Archives for Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire – TSO

St. Petersburg Grand Prix ProMazda Race #1 Results and Notes

Posted by  on Saturday, March 11th 2017     

By Patrick Stephan (TSO_Patrick)

The first race of the final season for this ProMazda hardware got started just a bit late, as we’ve been fighting to stay on schedule all weekend.

The field led by Anthony Martin went cleanly through Turn 1, and by the end of the first lap, Martin was leading Franzoni half a second, with TJ Fischer in third, followed by Carlos Cunha and Nikita Lastochkin.

Unlike the USF2000 race, this one would stay pretty stable for the early running and we had the same Top-5 through the first half of the race. Martin and Franzoni were able to get out to a big gap on third place who was 7 seconds behind the front duo.

First and second were tight though, as Franzoni was just 0.6 back of Martin on that same lap.

A pair of Team Pelfrey cars, Fischer and Cunha in third and fourth were themselves quite close, with Cunha taking several “looks” to get on the podium, but so far that spot was still Fischer’s.

Lap 19 and Martin has opened up his biggest lead as he’s now 1.7 seconds behind Martin. The gap shrinks to 1.2 on Lap 20.

With Franzoni close on the final lap, the duo caught Matt Machiko as they approached the final corners. Martin handled it very well and went around the outside of Machiko through Turn 14. That let him keep his lead, and he beat Franzoni to the line by half a second. Cunha was also unable to get by his teammate for the third spot, keeping TJ Fischer on the podium.

Ok, back with more a bit later. This one wasn’t quite as exciting as the USF2000 race, but hey, that happens. Franzoni likely needed a mistake to take this one today, and he pushed Martin quite a bit, but no mistakes were made, giving the Australian Martin the first win of the season.

P No Name Laps Diff Status Team Pelfey
1 8 Anthony Martin 25 0.0000 1 Cape Motorsports
2 23 Victor Franzoni 25 0.5084 Active Juncos Racing
3 82 TJ Fischer 25 8.1142 Active Team Pelfey
4 81 Carlos Cunha 25 8.9330 Active Team Pelfey
5 80 Nikita Lastochkin 25 29.5684 Active Team Pelfey
6 15 Phillippe Denes 25 31.1842 Active World Speed Motorsports
7 14 Sting Ray Robb 25 33.8447 Active World Speed Motorsports
8 6 Max Hanratty 25 43.5149 Active ArmsUp Motorsports
9 3 Matt Machiko 24 1L Active FatBoy Racing
10 13 Bobby Eberle 24 1L Active World Speed Motorsports
11 44 Kevin Davis 24 1L Active Kevin Davis Racing
12 31 Brendan Puderbach 24 1L Active FatBoy Racing
13 60 Jeff Green 22 3L Active Juncos Racing
14 83 Charles Finelli 22 3L Active FatBoy Racing
category: Pro Mazda News/Results

Welcome to Race Day #1 in St. Pete – ProMazda and IndyLights Race #2 Qual Results

Posted by  on Saturday, March 11th 2017     

By Patrick Stephan (@TSO_Patrick)

Good morning from St. Petersburg, Florida where it is currently 61 degrees with 66% humidity under bright and sunny skies. We’ve got some light wind blowing in off the bay, keeping it “chilly” to the locals – but pretty nice for those of us from much colder climates.  The track temp around 8:30am was 74 degrees.

After spending Thursday night in Brandon, Florida (45 minutes away on the other side of Tampa), I stayed last night at the Hilton in St. Pete – 5 minutes of walking to reach a gate. Heck the track runs by the normal front door of the track.

More on last night’s activities around this event a bit later, but lets get started with today’s early action.

Things got started with Pro Mazda Race #2 qualifying, which I actually watched from the hotel. Kinda wanted to see/hear what it was like from outside the track. And well, it was nice! If I wasn’t a race fan, the sound wasn’t too much (at least from the 10th floor), but since I AM a race fan – it sounded nice.

Down on the track, it was again Anthony Martin and Victor Franzoni battling for P1, and again it was the Australian taking the pole position. Martin this time turned a lap of 1:13.569 seconds to take the pole over Victor Franzoni, this time the gap being 0.0790 seconds. Yesterday in qualifying for Race #1 – the gap was 0.012 seconds.

Carlos Cunha qualified third, followed by his Team Pelfrey teammate TJ Fischer. and Phillippe Denes from World Speed Motorsports rounded out the Top 5.

Race #2 will run tomorrow after the Verizon IndyCar Series event at 4:30pm ET. Today’s Race #1 will start at 11:50am ET.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps FL
1 8 Anthony Martin 1:13.569 0.000 13 11 Cape Motorsports
2 23 Victor Franzoni 1:13.648 0.0790 14 14 Juncos Racing
3 81 Carlos Cunha 1:14.025 0.4556 15 8 Team Pelfrey
4 82 TJ Fischer 1:14.188 0.6195 15 15 Team Pelfrey
5 15 Phillippe Denes 1:14.851 1.2818 15 15 World Speed Motorsports
6 80 Nikita Lastochkin 1:14.900 1.3314 15 14 Team Pelfrey
7 14 Sting Ray 1:15.185 1.6164 15 11 World Speed Motorsports
8 13 Bobby Eberle 1:15.957 2.3883 11 11 World Speed Motorsports
9 3 Matt Machiko 1:16.983 3.4141 14 11 FatBoy Racing
10 31 Brendan Puderbach 1:17.976 4.4072 12 11 FatBoy Racing
11 60 Jeff Green 1:18.304 4.7349 13 9 Juncos
12 44 Kevin Davis 1:18.920 5.3510 12 10 Kevin Davis Racing
13 83 Charles Finelli 1:23.731 10.1623 9 9 FatBoy Racing
14 6 Max Hanratty 1:47.641 34.0721 1 1 ArmsUp Motorsports

We also got a pretty interesting Indy Lights qualifying session for Race #2.

As the ProMazda session finished up, I walked over to 5th Ave South to enter the track, where I found a nice long line, filled mostly with people coming to work at the track. This included race team people, media, and hospitality workers. All of us now freaking out because the line was moving VERY slow. I’m guessing the track staff wasn’t expecting to see so many people at 8:00am.

But, I got in, and with Indy Lights now on track for their 30 minute qualifying session, I decided to head to Honda’s hospitality tent for some breakfast and to watch quals.

When I caught the first glimpse of a time sheet (about 10 minutes in), the Colton Herta was in P1, but then got bumped down by Aaron Telitz and then Pato OWard took the top spot.

A little later we saw Nico Jamin on top, and then Kyle Kaiser as things got more and more competitive.

As the session wound down, Herta retook the top spot with a lap in the 1:06’s, and he’d have to lower than again to keep the pole as Santi Urrutia was also now sub 1:07 seconds.

When the checkered flew, Herta, (who told us yesterday he was hoping for Top-5’s during the early part of the season) had his first career Indy Light’s pole position in just his second qualifying session.

Here are the results of that session.  I’ll be back shortly with the report from a really good USF2000 race!

P No Name FTime Diff Laps FL Team
1 98 Colton Herta 1:06.546 0.000 23 23 Andretti Steinbrenner
2 5 Santi Urrutia 1:06.739 0.1926 22 22 Belardi
3 28 Dalton Kellett 1:07.018 0.4713 21 21 Andretti Autosport
4 3 Pato O’Ward 1:07.076 0.5290 21 19 Team Pelfrey
5 18 Kyle Kaiser 1:07.274 0.7277 18 16 Juncos
6 27 Nico Jamin 1:07.288 0.7414 19 18 Andretti Autosport
7 22 Neil Alberico 1:07.344 0.7977 22 19 Carlin
8 2 Juan Piedrahita 1:07.355 0.8081 21 21 Team Pelfrey
9 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:07.420 0.8732 21 20 Carlin
10 9 Aaron Telitz 1:07.471 0.9247 19 18 Belardi
11 51 Shelby Blackstock 1:07.510 0.9633 21 21 Belardi
12 26 Matheus Leist 1:07.528 0.9820 21 20 Carlin
13 31 Nicolas Dapero 1:07.705 1.1587 19 19 Juncos Racing
14 48 Ryan Norman 1:08.243 1.6969 19 19 Andretti Autosport
15 11 Garth Rickards 1:08.762 2.2157 19 19 Carlin
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Pro Mazda News/Results

Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – Pro Mazda Qualifying Notes and Results

Posted by  on Friday, March 10th 2017     

By Patrick Stephan (@TSO_Patrick)

Before we start I wanted to note that Hi-Tide Boat lifts is a major sponsor of this weekend’s festivities. They are the title sponsor of race #1 for both Pro Mazda and USF2000.  For USF2000, the official name is “Hi-Tide Boat Lifts Grand Prix of St. Petersburg” and for Pro Mazda it is “Hi-Tide Kids on Track Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.”

For both series, their second races of the season are “Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.”

Ok, back to ProMazda qualifying for race #1.

About 9 minutes in to the 30 minute session, we the Top 5 were Victor Franzoni, Carlos Cunha, TJ Fischer, Anthony Martin, and Phillippe Denes.

The battle for the pole would turn in to a two-driver event, with Franzoni and Martin clearly adamant on starting up front.

We got a red flag with about 10 minutes to go, but I still don’t know why 🙂 Didn’t see a car stopped and the video folks didn’t show us anything.

When the checkered flag came down, it was Martin just beating out Franzoni by .0120 of a second.  TJ Fisher was 0.4107 back to take the third spot.

For Martin, who hails from Australia, this is his first ProMazda pole. He won six USF2000 races in 2016, securing the championship and the scholarship money that comes with it.

Race #1 for ProMazda is tomorrow at 11:50am. Qualifying for Race #2 is tomorrow morning at 7:30am (ouch! – really!?!).  Ok!

Pos Car # Driver Best Time Dff Laps Best Lap Team
1 8 Anthony Martin 1:13.672 0.000 18 14 Cape Motorsports
2 23 Victor Franzoni 1:13.684 0.0120 18 15 Juncos Racing
3 82 TJ Fischer 1:14.082 0.4107 21 19 Team Pelfrey
4 81 Carlos Cunha 1:14.201 0.5297 19 19 Team Pelfrey
5 15 Phillippe Denes 1:14.588 0.9164 19 18 World Speed Motorsports
6 80 Nikita Lastochkin 1:14.791 1.1195 19 18 Team Pelfrey
7 14 Sting Ray Robb 1:15.513 1.8408 20 20 World Speed Motorsports
8 6 Max Hanratty 1:15.530 1.8580 20 16 ArmsUp Motorsports
9 13 Bobby Eberle 1:15.780 2.1085 19 19 World Speed Motorsports
10 31 Brendan Puderbach 1:17.245 3.5729 20 16 FatBoy Racing
11 44 Kevin Davis 1:17.502 3.8300 15 14 Kevin Davis Racing
12 3 Matt Machiko 1:18.565 4.8936 20 16 FatBoy Racing
13 60 Jeff Green 1:19.877 6.2051 20 20 Juncos Racing
14 83 Charles Finelli 1:21.890 8.2181 18 7 FatBoy Racing
category: Pro Mazda News/Results

Good Morning from St. Petersburg – USF2000 and Pro Mazda Notes

Posted by  on Friday, March 10th 2017     

By Patrick Stephan (@TSO_Patrick)

Well, good morning from the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. This is Patrick Stephan and I will be handling the bulk of this weekend’s Mazda Road to Indy coverage. TSOLadder.com development series expert is off working one of his other gigs this weekend, helping an ESPN on ABC Pit Reporter. In the business, his job is called a “pit spotter”, but the role is basically an assistant producer, helping the pit reporter with notes, inside information, etc.

So, with Steve busy all day, I’ll be here covering the MRTI. I’ll also help a bit with the TrackSideOnline.com presented by Honda Racing/HPD coverage of the Verizon IndyCar Series, but I’ve also enlisted the help of veteran racing reporter Bruce Martin to help me on that side.

If for some reason you are not familiar with my style, I tend to be “conversational” in my writing and not overly formal. Also, I am happy to handle any questions that you may have, so feel free to send me a note on Twitter or heck, just send an email (patrick@tracksideonline.com)

I will sum up my “getting here” yesterday in a couple of sentences. Flight left Denver at 4:00pm and arrived around 9:00pm to Tampa (TPA). Nothing overly special about the flight except that I saw some really cool clouds and we skirted a thunderstorm somewhere over Mississippi.

Glad we were flying over this storm. Somewhere over Mississippi. Photo by Patrick Stephan. The good news – we aren’t expecting any weather like that here in St. Pete this weekend.

I would talk about dinner but last night I stayed over in Brandon, FL (because it was cheaper) and the only place I could see from the hotel that wasn’t fast food was a Hooters.  Hadn’t been to one of those in a very long time.  Summation.  Food was fine, I was out quickly and happily sleeping by 11:00pm.

The drive in was tricky with morning traffic and having to make a stop for my parking pass, but – well, I’m here now and ready to cover the on track action.

After yesterday’s USF2000 session that saw a couple cars brush the wall in Turn 3, INDYCAR officials decided to make some course changes overnight.

Here is the official statement from INDYCAR:

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Friday, March 10, 2017) – Turn 3 of the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit for the 2017 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has been reconfigured, INDYCAR announced today.

The corner has been a fast, sweeping right-hand turn in recent years, but INDYCAR officials, in conjunction with Green Savoree Racing Promotions, decided to make modifications after several cars competing in Thursday’s support series practices crested a bump and lost control in the ensuing depression.

Approximately 180 feet of wall on the drivers’ left side has been moved back almost 40 feet. On the right side, curbing has been installed, which changes the apex and makes the corner a slower, traditional braking area.

The alterations, viewed Thursday evening by a host of Verizon IndyCar Series drivers, will be tested by Indy cars for the first time in practice beginning at 11:15 a.m. ET today. The session will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com. All levels of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires – the three-tiered INDYCAR developmental ladder – will also run on the configuration in their sessions today.

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is the first of 17 races on the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. Sunday’s race airs live at noon ET on ABC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.

Since I arrived a little later than planned, the USF2000 series was already on track for their first of two qualifying sessions this weekend. New this year, each Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race will have it’s own qualifying session. So the 7:55am qualifying session was for Race #1 (8:40am on Saturday).  They will come back at 10:40am (all times are ET – Local) to qualifying for Race #2 (2:00pm on Saturday).

Unfortunately, the first thing I saw upon entering the track were street sweepers and then the #37 car of rookie Andre Castro come by Turns 5 and 6 on the back of wrecker.

His car had left rear suspension damage and was missing the rear wing.

Temperatures for the session were in the upper 60’s, and we’ve got nice bright sunshine with the morning marine layer mostly having burned off.

Robert Megennis again set the fast time. Note that with the course changes, while he was quickest of the 21 cars that went out, he was a bit slower than last night. Normally on street circuits, lap times only go down as the weekend progresses due to track “cleaning up” and “rubbering in.”

Yesterday’s quick lap was 1:14.6726, while today’s pole winning time for Race #1 was 1:15.371.

USF2000 Qualifying for Race #1 – UNOFFICIAL

P Car # Name Best Time Diff Total Laps FL Team
1 80 Robert Megennis 1:15.371 0.000 11 9 Team Pelfrey
2 22 Calvin Ming 1:15.473 0.1019 13 13 Pabst Racing
3 3 Oliver Askew 1:15.588 0.2171 14 14 Cape Motorsports
4 36 Dakota Dickerson 1:15.615 0.2438 12 12 Newman Wachs Racing
5 81 Kaylen Frederick 1:15.776 0.4055 13 9 Team Pelfrey
6 90 Parker Thompson 1:15.812 0.4409 11 8 Exclusive Autosport
7 37 Andre Castro 1:15.866 0.4956 12 12 Newman Wachs Racing
8 12 Moises de la Vara 1:15.956 0.5852 12 12 DEForce Racing
9 91 Luke Gabin 1:16.022 0.6517 12 12 Exclusive Autosport
10 11 Kory Enders 1:16.118 0.7477 13 8 DEForce Racing
11 38 Cameron Das 1:16.201 0.8300 11 11 Newman Wachs Racing
12 2 Ricky Donison 1:16.406 1.0356 14 14 Cape Motorsports
13 82 Ayla Agren 1:16.490 1.1195 13 7 Team Pelfrey
14 21 Rinus VeeKay 1:16.770 1.3994 4 3 Pabst Racing
15 7 Devin Wojcik 1:16.798 1.4274 14 13 ArmsUp Motorsports
16 20 Chandler Horton 1:16.998 1.6275 12 9 RJB Motorsports
17 23 Lucas Kohl 1:17.064 1.6927 12 12 Pabst Racing
18 34 Kris Wright 1:18.430 3.0589 13 12 John Cummiskey Racing
19 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:18.651 3.2800 5 4 Kaminsky Racing
20 8 Bruna Tomaselli 1:18.834 3.4630 13 13 ArmsUp Motorsports
21 92 Dev Gore 1:19.535 4.1640 12 9 Exclusive Autosport

——

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see much of the action from the Pro Mazda session. Victor Franzoni bested the 14 car field (14 cars – we’ll take that considering this is the final season for this hardware). There are three National Class entries, Puderbach, Davis, and Finelli.

Franzoni’s quick lap this morning was 1:14.149, notably only a second quicker than the fastest lap set by Megennis in USF2000 qualifying.

Oh and I’m not the only one running behind schedule. We’re about 20-30 minutes behind at this point, with the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires cars on track now – back in a bit with those notes.

Results from Pro Mazda Practice #1

P Car # Name Best Time Diff Laps Best Lap Team
1 23 Victor Franzoni 1:14.149 0.000 17 16 Juncos Racing
2 8 Anthony Martin 1:14.303 0.1541 21 18 Cape Motorsports
3 81 Carlos Cunha 1:14.725 0.5769 20 20 Team Pelfrey
4 82 TJ Fischer 1:15.002 0.8539 20 20 Team Pelfrey
5 80 Nikita Lastochkin 1:15.538 1.3899 20 19 Team Pelfrey
6 15 Phillippe Denes 1:15.853 1.7046 20 19 World Speed Motorsports
7 14 Sting Ray Robb 1:16.301 2.1524 21 13 World Speed Motorsports
8 13 Bobby Eberle 1:16.546 2.3973 21 16 World Speed Motorsports
9 6 Max Hanratty 1:16.727 2.5787 21 13 ArmsUp Motorsports
10 44 Kevin Davis 1:17.896 3.7475 21 16 Kevin Davis Racing
11 31 Brendan Puderbach 1:19.646 5.4976 16 11 FatBoy Racing
12 60 Jeff Green 1:19.697 5.5482 20 15 Juncos Racing
13 3 Matt Machiko 1:20.993 6.8442 13 12 FatBoy Racing
14 83 Charles Finelli 1:25.232 11.0833 14 9 FatBoy Racing

 

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category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Pro Mazda News/Results

Previewing the 2017 Pro Mazda season – a huge prize and saying goodbye to an old friend

Posted by  on Thursday, March 9th 2017     

For the eighth straight year, the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire series visits the 1.8-mile, 14 Turn, Streets Of St. Petersburg street circuit early in the chase for season title, which this year is a generous $790,000 Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship prize package.

With a “lame-duck” car and a long offseason, Pro Mazda fans had a six months to ponder the two big question marks facing the series headed into the 2017 campaign. Would Juncos Racing remain in the series, or call it quits on their eight year run? How many cars will turn-up at the first event, and will it be enough to have a championship?

The answer to the first question was answered in the affirmative just yesterday, and with six teams entering 14 cars, the final year of the venerable Mazda Renesis/Star chassis combination will be allowed a proper send-off.

The 14 drivers taking part in Saturday’s Hi-Tide Kids On Track Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and Sunday’s Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg represent three countries and seven states.

Team and driver previews

Perennial USF2000 champions, Cape Motorsports made their first foray into Pro Mazda Championship in 2014, and over the last thee seasons the team has collected 10 wins, and 32 podiums, but has yet to win a championship. The St. Petersburg, Fla. based team enters the 2017 season with a one car entry for 2016 Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda champion Anthony Martin, who will pilot the Soul Red, Mazda and Burgess BLA sponsored No. 8.

Martin led way with seven wins and nine poles during the 16 race 2016 USF2000 season. The 21 year-old has made 32 MRTI starts in two seasons and half of those starts have resulted in a visit to the podium. At the recent two-day test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the Kalgoorlie, Australia had the quickest lap time after struggling to find speed during the first day of the test, and heads into the opening round of the Pro Mazda season as one of the favorites to win the championship.

Team Pelfrey, who recently moved their Pro Mazda program from Palmetto, Fla. to Indianapolis, will be starting their seventh season on the second rung of the MRTI ladder, and are in search of their fourth series title (2012 – Jack Hawksworth, 2015 – Santiago Urrutia, and 2016 – Aaron Telitz). The Jonny Baker and Tom Knapp led team will look to duplicate the success of the 2016 season that saw the Mazda Renesis powered yellow and black machines of Team Pelfrey dominate while visiting victory lane in 13 of 16 races. The Russkaya Mekhanika sponsored No. 80 will be piloted by Nikita Lastochkin, while the No. 81 Team Pelfrey entry will be driven by Carlos Cunha, and the Project O2 sponsored No. 82 will have TJ Fischer behind the wheel.

The 26 year-old Lastochkin, who didn’t start racing until 2013, will be spending his third season with Team Pelfrey, after contesting one season of F1600 Formula F Championship Series and one season of USF2000 before moving to Cape Motorsports for the 2016 USF2000 campaign. The super-steady and consistent Los Angelis resident has collected an impressive 25 top-10 finishes and only one DNF in 30 USF2000 starts.

Cunha, from Campinas, Brazil scored two wins and twelve podiums on the way to a pair of top-five championship finishes in past two seasons of the ultra-competitive Brazilian Formula 3 Series. The 17 year-old also recently completed a successful Euroformula Open (F3), If the effusive and eager youngster can adapt to the Pro Mazda car, and racing in the U.S.A. quickly, don’t be surprised to see him making many visits to the podium. Combine that with the strength that Team Pelfrey has shown in the past two years, and Cunha has the perfect opportunity to be a dark horse championship contender.

Fisher, the third Team Pelfrey entry, made his MRTI debut in 2016. The former collegiate quarterback who resides in Vacaville, California split time between the USF2000 and Pro Mazda grids last season, collecting an even dozen top 10 finishes along the way. The 23 year-old who was a stand-out karter in Northern California, won the 2013 Formula Car Challenge before spending the next two seasons racing in Europe. Fisher, who has his own podcast,, lead one session during the recent series test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and should have the opportunity to contend for podiums and the championship in 2017.

After running a very limited Pro Mazda schedule in 2016, World Speed Motorsports returns with a vengeance for 2017. The Sonoma Raceway based team will have: Bobby Eberle behind the wheel of the TITLE Boxing Club sponsored No. 13, rookie Sting Ray Robb piloting the Red Apple Marketplace sponsored No. 14, and recently announced Phillippe Denes will be driving the team’s No. 15 entry.

Eberle, who has won the last three Pro Mazda Expert Class Championships, has 26 Expert Class wins in his 44 Pro Mazda starts across the last four seasons. The 48 year-old from Houston, Texas only started racing in 2012, and through his dedication to fitness and seat time has steadily improved to the point his lap times are getting very close to his younger competition.

The Mazda Renesis powered Star designed car that the 15 year-old Robb will pilot this year will not be completely new to him. After making six starts, including a win on the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma weekend in the FormulaSPEED category of the Formula Car Challenge, Robb made two starts (with two podiums) in Pro Formula Mazda (Pro Mazda) category at the series season finale at Auto Club Speedway. After winning multiple karting championships, the Payette, Idaho native kept busy racing anything and everything in 2016. Robb was found behind the wheel of K&N Stock Cars on ovals and road courses, modifieds on dirt and pavement, Skip Barber Racing Series cars, and the aforementioned FormulaSPEED and Pro Mazda machinery. Robb will be in learning mode early in the season, but if his improvements during the Homestead-Miami Speedway test are any indication of his ability to learn quickly, the high-school freshman should find himself at the pointy end of the grid on many occasions.

Late signee Denes, who finished the 2016 F1600 Formula F Championship Series season in third spot with two wins, and 12 podiums, has made two MRTI starts in his career. The 17 year-old contested the “Soul Red Finale” USF2000 races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2016 and brought home impressive seventh and 11th place finishes. The Carmel, California resident won the 2014 Formula Car Challenge FormulaSPEED National Championship only one year after he started karting in 2013. Denes has been successful in everything he’s driven, and it should not be surprising if he catches on quickly and contends for podiums at some point in 2017.

“Ever since I was three I have dreamed of becoming a professional race car driver, and with joining World Speed Motorsports for this season I am now one step closer to that dream,” said a happy Denes. “After not knowing if I would even be racing this year, all the stress has lifted off my shoulders and I am extremely humbled to have this opportunity.

I have been preparing myself mentally and physically for the season, and although I have not raced for quite some time, I feel I am ready for the challenge. I’m very confident we can win this championship. In 2014, I won the FormulaSPEED National Championship with World Speed Motorsports support. The history and experience of Telo and the WSM team, which includes multiple Pro Mazda titles, proves we can take the fight to the other teams and finish on top this year.”

After a successful run as a karting team, Juncos Racing made the transition to cars and the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire championship in 2009, and won championships in the category with two current Verizon IndyCar Series drivers (2010 – Conor Daly, and 2014 – Spencer Pigot).  During a busy off-season that saw the team move into a brand new 40,000 square foot shop in Speedway, Ind, and  announce their intention to enter the 2017 Indianapolis 500, it did not appear that the team would not be part of the Pro Mazda grid for the first time in eight years.  But, on the eve of the season, the Ricardo Juncos owned team announced that Victor Franzoni will pilot the No. 23 entry and Jeff Green will pilot the No. 60 entry.

After one season of competition in Europe, Franzoni made the move to the U.S.A. in 2014 and in the past three racing seasons has made a total of 45 MRTI starts (including 9 in Pro Mazda). The 21 year-old has five wins, 17 podiums and eight quickest laps in 36 USF2000 starts that includes finishing third in the 2016 championship behind Anthony Martin and Parker Thompson. The Sao Paulo, Brazil native, who also races a vintage stock car with his family in Brazil, should be one of three or four drivers that should be in contention for the $790,000 prize package when the championship ends at Watkins Glen International on Labor Day Weekend.

The second Juncos Racing entry will be piloted by Green, a vintage racer from Peoria, Ill.

ArmsUp Motorsports, a USF2000 stalwart based in Sheboygan Falls, Wis., will be making it’s first foray into the Pro Mazda ranks with fellow Badger State resident Max Hanratty at the wheel of the MPH Enterprise sponsored No. 6 entry. Hanratty, who has a total of 24 USF2000 starts, spent the 2016 racing season contesting the IMSA Mazda Prototype Lites, where the 23 year-old finished fourth while scoring six podiums.

The final Championship class entry, piloted by Matt Machiko is the No. 3 Machiko Motorsports Development sponsored entry that will race within the Fat Boy Racing! stable. Machiko is a long-time Sports Car Club of America competitor from Pittsburgh, Pa.

The final three entries of Brenden Puderbach (No. 31 Fat Boy Racing!), Kevin Davis (No. 44 Davis Racing) and Charles Finelli (No. 83 Fat Boy Racing) will take part in the National Class.

Some notes and questions about the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda season

Who is better at St. Petersburg, Juncos Racing or Team Pelfrey?

Combining to win five of the last seven championships, Juncos Racing and Team Pelfrey have a rivalry that is epitomized by their battle to reign over the 1.8 mile, 14-Turn Streets of St. Petersburg circuit.

Tale of the tape at St. Pete – Juncos Racing vs. Team Pelfrey

JUNCOS RACING TEAM PELFREY
WINS 4 4
POLES 5 3
PODIUMS 10 11
LAPS LED 109 111

In our eyes, that’s a draw, and you’ll have to check back in after the last race on Sunday to see which team (if any) has gained an edge.

Can success early in the season on the streets of St. Petersburg foreshadow a championship?

It appears that it does. The Pro Mazda drivers have been part of the seven events (12 races) on the Streets of St. Petersburg since 2010, and in five of those seven years, one of the race winners has gone on to claim the Pro Mazda Championship. Pro Mazda champions who have won in St. Petersburg include: Aaron Telitz (2016), Spencer Pigot (2014), Matthew Brabham (2013), Jack Hawksworth (2012) and Conor Daly (2010)

Pro Mazda race winners on the Streets of St. Petersburg

YEAR WINNING DRIVER WINNING TEAM
2016 Race #2 Aaron Telitz Team Pelfrey
2016 Race #1 Pato O’Ward Team Pelfrey
2015 Race #2 Neil Alberico Cape Motorsports with /WTR
2015 Race #1 Neil Alberico Cape Motorsports with /WTR
2014 Race #2 Spencer Pigot Juncos Racing
2014 Race #1 Spencer Pigot Juncos Racing
2013 Race #2 Matthew Brabham Andretti Autosport
2013 Race #1 Matthew Brabham Andretti Autosport
2012 Race #2 Jack Hawksworth Team Pelfrey
2012 Race #1 Connor De Philippi Juncos Racing
2011 Connor De Philippi Team Pelfrey
2010 Conor Daly Juncos Racing

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category: Pro Mazda News/Results, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
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Mazda release and our notes: Mazda Scholarship Drivers Will Race with Cape Motorsports in 2017

Posted by  on Thursday, March 2nd 2017     

Mazda release:

Mazda Scholarship Drivers Will Race with Cape Motorsports in 2017

– Anthony Martin and Oliver Askew Will Both Drive Mazda Soul Red Cars –

IRVINE, Calif. (March 2, 2017) – Anthony Martin and Oliver Askew, two Mazda driver development scholarship winners, will race with Cape Motorsports for the 2017 season in the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires. Martin, the 2016 champion in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda series, earned a scholarship to allow him to move up to the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires this season. Askew won the $200,000 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout late last year, which brings him to the USF2000 series this season with Mazda backing. The season-opening event for the entire Mazda Road to Indy takes place March 10 – 12 at St. Petersburg, Fla..

Cape Motorsports, based in St. Petersburg, Fla., has a sparkling record in the Mazda Road to Indy, including an incredible 10 championships – and six consecutive titles – in the USF2000 series. Owned and operated by brothers Dominic and Nicholas Cape, the team has more than two decades of open-wheel racing experience.

Anthony Martin

Anthony Martin, 22, of Kalgoorlie, Australia, will make his Pro Mazda debut this year after a six-win season earned him last year’s USF2000 championship. Martin won the title with Cape, and will stay with the team for the next step of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder.

“Going with Cape Motorsports again was a quite easy decision,” said Martin. “I’m a loyal person and I really do love sticking with the boys. They’re a great team, and everything they have is second to none. I witnessed it all of last year, and I could not leave the team because the way they run the show is impeccable. I’ve never been a part of a team or a family environment like this one.

“Winning the Mazda scholarship meant everything to me,” Martin said, while describing the overwhelming response in his home country. “It was an immense reaction. There was so much hype in Australia about me winning this championship, I had to go back to talk to a lot of the media back home, and see all my friends and family that were really supporting me and backing me. Winning the championship really opened up my eyes to the support I have and how many people were actually watching me and pushing me to do the best I can over here.”

“We’re extremely happy to have Anthony compete on behalf of Cape Motorsports,” said Dominic Cape, team co-owner. “We had a great year with Anthony in 2016 and we saw him grow as a driver into a true champion. We feel confident that he will bring the momentum of his success in the USF2000 series into Pro Mazda. We would also like to thank Mazda for establishing the scholarship programs, along with the series and their partners. We look forward to the start of the 2017 season.”

“Anthony is a perfect example of a driver from across the globe who saw the Mazda Road to Indy as the best opportunity to climb the motorsports ladder,” said John Doonan, director of Mazda Motorsports. “Anthony is in a great position to help tell the Mazda story on multiple continents. Our colleagues at Mazda Australia have been able to tell his success story there, where Mazda has had great success in the marketplace. By choosing Cape Motorsports as his home for the 2017 Pro Mazda Championship, Anthony is leveraging his experience with his championship-winning family.  All of us at Mazda wish him the best as he starts the new season with high hopes.”

Anthony Martin will return for his third season of Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire competition, as the reigning USF2000 champion (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

TSO Ladder Notes from Steve:

  • Martin is is the first confirmed Cape Motorsports entry and ninth confirmed full-time Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire driver for the 2017 season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, joining Sting Ray Robb (World Speed Motorsports), TJ Fischer (Team Pelfrey), Max Hanratty (Leading Edge Grand Prix), Bobby Eberle (World Speed Motorsports), Charles Finelli (Fat Boy Racing), Brandon Puderbach, (Fat Boy Racing), Carlos Cunha (Team Pelfrey) and Nikita Lastochkin (Team Pelfrey)
  • Martin has a total of 32 Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire starts, with all of them coming in two seasons of USF2000 competition. Over the course of those two seasons the 22-year old Australian collected seven wins, nine poles and 16 podiums. 
  • During the 2016-2017 racing off-season, Martin returned to spend some time working as a mechanic on big drill rigs for Goldfields Compressor Hire, a job that he has had for a number of years. 
  • TSO is hearing that the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire grid is expected to be in double digits (or at least very close) at the first event on the streets of St. Petersburg. 
  • You can follow Cunha on the following social media platforms: Twitter – Instagram – Facebook

Oliver Askew

Oliver Askew, 20, of Jupiter, Fla., began racing karts at age seven and burst upon the open-wheel racing scene last year when he was selected for the Team USA Scholarship, which he utilized to finish second in the prestigious Walter Hayes Trophy Grand Finale at Silverstone, England. The Team USA honor also qualified him for the $200,000 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout, a competition among championship-winning drivers from around the world. Askew won the event, thus earning a Mazda scholarship for his first full season in the USF2000 series.

“The team at Cape Motorsports have helped me a lot with this next step,” said Askew. “I’ve learned so much in the last month of testing with them preparing for this year. It’s a big opportunity for me and I want to maximize that. With Cape Motorsports, everything is possible, as they’re one of the best teams in the paddock and I’m very happy to be with them.”

“As soon as I won the Shootout, I was thinking about the championship and winning races,” said Askew. “This is my opportunity, so I want to make it easier on myself going into next year to win the USF2000 title and earn another season scholarship from Mazda. I’m very fortunate right now to have this opportunity from Mazda.”

Askew was also quick to credit his teammate, Martin.

“[Anthony has been] extremely helpful,” said Askew. “We’re not competing against one another, so it makes it easier for us to compare notes. He’s been through it all in USF2000 with this team, so I can bounce everything off of him. We’re good friends too.”

“We are delighted to have Oliver on our team,” offered Nicholas Cape, co-owner of Cape Motorsports. “He is an exceptional young man and has an extremely bright future ahead of him. He has everything we look for in a driver. It’s been a year in the making getting Oliver in our car and he has impressed us during the initial tests and we’re really looking forward to seeing him race. We are also very proud to be representing the first Mazda Road to Indy Shootout winner, and would like to thank Mazda for all their support. It’s really quite remarkable what they do to support young drivers.”

“The success of the $200,000 Mazda Road to Indy Shoot-out was way beyond our expectations,” said Mazda’s Doonan. “We knew we were breaking new ground by bringing drivers from all over the world and that it would be good… but it turned out to be fantastic. Everyone at Mazda was blown away by it, and especially Oliver.

“We’re proud to welcome him to the Mazda family. With the new Tatuus USF-17 chassis debuting, the 2017 season is very much up for grabs, but by choosing to compete with Cape Motorsports, Oliver has put himself in a position for early success. Based on nearly three dozen of the new USF-17 cars being sold, the entire Mazda Road to Indy is in for a real treat in this championship.”

“It is a great honor to have both scholarship drivers compete on behalf of Cape Motorsports,” Dominic Cape said. “The support that Mazda gives young drivers is truly remarkable, and we would like to thank Mazda and John Doonan for establishing the scholarship programs. There is nothing quite like this anywhere in the world. We look forward to debuting both Soul Red cars at our home race in Saint Petersburg next week.”

Oliver Askew, the winner of the MRTI $200K Scholarship Shootout will be contesting the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda season in the Soul Red No. 3 from the Cape Motorsports stable. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

TSO Ladder Notes from Steve:

  • Askew is the second Cape Motorsports entry and 16th driver confirmed for the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg, joining: Moises de la Vara (DEForce Racing), Kory Enders (DEForce Racing), Rinus VK (Benik), Devin Wojcik (ArmsUp Motorsports), Chandler Horton (RJB Motorsports), Robert Megennis (Team Pelfrey),  Parker Thompson (Exclusive Autosport),  Andre Castro (Newman Sachs Racing), Calvin Ming (Pabst Racing),  Ayla Agren (Team Pelfrey), Lucas Kohl (Pabst Racing), Rick Donison (Cape Motorsports),  Luke Gabin (Exclusive Autosport), and Dev Gore (Exclusive Autosport)
  • The 20 year-old Askew does not have a lot of experience in cars, but did have success in the United Kingdom at the Formula Ford Walter Hayes, and Formula Ford Festival. The Team U.S.A. Scholarship representative scored two wins and five podiums in six races across the prestigious end of season events. 
  • You can follow Askew on the following social media platforms: Twitter – Instagram – Facebook
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Pro Mazda News/Results, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
tags: , , , , , , ,

Recapping the day in Pro Mazda and USF2000 testing with a little flavor for Patrick Stephan

Posted by  on Wednesday, March 1st 2017     

 

Our lede for Wednesday’s MRTI testing recap changed from “Rookie Cape Motorsports pilot leads all six USF2000 test sessions” to, “beat by just ‘that’ much, when MRTI $200K Scholarship Shootout winner Oliver Askew lost the top spot on the timesheet after a lap by Newman Wachs Racing rookie Rinus Van Kalmthout nudged him out by one-tenth of a second.

The 20 year-old Askew still ended up “winning” testing by laying down a quick lap of 1 minute 23.9142 seconds in this morning’s first session. Askew, who was only “testing” (wink, wink, nudge, nudge – expect a release soon) with Cape Motorsports this week, ended up as the only driver with a lap under 1 minute 24 seconds.

Oliver Askew, who was driving for Cape Motorsports topped the timesheet at USF2000 spring training at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

“Going into yesterday, I just wanted to get a feel for the car again,” explained the Jupiter, Florida native.  “I didn’t want to go flat out right away, but we were quick right out of the box. The team is really good at making the right changes for us to learn, which is what we’ve been doing these two days. We haven’t gone out with the same car as the previous session. We picked right up where we left off yesterday and, at the end of the day, we were the only car in the top six that didn’t put new tires on. We’re all getting more knowledgeable about the new car with every change that we make. The Tatuus USF-17 is fantastic. The series has done a great job putting it together and making it user friendly. I didn’t expect the test to go this well so I’m extremely happy and very confident that we’ll be winning races this year.”

The top 10 on the combined timesheet (see below for entire timesheet) were Askew, Kaylen Frederick (Team Pelfrey), Rinus Van Kalmthout (Newman Wachs Racing), Andre Castro (Newman Wachs Racing), Robert Megennis (Team Pelfrey), Calvin Ming (Pabst Racing), Parker Thompson (Exclusive Autosport), Kyle Kirkwood (Benik), Dakota Dickerson (Newman Wachs Racing), and Ayla Agren (Team Pelfrey).

A trio of brand new USF-17 cars brake for Turn 6 at Homestead-Miami Speedway ((Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

One of the questions we had about the 2017 USF2000 season in our preview was: With five straight championships, will it be business as usual for Cape brothers, despite the brand new Mazda powered Tatuus USF-17?

Nothing is definitive until the checkered flag falls at Watkins Glen International on Labor Day weekend, but if early returns mean anything, expect to see a Cape Motorsports car at the sharp end of the grid in St. Petersburg.

“Obviously you never know where you are going to be, where you are going to stack up until everyone is together. We are very pleased with how it went,” explained team owner Nicolas Cape though a barely concealed cheeky grin. “Oliver (Askew) did a fantastic job, which we anticipated he would because he’s obviously a very talented young man. We’re very happy, we got to do our program and we stuck to it. We got to do our race runs in the last two sessions today and we did some qualifying simulations this morning. We made a lot of changes and ran through a bunch of different stuff, and I couldn’t be more pleased to be honest with you. Also, Ricky (Donison) struggled a little bit in the beginning of the test, but he came a long way towards the end of the day, so we’re really pleased with his progress and we think he’ll be really well at St. Pete.”

However, with seven drivers representing five teams within one second of Askew, expect the USF2000 title to be extremely entertaining.

The second question we had in our preview was:  Is this the year that a rookie can win the title?

The last time a rookie won the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda championship was in 2012 when Matthew Brabham just beat his Cape Motorsports teammate Spencer Pigot to the title.

If testing means anything, and that is always debatable, expect to see a few rookies fighting for the advancement scholarship for Pro Mazda.

Team Pelfrey sophomore Robert Megennis had the fifth quickest time of testing but was the quickest of the returning drivers. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

With rookies holding down the top four spots on the timesheet and six of the top 10 spots, the veterans have to be worried. We chatted with a number of veteran drivers (more on that in a breakout post), and while worried might be too strong of a word, there is definitely some concern.

Nineteen of 21 drivers turned their quickest laps during one of the three sessions today, with 12 of those drivers, including Askew, going fastest in today’s morning session.

The 21 drivers turned a total of 2,931 laps (6,477.5 miles) with Pabst Racing sophomore Lucas Kohl’s 170 circuits being the highest number of laps turned.

Combined Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda timesheet:

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICKEST LAP TOTAL LAPS
1 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 1:23.9142 136
2 81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 1:24.3181 143
3 38 Rinus Van Kalmthout Newman Wachs Racings 1:24.4653 142
4 37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.6664 134
5 80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1:24.6747 142
6 22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 1:24.7375 163
7 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 1:24.8296 138
8 31 Kyle Kirkwood Benik 1:25.0495 133
9 36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 1:25.0892 138
10 82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 1:25.1130 147
11 9 Victor Franzoni ArmsUp Motorsports 1:25.1383 129
12 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:25.2600 140
13 23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:25.3061 170
14 12 Moisés de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:25.3097 137
15 91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 1:25.5477 133
16 2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports 1:25.6420 142
17 34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 1:25.6730 161
18 7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 1:26.9532 138
19 92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 1:26.9352 72
20 20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 1:27.6053 142
21 8 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports 1:28.1298 151

After day that included a steep learning curve and some issues with his car’s brakes, reigning Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda champion Anthony Martin showed his true form by leading the combined Pro Mazda time sheet after six hours of track time on the 2.21 mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway road course.

Anthony Martin and his Soul Red No. 8 led Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire testing on the road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Photo Courtesy of IndyCar)

Martin, who will be driving a Soul Red car this year, is only “testing” with Cape Motorsports (same wink, wink, nudge, nudge as Askew above) ended up with a quick lap time of 1 minute 23.6329 seconds. The Australian native was followed closely by Team Pelfrey trio of Carlos Cunha, Nikita Lastochkin and TJ Fischer, who were all within four-tenths of the top spot.

“The last couple of days have been a big learning curve. The first day didn’t go as planned for us but, like we always do, we bounced back and this second day has been very productive,” said the 21 year-old Martin.  “We’ve learned a lot about car setup and with my driving and, most importantly, we were quite fast. The biggest thing we worked on was driving, just getting me used to the car. I think the transition has gone well. This car has more power and more grip than the USF2000 car but it’s fun to learn. I’m a huge fan of the rotary engine so to have one of them strapped to the back side of me is quite awesome.”

“It was a very good test for me. Last week was my first time in this car and it’s very different to drive than the Formula 3 car,” explained Team Pelfrey rookie Cunha. “It has more power and I am still getting used to the tires and the difference in downforce. This year will be very challenging but I have two good teammates. I need to learn a lot – about the car and about the tracks. I’ve never driven on a street course before! This is an amazing championship and an amazing prize at the end of the year for the champion. I just need to believe in the team, in the car and, of course, I need to believe in myself, and I think we’ll have a good year.”

The first question that we asked about the 2017 Pro Mazda season in our preview was: Can anybody touch Team Pelfrey?

If testing is any indication, it appears that Cape Motorsports and Anthony Martin will be in the picture, but with the top four drivers covered by four-tenths of a second, we’ll need a few more events to make a final determination.

A pair of familiar yellow and black Team Pelfrey cars lead the World Speed Motorsports duo into Turn 6 on the 2.21 mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway road course (Photo Courtesy of IndyCar)

The second question we asked in our preview was: Who emerges as the team leader at Team Pelfrey?

Like the first question, the jury is still out on that. Cunha, Lastochkin, and Fisher all turned laps within three-tenths of a second of one another. The intra-team battle at Team Pelfrey should provide race fans with some terrific entertainment.

All seven of the drivers turned their quickest laps during one of the three sessions today, with five of those drivers, including Martin, going fastest in today’s morning session.

The seven drivers turned a total of 1,147 laps (2,534.9 miles) with World Speed Motorsports veteran Bobby Eberle’s 177 circuits leading the way.

Combined Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire timesheet:

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICKEST LAP TOTAL LAPS
1 8 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports 1:23.6329 150
2 81 Carlos Cunha Team Pelfrey 1:23.7299 141
3 80 Nikita Lastochkin Team Pelfrey 1:23.7980 155
4 82 TJ Fischer Team Pelfrey 1:24.0550 165
5 14 Sting Ray Robb World Speed Motorsports 1:25.4694 173
6 13 Bobby Eberle World Speed Motorsports 1:25.6393 177
7 5 Jeff Green Green Racing 1:26.7837 186

It wasn’t just the first two rungs of the MRTI ladder that were busy today, the 15 Indy Lights drivers entered for Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by Cooper Tires were going through a road course of their own. Beginning with official portraits, moving onto interviews with Road To Indy TV and NBC Sports Network, and ending with a social media tutorial by Cooper Tire and Mazda, the drivers were sure kept busy on one of their off days. After the day long process to switch their Mazda powered Dallaras from oval to road course trim, the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire teams and drivers will have a total of 6.5 hours of track time on the 2.21 mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway road course.

Some flavor:

Patrick asked me to add a little more “flavor” to my TSO Ladder writing. I agree with him, and it’s something I’ve been meaning to do more of. So, here it goes…

When I searched for flights to come to the MRTI testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, my search yielded a very inexpensive flight to Fort Myers, Florida. I’m staying in Florida through the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (more on my other adventures, including two days at the Lucas Oil School of Racing, later next week) and am flying out of Tampa on the Sunday evening after the Grand Prix.

My flight arrived in the late afternoon and by the time I picked up my rental car (an upgrade to a Mustang, so no complaints) it was already dark. When I mapped the drive from Fort Myers to my accommodations in Florida City, the non-toll route was only 10 minutes longer, and since I’m proudly “frugal,” I clicked “go” on that route. Likely not my best choice, as the Tamiami Trail is a two-lane road through the heart of The Everglades. Thankfully there was very little traffic, which made the close to three-hour drive stress-free, but unfortunately, the highway is so dark and remote, they lower the night-time speed limit to 45mph. There are plenty of signs showing wilderness crossing the road, and I believe I did have an encounter with a small reptile. Sorry!

I arrived at my accommodations, an older, but clean, well-kept and completely remodeled motel, and tried to get right to sleep. That didn’t happen, and likely had a lot to do with the giant 44oz Mountain Dew I consumed in an effort to stay awake way past my bed-time. I finally fell asleep only to have my alarm go off a few hours later. It was time to head to a race track for the first time this year!!!

This is actually my first trip to Homestead-Miami Speedway, so it took me a little while to find the gate that I needed to enter, but once I did, I got set up in the media center and got to work.

A couple of things about Homestead-Miami Speedway immediately stand out. First, the majority of the structures and buildings are of the Art Deco style and color, similar to what you would find in nearby Miami Beach, Florida. Second, constantly seeing 482d Fighter Wing Air Reserve F-16’s from Homestead Air Reserve Base fly directly overhead is very cool and unique.

Monday night featured a meet-and-greet between the MRTI drivers, team members, series staff and me (the lone media member present). This is the second year that this event has taken place and it’s a great way to catch-up with old friends and get acquainted with new faces.

Even though we had a mild winter so far in Indianapolis, Indiana, the shock of the 80+ F temperatures and high humidity was quite a shock. I returned my hotel, decided to cool off with a quick dip in the pool and hit the hay really early.

On Tuesday morning, my alarm went off early and this time, I had no problem getting going. Since it was “Fat Tuesday”, and I resemble that descriptor, I headed to the nearest Publix grocery store in search of a Paczki. My Dad was in the bakery business and sold donuts to Publix, so I knew I would find my fix. I was not disappointed.

Soriano Brothers Cuban restaurant in Homestead, Florida. (Photo Courtesy of Steve Wittich)

After another hot and humid day at the track on Tuesday, I was ready for a good local dinner. I found my self in the mood for Cuban, and after a little bit of research online, I found Soriano Brothers. The open-air restaurant did not disappoint. The food options were endless, but mainly centered around pork. I chose to go with Masas De Peurcos Fritas (marinated pork that has been broiled in water and oil (so essentially fried), Arroz Congri (rice and black beans) and plantains. The pork was extremely flavorful and a great combination of sweet and heat, the portion was enormous (I’ll be eating it again tomorrow night), and it was extremely flavorful. I would definitely go back.

My fantastic meal of Masas De Peurcos Fritas, Arroz Congri, and plantains. It was enough to feed an entire family. (Photo courtesy of Steve Wittich)

Now I’m hungry again…

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Pro Mazda News/Results, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
tags: , , , , , , ,

Fisher (Pro Mazda) and Askew (USF2000) lead first day of MRTI testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Posted by  on Tuesday, February 28th 2017     

By Steve Wittich

I apologize for the lack of photographs. The Amazon S3 outage impacted the photo repository. They will be added to the story a little late. Thanks.

If you spent any amount of time in the pit boxes of Cape Motorsports, Newman Wachs Racing, and Team Pelfrey during the final Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda practice session, it quickly became obvious by the overt displays of emotion, that despite this only being a test session, ending the first official day of USF-17 testing at the top of the timesheets could help set the tone for the entire 2017 season.

The four quickest drivers ended the day separated by under two-tenths of a second. Rinus Van Kalmthout, who is testing this week with Newman Wachs Racings, led much of the session, but at the end of the session, a last-minute new tire run of 1 minute 24.562 seconds by MRTI $200K Scholarship Shootout winner Oliver Askew meant that the 20-year-old and his Cape Motorsports team would head to their hotel in a fantastic mood.

Van Kalmthout ended the day only five-hundredths of a second behind Askew and was followed closely by the Team Pelfrey duo of Robert Megennis and Kaylen Frederick, who ended the day only a tenth of a second behind Askew.

“It means a lot for sure,” explained a smiling Askew. “We’ve been testing in the offseason, and we’ve had five or six days now in the car before today. We’ve made a lot of progress, and I feel very comfortable in the car, but we came into this test with a little bit of question mark to see how we stacked up against the rest of the teams. Now, I’m extremely confident with the car and I’m happy to work to with Cape Motorsports.”

The first dozen drivers on the combined timesheet all ended the day within one second of Askew. Those 12 drivers represent seven of the 10 teams present for testing on the 2.21-mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway road course.

The first session of the afternoon and second session of the day featured two red flags for cars that needed assistance. The safety team was able to get them restarted and both drivers were able to make it back to their pit stalls and continue the session with no damage.

Dev Gore and his No. 92 Exclusive Autosport Mazda/Tatuus did not make it on track for the final session of the day due to mechanical issues. Gore was disappointed to miss out on a session and was looking forward to having plenty of fresh Cooper Tire slicks to use on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s combined Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda timesheet:

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICKEST LAP TOTAL LAPS
1 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 1:24.562 70
2 38 Rinus VeeKay Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.612 80
3 80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1:24.675 72
4 81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 1:24.712 74
5 22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 1:25.006 76
6 37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 1:25.014 74
7 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 1:25.043 61
8 31 Kyle Kirkwood Benik 1:25.186 63
9 82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 1:25.203 76
10 36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 1:25.268 78
11 9 Victor Franzoni ArmsUp Motorsports 1:25.422 67
12 23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:25.508 80
13 2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports 1:25.770 75
14 12 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:25.855 69
15 91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 1:25.869 67
16 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:26.005 68
17 34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 1:26.242 79
18 7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 1:26.734 67
19 20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 1:27.638 76
20 92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 1:27.647 37
21 8 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports 1:29.398 79

What do TJ Fischer, Nikita Lastochkin, and Carlos Cunha all have in common? Two things. All three drive for Team Pelfrey and all three led one of the three test sessions for the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire series on Tuesday.

Veteran driver TJ Fischer led the first session this morning and ended up with the quickest lap of the day. The 1 minute 24.442-second lap topped the time charts but was only 3 hundredths of a second quicker than Lastochkin’s best lap in the second session of the day. Cunha and Cape Motorsports’ Anthony Martin were both only two-tenths of a second off of Fischer’s pace.

“It was a good first day of testing. I’ve never been to Homestead and we aren’t racing here, so we get what we can out of the test,” explained Fisher. “It was positive. The group of guys we have around us right now. These guys are really quick teammates. Constantly working at it and you really have to be pushing the whole time because everybody is getting quicker. As the sessions go on, the gaps are going to come down. For u, we’re just going to keep plugging away with it. We did the qualifications runs and the race runs afterwords, so we got the whole spectrum. For me, I’m still learning. There is a ton to learn out there.”

The seven drivers combined for a total of 554 laps with Jeff Green’s 89 circuits leading the way. Both sessions ran green with no stoppages.

Tuesday’s combined Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire timesheet:

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICKEST LAP TOTAL LAPS
1 82 TJ Fischer Team Pelfrey 1:24.442 85
2 80 Nikita Lastochkin Team Pelfrey 1:24.471 75
3 81 Carlos Cunha Team Pelfrey 1:24.622 60
4 8 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports 1:24.652 74
5 13 Bobby Eberle World Speed Motorsports 1:25.742 88
6 14 Sting Ray Robb World Speed Motorsports 1:26.0877 83
7 5 Jeff Green Green Racing 1:26.8749 89

The schedule for tomorrow is:

  • 9am – 10am — Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda test session #4
  • 10:15am – 11:15am — Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire test session #4
  • 11:30am – 12:30pm — Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda test session #5
  • 1:30pm – 2:30pm — Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire test session #5
  • 2:45pm – 3:45pm — Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda test session #6
  • 4pm – 5:15pm — Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire test session #6

Notebook:

  • Each of the teams are allocated two sets of sticker Cooper Tire slicks for each day of the test, so they do have to judicious in their use. Most teams spent the majority of the first session on tires left over from testing before putting on sticker tires to end the session. Tire “strategies” for the remaining two session varied.
  • The last time that the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda series officially took to the 2.1 mile, Homestead-Miami Speedway 14-turn road course was during winter testing in preparation for the 2015 season. The quickest lap in that event was a lap at 1:24.8059 by Victor Franzoni, meaning that that the brand new car is already quicker than the venerable Van Diemen that had over a decade of development.
  • The 2.1 mile, Homestead-Miami Speedway 14-turn road course has hosted a number of different road racing series including: ACCUS Florida Winter Series, F4 United States Championship Powered by Honda, FIA GT, Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series, SCCA US Road Racing Championship, Trans-Am, and US F2000 Winterfest. The 14-turn circuit features nine left-hand turns and six right-hand turns.

The 2.21-mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway road course (Photo courtesy of Homestead-Miami Speedway)

  • Johnny Unser has been named the new race director for the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire series. Unser, an IndyCar, IMSA and 24 Hours of Le Mans veteran, is the son of racer Jerry Unser and cousins of Al Unser, Jr. and Robby Unser. Unser was the Champ Car Atlantic Championship race director in 2008 and has extensive experience in IndyCar race control.
  • The National Class will feature 2001-2009 Van Dieman and 2010-present Elan Motorsports Technologies DP-08s with components provided by Andersen Promotions, an authorized manufacturer or supplier. So essentially the previous generation USF2000 car.
  • Tatiana Calderón, who had two podiums in two seasons of Pro Mazda (2010 and 2011) signed a deal to become a development driver for the Sauber F1 Team and also to compete with Dams Racing in GP3.

https://twitter.com/TataCalde/status/836578202457890817

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Pro Mazda News/Results, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
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Opening sessions of USF2000 and Pro Mazda testing are complete. Askew (USF2000) and (Pro Mazda) lead the way.

Posted by  on Tuesday, February 28th 2017     

At exactly 9am the heavy South Florida air was filled with the buzz of Mazda MZR 2.0L power plants powering a swarm of brand new Tatuus USF-17s that took to the 2.21-mile, 14-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway road course.

One of the big question marks entering the first season of USF-17 competition is which team will have the early advantage in developing the new car. For the past five years, the series has been dominated by drivers from the Cape Motorsports stable, and it was a rookie driver from their two car effort that led the first official 2017 USF2000 session.

MRTI $200K Scholarship Shootout winner and Team USA Scholarship winner Oliver Askew and his No. 3 Cape Motorsports Mazda/Tatuus turned the quickest lap of the session at 1:24.8257. Askew has not officially signed as of today, but TSO fully expects to see Askew’s Soul Red machine in the St. Petersburg, Florida based team’s stable.

It was two other unsigned drivers, Kaylen Frederick (Team Pelfrey) and Rinus Van Kalmthout (Newman Wachs Racing) that fell second and third on the time sheet, and Frederick’s Team Pelfrey teammates Ayla Agren and Robert Megennis who rounded out the top five.

Five different teams were represented among the top seven lap times, with Pabst Racing and Exclusive Autosport joining Cape Motorsports, Team Pelfrey and Newman Wachs Racing.

The majority of the session was led by the 16 year-old Van Kalmthout, but when the teams went to fresh rubber in the final fifteen minutes of the session, he fell down the time sheet.

The entire one hour session ran clean and green and the 21 drivers representing 10 different teams turned a total of 487 laps with Van Kalmthout’s 30 circuits representing the most laps turned.

Complete USF2000 time sheet:

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICKEST LAP GAP TOTAL LAPS
1 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 1:24.826 0.000 22
2 81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 1:25.095 0.2689 26
3 38 Rinus VeeKay Newman Wachs Racing 1:25.172 0.3464 30
4 82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 1:25.203 0.3770 27
5 80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1:25.236 0.4098 25
6 22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 1:25.240 0.4140 31
7 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 1:25.937 1.1117 12
8 23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:26.020 1.1945 27
9 37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 1:26.130 1.3044 22
10 2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports 1:26.385 1.5593 24
11 36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 1:26.462 1.6363 26
12 31 Kyle Kirkwood Benik 1:26.573 1.7476 22
13 34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 1:27.023 2.1975 27
14 12 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:27.181 2.3552 25
15 20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 1:27.638 2.8125 21
16 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:27.668 2.8428 22
17 91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 1:27.719 2.8933 16
18 9 Victor Franzoni ArmsUp Motorsports 1:28.579 3.7534 27
19 92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 1:29.606 4.7799 12
20 8 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports 1:30.180 5.3538 23
21 7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 1:30.476 5.6506 20

Newly signed Team Pelfrey Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire driver Nikita Lastochkin led the seven Pro Mazda drivers who completed a total of 182 laps in the one-hour session that ran green the entire time.

Complete Pro Mazda time sheet:

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM QUICKEST LAP GAP TOTAL LAPS
1 80 Nikita Lastochkin Team Pelfrey 1:24.471 0.000 29
2 8 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports 1:24.652 0.1813 31
3 82 TJ Fischer Team Pelfrey 1:24.924 0.4535 31
4 13 Bobby Eberle World Speed Motorsports 1:26.332 1.8613 29
5 14 Sting Ray Robb World Sport Motorsports 1:26.817 2.3456 23
6 81 Carlos Cunha Team Pelfrey 1:27.570 3.0994 11
7 5 Jeff Green Green Racing 1:31.279 6.8084 28

The schedule for the remainder of the day is:

  • 12:15pm – 1:15pm — Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda test session #2
  • 1:30pm – 2:30pm — Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire test session #2
  • 2:45pm – 3:45pm — Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda test session #3
  • 4pm – 5:15pm — Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire test session #3
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Pro Mazda News/Results, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
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Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway – Steve’s preview

Posted by  on Saturday, February 25th 2017     

By Steve Wittich

Over the course of four days between February 27, 2017 and March 2, 2017, the three levels of the Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire ladder will take to the 1.5-mile oval (Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire only) and 2.21-mile, 14-turn road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the first and only official test before the season kicks off with Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda practice on Thursday, March 9, 2017 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

TSO Ladder will have full on-site, in-depth coverage of the four day test.

Here are two questions for each series that we hope to have answers for by the time the roar of the Mazda engines go silent on Thursday afternoon.

Two questions, the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire edition. 

1) It is only testing, can we learn anything about who will be in championship contention for the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship when the series heads to Watkins Glen International in six months?

Possibly.

The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire series conducted an official two-day test on the 2.21-mile, 14-turn road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway at the end of January in 2016.

That test was led by Belardi Auto Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist, who’s quickest lap time of 1:14.4371 topped the swiftest laps turned by Santiago Urrutia, and Ed Jones by less than one-tenth of a second. Those three drivers combined to win half of the 18 races in 2016, and Jones and Urrutia battled for the title until the very last lap during the finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in September.

While it’s not guaranteed that the drivers who end the test on top of the timesheet on Thursday evening will be in championship contention come Labor Day weekend, it also wouldn’t be a surprise to see the speediest drivers dueling it out for the scholarship to end the season.

2) Who is the first driver to assert themselves among the rookies and the veterans? 

The 14 entries for the season’s first official test is split evenly among seven veteran drivers and seven rookie drivers.

If the past two seasons of Indy Lights competition are any indication of what fans will see in 2017, expect to see rookies and veterans battling for wins and the championship from the drop of the green flag in St. Petersburg in two weeks. But, first the veterans and rookies must sort out who amongst themselves will be fighting at the pointy end of the field.

Past results would lead one to believe that the battle to be the top veteran would be between Kyle Kaiser (Juncos Racing) and Santiago Urrutia (Belardi Auto Racing), a pair of 20 year-olds, who have stood on the top step of the podium a total of six times between them.

But, it wouldn’t be wise to count out a jump in performance from Neil Alberico (Carlin), Shelby Blackstock (Belardi Auto Racing), Zachary Claman DeMelo (Carlin), Dalton Kellett (Andretti Autosport), or Juan Piedrahita (Team Pelfrey). All five drivers have shown they have the pace to be on the podium. Could one of them be this year’s surprise?

If the first two seasons of IL-15 completion are any indication, don’t be surprised to see 2016 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire champion Aaron Telitz (team TBA) fighting for wins and the championship. In 2015, Spencer Pigot won back-to-back championships, and last year, 2017 Pro Mazda champ Santiago Urrutia battled with Ed Jones for the crown.

Looking strictly at past racing resumes, one would could conclude that 2016 BRDC British Formula 3 Champion Matheus Leist (Carlin), 2015 Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda champion Nico Jamin (Andretti Autosport), and five time Formula 3 race winner Colton Herta (Andretti Steinbrenner Racing), would be the drivers most likely to challenge Telitz.

Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire Homestead-Miami Speedway spring training entry list. 

Indy Lights schedule

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Two questions, the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire edition? 

1) Can anybody touch Team Pelfrey?

The Indianapolis, Indiana based Team Pelfrey dominated the 2016 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire season by winning 13 of the 16 races, and finishing first and second in the championship.

The two day test at Homestead-Miami Speedway will serve as an exit-poll for the 2017 season, to see if World Speed Motorsports or Cape Motorsports will have anything for the black and yellow Mazda Renesis powered machines of Team Pelfrey.

2) Who emerges as the team leader at Team Pelfrey?

TJ Fischer, who has the most experience at the wheel of a Pro Mazda car. Nikita Lastochkin, who spent the past two months gaining valuable seat time in the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand.  Or, will it be Carlos Cunha, a Brazilian who has two years of South American Formula 3 experience under his belt.

Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire Homestead-Miami Speedway spring training entry list. 

Two questions, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda edition

1) With five straight championships, will it be business as usual for the Cape Motorsports, or will the brand new Mazda powered Tatuus USF-17 shake things up?

Matthew Brabham, Scott Hargrove, Florian Latorre, Nico Jamin, and Anthony Martin have brought home five consecutive driver’s championship for the St. Petersburg, Florida based, Dominic and Nicholas owned Cape Motorsports.

However, if the introduction of the new Indy Lights IL-15 taught us anything in 2015, it is that the status quo is certainly not safe when new equipment is introduced. In the decade prior to the introduction of the new Indy Lights car in 2015, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports won the majority of races and six of the ten championships. After the introduction of the IL-15, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports experienced stout competition from Indy Lights main stays Belardi Auto Racing, and newcomers Carlin, and Juncos Racing.

It would be surprising if Cape Motorsports was not near the top of the time sheets at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but don’t be surprised if they have close company from experienced teams like Pabst Racing and Team Pelfrey, and newcomers like Newman Wachs Racing and Exclusive Autosport.

It will likely be apparent by the end of the day which team or teams has gotten an early handle on setting up the USF-17.

2) Is this the year that a rookie can win the title?

Over the past few years, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda championship has become a series dominated by veteran drivers.

The last time a rookie won the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda championship was in 2012 when Matthew Brabham beat his Cape Motorsports teammate Spencer Pigot to the title by a scant seven point margin.

The last time a rookie driver won a Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda race was in 2014, when Jake Eidson, Aaron Telitz and Victor Franzoni all won races.

Will highly touted rookies Oliver Askew (Team TBA), Andre Castro (Newman Wachs Racing), Rinus Van Kalmthout (Newman Wachs Racing) and Kyle Kirkwood (Benik) be able to challenge veterans Dakota Dickerson (Newman Wachs Racing), Robert Megennis (Team Pelfrey), Ayla Agren (Team Pelfrey), Parker Thompson (Exclusive Autosport) and Luke Gabin (Exclusive Autosport). Only time will tell, but we should have a good idea of how the rookies stack up by Wednesday evening when the two-day test comes to an end.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda Homestead-Miami Speedway spring training entry list

Pro Mazda and USF2000 schedule

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Don’t miss any of the action:

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Pro Mazda News/Results, USF2000 News/Results
tags: , , , , , ,
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