape’s fourth straight triumph. Martin never gave up the chase for his second victory of the weekend and finished in the runner-up position, vaulting him to second overall in the championship standings behind Thompson, who now leads by 28 points. Lastochkin was able to avoid issue, and finished in the 11th position in his #2 Russkaya Mekhanika entry.

The team is definitely on a roll with four straight wins and first and second in the standings.  They will return to competition in Indianapolis on the May 26-27 on the banked 5/8th mile oval at Lucas Oil Raceway for the newly scheduled Carb Night Classic in the Friday evening before the Indianapolis 500.  The USF2000 pilots will run on a 75-lap main event, called the Freedom 100.

For more information on the team, please visit www.capemotorsports.com.

DRIVER PERFORMANCE – ROUNDS 5/6

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – INDIANAPOLIS, IN

 

PARKER THOMPSON – #2

Qualifying: 2nd – 1:26.173

Race #1: 2nd

Race #2: 1st

Driver Quote: “”The Grand Prix of Indianapolis treated the #2 Cape Motorsports car very well. We knew what we had to do, and that was to maintain solid finishes for the championship. It was another near perfect weekend for us. My hat goes off to the entire Cape Motorsports crew for preparing us great cars for the start of the season. I can’t thank Weyburn Energy, Uber and my remaining partners enough for all of their support. Things are feeling great at the moment, but it’s time to put my blinders on and focus hard on the midway point of the season coming up.”

 

ANTHONY MARTIN – #8

Qualifying: 1st – 1:26.105

Race #1: 1st

Race #2: 2nd

Driver Quote: “Coming out of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis with a win gives me more confidence going into the next race, the Freedom 75 at Lucas Oil Raceway. Having finally got a win under my belt and an strong weekend overall, I’ve moved to second in the championship and now I can strive hard to gain more points on my teammate!”

 

NIKITA LASTOCHKIN – #3

Qualifying: 7th – 1:26.768

Race #1: 23rd

Race #2: 11th

Driver Quote: “Indy was a very tough weekend for me, as after the day of testing I got sick and was running a fever, which was getting only worse throughout the weekend. In the first race, I made a late pass on a car that went on the grass coming out of the previous corner, but he did not see me and turned into the back of my car, which got airborne. There was a lot of damage to both the chassis and engine, but my team did a phenomenal job in putting the car back together for the race the next day. On Saturday, we had quite a long safety car period and I made a mistake on the restart, which cost me a few spots. All in all, I have to say big thank you to Cape Motorsports, as everyone on the team helped me get through the weekend. Right now, I’m focusing on getting well rested and being ready to for Lucas Oil.

category: Cape Motorsports
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