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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – Thursday Testing Notes

Posted by  on Thursday, May 11th 2017     

Thursday is a busy day for teams in all three rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires ladder, in preparation for this weekend’s six-pack of races on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The official name of the race weekend is the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America. It’s a long name but stems from an extended partnership between Royal Purple Synthetic Oil and the Mazda Road to Indy during May, which is Lupus Awareness Month. All cars are carrying a special decal and there’s also a hashtag, #RaceToEndLupus.

Prior to official track activity, there were six test sessions held on the cloudy, overcast day – two apiece per series – before USF2000 and Pro Mazda are set to hold their official first practice sessions of half an hour each. Quick notes from those and a couple other preliminary notes are below.

—

In Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the best times were set in the only fully dry session for the series, held from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET and local time this morning.

Nico Jamin, in the newly revised DuraMAX Powered by Reladyne liveried No. 27 Dallara IL-15 Mazda for Andretti Autosport, was first at 1:15.064. Kyle Kaiser was second for Juncos Racing with Neil Alberico third for Carlin, and Colton Herta and Zachary Claman De Melo completed the top five.

Jamin enters the weekend after a run of winning five of his last six overall race starts in three entirely different types of cars. In a Ligier JS P3, he won both IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda races at Sebring in March, the week after his Indy Lights debut at St. Petersburg. Then he won his first Indy Lights race last time out Barber. Lastly a week after Barber, he won both GTS class races in Pirelli World Challenge in a KTM X-BOW GT4. Both sports cars he raced were entered by ANSA Motorsports.

With rain spritzing during the second session, very few cars took the opportunity to run on a damp track. Only five of the 14 drivers entered ventured out on the circuit, and Neil Alberico posted a best time of 1:25.484. Alberico and all three of his teammates, Claman De Melo, Garth Rickards and Matheus Leist, plus Juncos Racing’s Nicolas Dapero were the only drivers to venture onto the circuit.

Session 1

1 27 Nico Jamin 1:15.064
2 18 Kyle Kaiser 1:15.093
3 22 Neil Alberico 1:15.194
4 98 Colton Herta 1:15.252
5 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:15.280

—

Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires saw two drivers not named Anthony Martin top the timesheets in the pair of sessions. TJ Fischer of Team Pelfrey paced the opening hour session with a best time of 1:24.015, while Victor Franzoni of Juncos Racing was fastest in the second session at 1:23.446. Martin was second in both sessions, and Carlos Cunha was third in both.

Both Fischer and Franzoni, who were third and second in the two St. Petersburg races to Martin, come into Indianapolis having been busy in the near two-month break.

Fischer completed a 63-flight climb of the Aon Center in Los Angeles in the American Lung Association’s Fight For Air Climb in Los Angeles, as part of Project O2’s #Race2TheRescue for asthma awareness.

Franzoni, meanwhile, comes to Indianapolis after racing old stock cars in his native Brazil. Franzoni made his Pro Mazda debut here for M1 Racing two years ago but last year was back in USF2000, and he also tested with Juncos at October’s Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy test. Franzoni told TSO there wasn’t a need to run too much this morning as he feels confident in the team’s setup and dynamic heading into this weekend, as he seeks his first Pro Mazda victory.

Session 1

1 82 TJ Fischer 1:24.015
2 8 Anthony Martin 1:24.097
3 81 Carlos Cunha 1:24.672
4 23 Victor Franzoni 1:24.729
5 80 Nikita Lastochkin 1:24.995

Session 2

1 23 Victor Franzoni 1:23.446
2 8 Anthony Martin 1:23.800
3 81 Carlos Cunha 1:23.811
4 82 TJ Fischer 1:24.185
5 15 Phillippe Denes 1:24.411

—

In a surprise to almost no one, Cape Motorsports’ dynamic rookie Oliver Askew led both Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda on top of both test sessions.

The driver of the No. 3 Tatuus USF-17 Mazda posted a best time of 1:25.784 in the morning’s first one-hour session, which was the first session of the day, and then went nearly a second faster in the afternoon at 1:24.703. With the official track and qualifying record of Anthony Martin coming last year at 1:26.1053, the track record will be set this weekend if conditions remain dry.

Askew made his USF2000 test debut here at the Griffis test in October, a week after winning last year’s Team USA Scholarship. But he tested then in Cape’s previous generation Van Diemen chassis, as the combination of the older Van Diemens joined the fresh-out-of-the-box Tatuus cars.

Dakota Dickerson was second for Newman Wachs Racing in the opening session, as the team’s only entrant this weekend, with series debutante Callan O’Keeffe of South Africa third for Team BENIK. Kaylen Frederick of Team Pelfrey and Parker Thompson of Exclusive Autosport were second and third in the second session. Pelfrey’s Ayla Agren was fifth in both, as she seeks her first top-five finish of the year this weekend.

Session 1

1 3 Oliver Askew 1:25.784
2 36 Dakota Dickerson 1:25.963
3 31 Callan O’Keeffe 1:26.114
4 90 Parker Thompson 1:26.254
5 82 Ayla Agren 1:26.335

Session 2

1 3 Oliver Askew 1:24.703
2 81 Kaylen Frederick 1:25.159
3 90 Parker Thompson 1:25.211
4 22 Calvin Ming 1:25.329
5 82 Ayla Agren 1:25.369

—

Other pre-race notes from the Mazda Road to Indy paddock:

  • The paddock layout is changed from previous years here into just one main dividing road with teams from all three series split vertically on either side. Previously, it had been laid out horizontally, with more zigging-and-zagging between rows if you will.
  • Indy Lights’ car count drops by one to 14 as Pato O’Ward, who swept Pro Mazda here last year for Team Pelfrey, isn’t here. TSO understands O’Ward, who was only officially confirmed for St. Petersburg and continued into Barber, was unable to gather the necessary budget to offset crash damage from the opening two weekends.
  • Pro Mazda’s car count grows by one to 15 with the additions of Bob Kaminsky (Kaminsky Racing) and Steven Ford (World Speed Motorsports) to the National Class. It would have gone to 16, but Max Hanratty (ArmsUp Motorsports) is withdrawn as he is racing in a European Le Mans Series event this weekend in an LMP3 car for Eurointernational.
  • Incidentally, Hanratty is in the same field as past MRTI IMS road course winners Sean Rayhall (2015, 8Star Motorsports, Indy Lights) and Will Owen (2014, Pabst Racing, USF2000), both of whom won the ELMS opener in Silverstone in the LMP3 and LMP2 classes with Zak Brown and Richard Dean’s United Autosports team.
  • The USF2000 field drops by one to 23 following several changes from Barber. Newman Wachs, as noted, is at only one car with Dakota Dickerson. Neither Andre Castro nor Flinn Lazier is here. Callan O’Keefe replaces Toby Sowery at Team BENIK. Colin Kaminsky’s car continues under the John Cummiskey Racing banner, after initially being entered as Kaminsky Racing; Bayley Mickler, the Australian driver, is not here this weekend. Exclusive Autosport expands to a fourth car with Canadian Jayson Clunie, while BN Racing makes its first start of 2017 with Chicago native David Malukas.
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO, Pro Mazda News/Results, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
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Barber – Saturday – USF2000 Race #2 report and results – Askew cruises as the rest of the field has an eventful first lap

Posted by  on Saturday, April 22nd 2017     

Oliver Askew, who was feeling under the weather today, didn’t suffer any ill effects of a carnage filled first lap and pressure from closest rival, Team Pelfrey’s rookie stand-out Kaylen Frederick, as he cruised to a third straight Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda victory and an ever increasing points lead.

A beautiful fleet of Tatuus USF-17s get ready for their second and final race of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

As the front row of Askew and Fredrick brought the field slowly to the green flag, the field got bunched up behind them, but made it through the first two turns cleanly before three separate incidents forced race control to throw the yellow flag. Lucas Kohl, Kris Wright, Bayley Milker, Andre Castro, and Devin Wojcik were all involved in the Turn 3 incident.

Meanwhile, Dakota Dickerson, Robert Megennis and Calvin Ming got tangled up when they attempted to take it three wide into Turn 5. Dickerson and Megennis got the worst of the incident with the No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing entry of Dickerson falling to the back of the lead lap and 18th and Meginnis falling down three spots from his staring position to eighth.

The final incident which happened at the downhill Turn 8 and Turn 9 complex, under yellow, was the scariest. After contact in Turn 5, the No. 22 Pabst Racing machine of Calvin Ming ran into the back of and then climbed over the side pod and cockpit area of the No. 2 Cape Motorsports car of Ricky Donison.

Wojcick, Donison, Castro and Ming were all forced to retire on the spot, while Kohl, Wright, Mikler and Dickerson were able to continue.

TSO had the opportunity to catch-up with the 19-year old Donison after the race, and he was happy the Tatuus chassis did it’s job and kept him safe. Ming’s car left marks in two spots where it climbed over the side-pod, but did not make contact with his helmet. The Bangalore, India native who had moved up to eighth from his 14th place starting spot was most disappointed that he was hit under yellow.

The field remained yellow for the next five laps as the Holmatro Safety Team cleaned up the multiple incidents and the top 10 as the field circulated behind the Soul Red Mazda 3 Pace Car were: Askew, Frederick, Thompson, Rinus Van Kalmthout, Kory Enders, Toby Sowery, Moisés de la Vara, Ayla Agren, and Luke Gabin.

The field went back to green on Lap 6 with just under 15 minutes left in the half-hour race. Askew was able to pull a two-car gap over Frederick, but the 14 year-old Team Pelfrey driver was all over the back wing of the Soul Red Cape Motorsports No. 3 off Askew going into Turn 5.

Further back in the field, de la Vera and Sowery went side-by-side through Turn 5 and Turn 6. Sowery, a British F3 veteran, was able to hold onto sixth, eventually passing Enders on Lap 13 to score a top five in Benik’s first USF2000 weekend. .

Frederick was within a half-second of Askew at the start of Lap 10, but made a mistake in Turn 1, losing 1.5 seconds to his rival on that lap and falling just over two second behind his rival when the pair crossed the line to start their 11th Lap.

With a comfortable gap up front, Askew was able to pull away from Frederick turning the quickest lap on the second last lap.

Thompson had a comfortable one second lead over Van Kalmthout heading into the final two laps, but had to fight hard after a stick throttle going into Turn 1 on the final two laps made things uncomfortable for the 2016 USF2000 vice-champion.

Megennis who restarted the race in eighth after his first lap incident was able to recover to finish sixth.

The San Diego, Calif. born Dickerson who admitted he was being aggressive on the first lap, had the best recovery drive of the day. After falling down the order to 18th after his first lap incident, the 20 year-old was able to recover to finish tenth. His final lap included a back and forth battle that had him trade the 10th spot with Benik’s Darren Keane on three different occasions.

Other drivers of note were:
Third generation racer Flinn Lazier, who started 22nd and was able to drive through the first lap carnage and make two more passes in the final-half of the race to end his Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire debut on a high note with an eleventh place finish. (more on Flinn and his dad Buddy in a later notebook)

Chandler Horton, who started 23rd and finished 14th, is finding pace with each session and told TSO that he is really looking forward to his home race during the road-course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May, which is the next time that the USF2000 drivers are on track.

Complete USF2000 race #2 results

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
1 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 1:24.787 —
2 81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 1:24.960 3.8037
3 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 1:25.345 6.6034
4 21 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing 1:25.341 6.9708
5 31 Toby Sowery Benik Kart 1:25.424 9.6439
6 80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1:25.056 9.8994
7 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:25.509 11.2009
8 82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 1:25.850 16.8560
9 12 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:26.353 17.1617
10 36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 1:25.986 17.4386
11 32 Darren Keane Benik Kart 1:27.188 18.9347
12 38 Flinn Lazier Newman Wachs Racing 1:26.207 20.0408
13 91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 1:26.580 24.2791
14 20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 1:26.604 24.7459
15 27 Colin Kaminsky Kaminsky Racing 1:25.843 26.3729
16 23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:26.158 27.3460
17 92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 1:30.141 36.8307
18 97 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports 1:30.140 36.9765
19 34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 1:35.490 37.6989
20 33 Bayley Mickler John Cummiskey Racing 1:26.037 -3 Laps
21 22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 2:50.744 -17 laps
22 37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 2:40.766 -17 laps
23 2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports 2:38.099 -17 laps
24 7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 2:30.024 -17 laps
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
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Barber – Saturday – USF2000 qualifying for race #2 – report and results

Posted by  on Saturday, April 22nd 2017     

Oliver Askew will start on point for the second Mazda USF2000 Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires of the weekend after a wild and crazy last five minutes of qualifying that had four different drivers swap provisional pole six different times.

The final five minutes of the 20 minute session began with veteran Exclusive Autosport driver Parker Thompson holding the provisional pole. He was quickly surpassed by Team Pelfrey sophomore and 2016 USF2000 rookie of the year Robert Megennis, who was supplanted seconds later by his teammate Kaylen Frederick.

Quickly thereafter, Thompson crossed the timing stripe and went back to the top of the heap. Fredrick, a 14 year-old rookie and race one second place finisher turned in a lap of 1 minute, 23.5587 seconds to jump to jump to provisional pole.

With Askew mired down mid-pack on his older tire runs, Cape Motorsports took a chance and waited until the very end of the session to send the championship leader out on fresh Cooper Tire slicks. This time gamble paid off for the 20 year-old, who was not aware of where he stood. The Jupiter, Fla., native’s second last lap of 1 minute 23.2957 seconds was good enough for his second straight Barber Motorsports Park pole. For good measure, Askew went even faster on his final lap, turing in a blistering lap of 1 minute 23.1597 seconds to just miss out on grabbing the track record. Michael Epps set the Barber Motorsports Park USF2000 track record of 1 minute, 23.009 seconds during Cooper Tires Winterfest in February 2014.

“I tell them not to tell me where I am, because then I start thinking too much about it,” explained Askew. “I just go out and do my thing, and it ended up working out.

“It was a little bit risky going out at the end because of a red flag, but thankfully it worked out.”

Thompson will start inside the front row, and will joined by Pabst Racing rookie Calvin Ming. Megennis, and Dakota Dickerson (Newman Wachs Racing) the top two rookies in the series in 2016, will start together on the third row.

The entire 20 minute session ran green.

The race, which goes green at 4:45pm (Central) is the sixth straight USF2000 race at Barber Motorsports Park that a Cape Motorsports driver will lead the field to the green flag.

Qualifying results for USF2000 race #2

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
1 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 1:23.160 —
2 81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 1:23.507 0.3477
3 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 1:23.653 0.4929
4 22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 1:23.707 0.5475
5 80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1:23.743 0.5830
6 36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 1:23.796 0.6363
7 21 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing 1:23.843 0.6828
8 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:23.927 0.7677
9 82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 1:24.080 0.9203
10 31 Toby Sowery Benik Kart 1:24.175 1.0154
11 23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:24.275 1.1152
12 37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.285 1.1251
13 91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 1:24.298 1.1379
14 2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports 1:24.422 1.2623
15 34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 1:24.502 1.3425
16 12 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:24.573 1.4136
17 33 Bayley Mickler John Cummiskey Racing 1:24.658 1.4979
18 27 Colin Kaminsky Kaminsky Racing 1:24.695 1.5351
19 32 Darren Keane Benik Kart 1:24.824 1.6645
20 7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 1:24.832 1.6721
21 97 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports 1:24.900 1.7406
22 38 Flinn Lazier Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.991 1.8311
23 20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 1:25.229 2.0693
24 92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 1:26.511 3.3510
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, USF2000 News/Results

Barber – Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire Friday notebook

Posted by  on Friday, April 21st 2017     

Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire Friday notebook

  • The three quickest drivers of this afternoon’s Indy Lights practice session – Shelby Blackstock, Garth Rickards, and Zachary Claman DeMelo – all set their quickest lap times on sticker Cooper Tires. Rickards told us that him (and his three Carlin teammates) are all suffering from understeer.
  • The No. 51 Belardi Auto Racing entry was undergoing an engine change when we walked though the Indy Lights paddock after practice.
  • Current points leader Colton Herta turned the fifth quickest time in Indy Lights practice (only 0.2920 seconds behind leader Blackstock), but DID NOT put on a set of sticker tires. The second-generation driver told TSO that he is quite happy with the balance of his Deltro Energy sponsored No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing car.
  • A pretty common refrain from drivers from both MRTI series that have competed at Barber Motorsports Park before is that the track is more difficult, especially during the afternoon sessions, then they can ever remember experiencing.
  • USF2000 veteran Luke Gabin told us that the Exclusive Autosport team is suffering the exact opposite problem that Carlin is facing in Indy Lights, oversteer. The problem has the Canadian based three-car team completely perplexed. Gabin has one podium and one top five at Barber Motorsports Park, and his teammate Parker Thompson has two wins and five top five finish. Exclusive Autosport engineer Daryl Bear has also had success at this track, working with Gabin and winning three times as race engineer for RC Enerson.
  • The 39 Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire entries are not the only Mazda powered cars in attendance at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend. When you add the 31 MX-5 Cup cars and the 13 Mazda powered Prototype Challenge entries, you get a grand total of 83 cars that are powered by various iterations of Mazda 2.0-liter power plants.
  • Road To Indy TV rolled out an Official App for Xbox One this weekend giving MRTI fans another option (along with the mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku.) “With the launch of our Xbox App, we’re not only spearheading a new medium that provides free accessibility to viewers worldwide, but we’re delivering an experience into the heart of their home,” said Manterola. “In the U.S. alone, 65 percent of households own a video game console, so we are excited to witness how this will impact the next generation of racing fans.”
  • Team Pelfrey rookie Indy Lights driver Pato O’Ward now has his own app that allows you to find his schedule, photographs, social media, post and other content. You can get the app for iOS and Android.

 

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

Barber – USF2000 Race #1 recap and results – Askew wins, three rookies on the podium

Posted by  on Friday, April 21st 2017     

USF2000 race #1 notes and results

The box score for the first of two Mazda USF2000 Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires races will show that Mazda scholarship driver Oliver Askew led all 19 laps between the green and checkered flags on the way to his second straight USF200 win. What it won’t show is how well the 20 year-old handled the constant pressure from 14 year-old Team Pelfrey rookie Kaylen Frederick.

“He (Frederick) had a lot of pace, especially in that draft, so on the straight aways he was able to keep up with me a little bit, but in the corners I was able to pull away just enough,” explained Askew. “He was able to stay consistant the whole time so I really had to focus and not make a mistake for him to get around me, and that’s what I did. The car felt great. Thanks to Mazda for giving me the opportunity, and once again the Cape Motorsports team did a fantastic job and we’ll be even better tomorrow.”

Frederick, who scored his first MRTI podium after impressive fourth and fifth place in St. Petersburg, explained to TSO that there was just enough aero wash that he couldn’t quite get close enough to make a pass.

Rinus Van Kalmthout, a 16 year-old Pabst Racing rookie, rounded out the podium for the third straight race.

Rookie USF2000 driver Askew started on pole for the first time in his young MRTI career, however pole at Barber Motorsports Park is a familiar spot for a car from the Cape Motorsports stable. A driver representing the St. Petersburg, Fla. based team has started on pole for four straight races on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain Barber Motorsports Park road course.

The 12 rows of two Mazda powered Tatuss USF-17s came to the green flag with the No. 11 DE Force car of Kory Enders jumping out of line early. The cars got through the first lap cleanly, but Enders did receive a penalty for jumping the start. After serving his drive-through, Enders came out in last place, and the 19 year-old Enders was able to up recover and to finish 17th.

The top ten after the first lap of action were: Askew, Frederick, Van Kalmthout, Robert Megennis, Dakota Dickerson, Calvin Ming, Andre Castro, Enders, and Ayla Agren.

At the start of the second lap Cape Motorsports rookie Ricky Donison, spun in Turn 1 while trying to get by Luke Gabin for the 11th spot.

Askew continued to lead at the half-way mark of the 30 minute race, but it was Team Pelfrey rookie Frederick who had the quickest lap of the race, and was within one second of the leader.

Further back in the field, Bruna Tomaselli and Moisés de la Vara had a terrific battle for 16th spot, with the Brazilian Tomaselli making a brave pass into Turn 1 to take the position. After making a mistake in practice on her out lap in practice yesterday, Tomaselli was impressive in her first weekend in the USF-17,

With just under twelve minutes left, the yellow flag came out when Donison had his second incident of the race. The 19 year-old from Bangalore, India wasn’t able to get going this time, beaching the No. 2 in the gravel at the exit of Turn 17. The top ten under yellow were: Askew, Frederick, VeeKay, Megennis, Thompson, Dickerson, Ming, Castro, Agren and Gabin.

The race went back to green with 6 ½ minutes remaining. Askew had a great restart, and crossed under the starter stand with a three or four car lead over Frederick. The field got through the first four corners cleanly, but John Cummiskey Racing newcomer Bayley Mickler was turned by Pabst Racing’s Lucas Kohl in Charlotte’s Web (Turn 5). Sophomore Kohl received a drive-through penalty for unavoidable contact. Both drivers were forced to retire with their damage.

Askew was not able to shake Frederick and took the white flag only three-tenths of a second ahead of his pursuer. Frederick continued to shadow Askew for the entire final lap and was right on the rear wing of the Soul Red No.3 as the drivers went through the final complex of corners, but was not able to pressure the USF2000 points leader into a mistake, crossing the line just behind Askew.

This was the fifth straight win going back to the second Cooper Tires Winterfest race at Barber Motorsports Park for Cape Motorsports.

The USF2000 teams and drivers will be back on track at 9:25am tomorrow morning to qualify for their second race of the weekend, which rolls off at at 4:45pm tomorrow.

Full race results:

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM GAP
1 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 19 laps
2 81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 0.2273
3 21 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing 0.7368
4 80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1.5476
5 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 2.8475
6 36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 3.0627
7 22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 3.7936
8 82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 4.6487
9 37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 6.5512
10 91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 8.4423
11 31 Toby Sowery Benik Kart 11.5138
12 7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 11.6213
13 34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 12.1719
14 97 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports 13.2925
15 12 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 16.4336
16 32 Darren Keane Benik Kart 16.7136
17 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 18.0530
18 92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 20.5938
19 27 Colin Kaminsky Kaminsky Racing 20.7739
20 20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 27.8931
21 2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports -1 Lap
22 38 Flinn Lazier Newman Wachs Racing -1 lap
23 23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing -2 laps
24 33 Bayley Mickler John Cummiskey Racing -4 laps
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
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USF2000 qualifying notes and results – Askew scores first MRTI pole after a one hour delay.

Posted by  on Friday, April 21st 2017     

USF2000 qualifying notes and results by Steve Wittich

Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda championship leader Oliver Askew overcame a one-hour delay to win his very first Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire pole.

“It’s fantastic,” exclaimed the Cape Motorsports rookie and MRTI $200K Scholarship Shootout winner, who’s quickest lap of 1 minute, 23.572 seconds was over three-tenths of a second ahead of Team Pelfrey rookie Kaylen Frederick, and four-tenths of a second ahead of Pabst Racing rookie Rinus Van Kalmthout.

For once the USF2000 drivers were NOT the dew sweepers at Barber Motorsports Park, as their qualifying session for the first of two Mazda USF2000 Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires races followed an 8am Mazda MX-5 Cup Practice.

However, the drivers on the lowest step of the Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire ladder still had face some adversity. session was delayed to repair the ARMCO barrier in the Turn 3 area, and began exactly on hour late.

“It’s very tough, because when I get in the car the first time, I immediately get in the zone, and to sit there for an hour and overthink things is not good, explained Askew after qualifying. “I had to get myself back into the zone. But, once the engines fire all the negative thoughts go away and you push as hard as you can and I try to trick myself into thinking it’s a practice session.”

The teams who did not run fresh Cooper Tire in yesterday’s lone practice session utilized various strategies with their fresh rubber. The three Pabst Racing drivers only did one lap before coming in, while eventual pole sitter Asker did two laps before pitting for fresh rubber, Exclusive Autosport’s veteran drivers did not take to the 2.3-mile, 17-Turn Barber Motorsports Park road course until there were five minutes left in the 20 minute session.

Robert Megennis (Team Pelfrey), Dakota Dickerson (Newman Wachs Racing), Parker Thompson (Exclusive Autosport), Askew, and Calvin Ming (Pabst Racing) were the five quickest drivers half-way through the session and had lap times that were all within one-tenth of second of each other.

Complete qualifying results for the first Mazda USF2000 Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires race:

CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 1:23.572 0.000
81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 1:23.898 0.3265
21 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing 1:23.990 0.4183
80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1:24.046 0.4749
36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.050 0.4789
90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 1:24.073 0.5020
82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 1:24.181 0.6100
22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 1:24.197 0.6250
11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:24.232 0.6601
37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.308 0.7367
91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 1:24.530 0.9585
31 Toby Sowery Benik Kart 1:24.531 0.9596
33 Bayley Mickler John Cummiskey Racing 1:24.592 1.0205
2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports 1:24.773 1.2013
23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:24.787 1.2152
12 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:24.915 1.3437
34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 1:24.923 1.3517
27 Colin Kaminsky Kaminsky Racing 1:25.276 1.7048
92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 1:25.317 1.7455
7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 1:25.356 1.7845
97 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports 1:25.381 1.8094
38 Flinn Lazier Newman Wachs Racing 1:25.430 1.8588
32 Darren Keane Benik Kart 1:25.550 1.9784
20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 1:25.877 2.3056
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
tags: , , , , , ,

Barber Motorsports Park – USF2000 Practice #1

Posted by  on Thursday, April 20th 2017     

By Steve Wittich

The first official USF2000 practice session for the Mazda USF2000 Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires rolled off of pit road at exactly 3:30pm, and was led by three rookie drivers from three different teams.

Pabst Racing rookie Calvin Ming led the session with a quick lap of 1 minute 24.202 seconds, and was followed closely by points leader Oliver Askew (Cape Motorsports) and Kaylen Frederick (Team Pelfrey), who were both within two-tenths of a second of Ming.

Pabst Racing rookie Calvin Ming led the only USF2000 practice session at Barber Motorsports Park. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Different teams utilized differing tire strategies with a few teams, like Newman Wachs Racing and Benik, opting to bolt on a fresh set of Cooper Tire slicks at the end of the session. Pabst Racing, Cape Motorsports, Team Pelfrey, and Exclusive Autosport, who’s drivers turned eight of the top ten  lap times all elected to run scuffed tires.

A red flag flew five minutes into the half-hour session when ArmsUp Motorsports rookie Bruna Tomaselli had an off on her out-lap. The Brazilian who made her USF2000 debut in the previous generation Van Diemen at St. Petersburg, has switched to the Tatuss USF-17 this weekend. Her No. 97 made contact with the tire barrier and suffered front wing, nose and left front suspension damage.

At that early juncture of the session, most drivers had turned only two laps, and the quickest of the 24 entered drivers was DE Force rookie Kory Enders.

The green flag to re-start the session was unfurled from the starters stand with 17 minutes left in the only official practice session before USF2000 Qualifying, and the track remained green until the checkered flag flew.

The teams and drivers did take part in two test sessions this morning, but there was no timing and scoring. TSO did hear that Benik rookie Toby Sowery was very impressive in his American debut. The 20 year-old took part in the opening round of the 2017 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship this past weekend at Oulton Park, scoring a podium in the first of three races. Sowery, a resident of Cambridge, England scored five wins, and 10 podiums on the way to third in 2016 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, a series that utilizes a Tatuus that is very similar to the USF-17.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda drivers are on track twice tomorrow (Friday, April 20, 2017). A 20-minute qualifying session begins at 8:45am and the first race of the weekend rolls off at 12:40pm.

USF2000 Practice Time Sheet No. 1. 

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
1 22 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 1:24.202
2 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 1:24.328 0.1260
3 81 Kaylen Frederick Team Pelfrey 1:24.446 0.2435
4 80 Robert Megennis Team Pelfrey 1:24.495 0.2930
5 21 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing 1:24.642 0.4392
6 36 Dakota Dickerson Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.736 0.5331
7 82 Ayla Agren Team Pelfrey 1:24.765 0.5627
8 31 Toby Sowery Benik Kart 1:24.778 0.5754
9 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 1:24.796 0.5941
10 91 Luke Gabin Exclusive Autosport 1:24.837 0.6345
11 33 Bayley Mickler John Cummiskey Racing 1:24.874 0.6718
12 37 Andre Castro Newman Wachs Racing 1:24.885 0.6824
13 23 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 1:25.299 1.0965
14 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 1:25.318 1.1158
15 32 Darren Keane Benik Kart 1:25.734 1.5319
16 34 Kris Wright John Cummiskey Racing 1:25.769 1.5668
17 2 Ricky Donison Cape Motorsports 1:25.777 1.5744
18 7 Devin Wojcik ArmsUp Motorsports 1:25.806 1.6037
19 38 Flinn Lazier Newman Wachs Racing 1:25.839 1.6369
20 27 Colin Kaminsky Kaminsky Racing 1:26.134 1.9312
21 12 Moises de la Vara DEForce Racing 1:26.163 1.9603
22 92 Dev Gore Exclusive Autosport 1:26.319 2.1170
23 20 Chandler Horton RJB Motorsports 1:26.734 2.5320
24 97 Bruna Tomaselli ArmsUp Motorsports No Time —
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
tags: , , , ,

More Notes from USF2000 Race #2 and Indy Lights Race #1 Report and Results

Posted by  on Saturday, March 11th 2017     

By Patrick Stephan (TSO_Patrick)

Well, this is the final report for today – and wow, what a day!  Some great racing in Lights and USF2000. Pro Mazda wasn’t quite up to the same level, but there was still some action – or at least the potential for some 🙂

The podium finishers from today’s USF2000 race came in to the media center for a bit. This is always a tough one for these kids because they have to come in right smack in the middle of Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying. No one wants to disturb the coverage of that, but the USF2000 racers do deserve some love for finishing up front.

Instead of a more formal press conference, the drivers did one on ones with the media. That let me chat with Oliver Askew, winner of his first ever USF2000 race – in his debut weekend.

He was still pretty shocked, saying of the defining restart, “I was just reacting to whatever happens and Parker seemed to lock up and overshot in to Turn 1 and I just went right underneath him and in to the lead. The guy came on the radio and told me not to look back and to keep pushing, so that’s what I did.”

“It’s huge, this is the best day of my racing career by far,” said Askew. “I’m pretty speechless I don’t think it’s even sunk in!”

When asked if he even thought of winning coming in to the weekend he said, “No, I was just coming in to this weekend to get points, so this is a big plus!”  He noted that tomorrow, he’ll be here watching the Verizon IndyCar Series race – just the second he’s ever gotten the chance to see in person.

TSO also talked to Parker Thompson and he started off saying that “Exclusive Autosport gave me a great car today, a winning car.”

On the restart he said, “My game plan was to cool down the tires, because already 10 minutes in the tires were starting to overheat and fall off. So I thought if I cooled down the tires as much as I could they would be good on the restart. I warmed them up on that last lap, but obviously not enough. They kind of just got greasy. Went in and I broke about 50 – 75 feet earlier than I usually do, and all four corners locked up and I knew I was big, big trouble right away.”

On getting back to the podium, he said, “red mist!”

“Nothing was going to stop me from getting a podium for the boys. I threw away getting them their first USF2000 win, but nothing was going to stop me from getting them their first podium.”

Ok, let’s go to the Lights race that finished up this long day at the track.

Aaron Telitz started Indy Lights Race #1 from the pole, and kept that lead through Turn 1. He said later that he didn’t use the push to pass, while everyone else did, but it still worked out for him.

Didn’t see a replay of the start, but Dalton Kellett got spun out of 12th and was facing the wrong way on the track.

Unfortunately his teammate, Santi Urrutia picked up damage in the initial start when things got crazy and he had wall contact with right front corner of his car.

With five laps completed, the Top -5 were Telitz, Mattheus Leist, Neil Alberico, and Shelby Blackstock.

But that wouldn’t last long, Telitz kept the lead, but Alberico got around Leist, and we had battling back a little further between the Team Pelfrey duo of Nico Jamin and Pato O’Ward. They were fighting for the 6th spot and got side by side a couple times.

When we got to lap 8, O’Ward was able to make the move, and we had a Top 10 of Telitz, Alberico, Blackstock, Herta, Kaiser, Piedrahita, O’Ward, Jamin, Claman de Melo, and Dapero.

Leist would pull off about this same time after dropping through the field. His car clearly had a mechanical issue (down on power), sending him to pit lane. He got out of the car and started walking away before being called back. He got back in the car and rejoined the race about 7 laps down before retiring for good after 20 laps completed.

Urrutia had also rejoined the race, though he was 4 laps down, after his Belardi crew got the right front repaired.

On lap 14, Telitz had a 6.4 second lead over Alberico.

The best battle on the track was for third at this time. Blackstock had Herta all over him, with Kyle Kaiser about a second behind them in fifth.

Colton Herta made a dive inside of Blackstock on lap 20 in Turn 1. They didn’t touch, but it was very close and Blackstock had to change his line or there would have been contact. In a couple of laps, Blackstock was slipping back to other drivers with Kyle Kaiser taking the fourth spot in Turn 1. Shelby didn’t give him as much room as he did Herta, with Kaiser and Blackstock going wheel to wheel through Turn 1. May have been some contact, but they both continued.

Kaiser didn’t run away from Blackstock who quickly had Piedrahita and O’Ward right behind him.

With those cars nose to tail, we’re presuming a lot of these guys were getting on the push to pass. Recall that can be engaged if you are within one second of the car in front of you.

Lap 25 of 35 and Telitz still leads by 9 seconds over Alberico, with Herta right on his gearbox. Four seconds behind them is the battle between Kaiser, Blackstock, O’Ward and Claman de Melo. Piedrahita pulled to pit lane. Rob Howden from INDYCAR radio noticed the car had all the marking of wall contact on the left side.

Back up front, Herta was still pressing Alberico for second. They were 11 seconds behind the leader Telitz, but Herta was just two car lengths out of second place. On lap 31, Herta gets on the push to pass and goes by Alberico in Turn 1 to take the second position.

Positions 5-9 were really battling as Kaiser was clearly getting loose in the 5th spot. He had Pato O’Ward looking inside and out to try and get around. O’Ward was also getting pressure again from Claman de Melo, who Jamin just behind him.

With 3 laps to go, O’Ward slides inside of Kaiser in Turn 1.

The final lap we had a three car battle as Kaiser tried to hold off Claman De Melo and Jamin and Dapero was also looking for a chance to get by. That would get dicey, but they all made it to the checkered flag, although not quite in that order as Jamin moved to 7th.

Quick summary of this one – good race for everything except the lead.

After the race, the Top-3 came in to the media center.

Neil Alberico said of his weekend so far “The Carlin guys did a good job working with me in the offseason, after a tough season last year. Working well with my engineer and so far so good. As long as we can stay clean tomorrow and come out of here with some good points, we should be good coming out of here.”

Colton Herta said that push to pass helped him a ton. “It worked it got me good runs on Kaiser and Shelby.”  He also noted that the track felt “really similar to this morning.” He said the times were a little quicker than he expected but the track wasn’t that different.

Aaron Telitz said, “I was seriously expecting to do well this year, but not to come in and win the pole and the win,” he noted while also saying, “this is a really deep field, especially with some of these guys coming back for their second season.”

Aaron was asked about tires, and he said his held really well and he did his fastest lap as the fuel burned off toward the end.

After winning today, he said, “It all just feels a little unreal honestly. I had no idea I would even make it Indy Lights when I started in car racing, let alone actually win an Indy Lights race in my first go. I can’t thank Mazda enough for creating this ladder system where driver’s like me, or anybody, can get in to it and work their way up.”

He spent much of the race just trying to hit his marks and be consistent. He said he was a little mad that no one told him he didn’t have fastest lap – he might have pushed a little more for that – to get the extra point.

After the race, TSO talked more with Telitz on his path to Indy Lights.

“Go karting was just something I did for fun on weekends with my family. I went to college, and when I was a freshman I decided to go give the Skip Barber Scholarship shoot-out a try. And I ended up winning a scholarship to even start racing cars.”

“My whole road in to car racing has been through doing well and winning scholarships basically. I have won Skip Barber scholarships, Team USA scholarships, two Mazda Speed scholarships, and I have an incredible home state partner in Rice Lake Weighing Systems. They have helped me out in between and continues to help me to this day. On the off seasons when I haven’t had championships or scholarships to run on, when they’ve been able to back me, that’s been a serious help in allowing me to move up.”

He talked about some of the “new blood” coming to the sport, mentioning Colton’s new team co-owner George Steinbrenner, and their sponsor Deltro Energy. “It’s an incredible time right now and I think INDYCAR is seriously on the upswing, and the racing out there is great!”

Aaron Telitz had a good day today in St. Petersburg. INDYCAR Photo

Ok, here are the unofficial results:

Pos Car # Driver Laps Diff Status Team
1 9 Aaron Telitz 35 0.0000 1 Belardi Auto Racing
2 98 Colton Herta 35 11.0330 Active Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
3 22 Neil Alberico 35 13.9925 Active Carlin
4 51 Shelby Blackstock 35 15.6642 Active Belardi Auto Racing
5 3 Pato O’Ward 35 19.1813 Active Team Pelfrey
6 18 Kyle Kaiser 35 25.4788 Active Juncos Racing
7 27 Nico Jamin 35 25.7737 Active Andretti Autosport
8 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 35 25.9800 Active Carlin
9 31 Nicolas Dapero 35 26.4283 Active Juncos Racing
10 48 Ryan Norman 35 37.7830 Active Andretti Autosport
11 11 Garth Rickards 34 1L Active Carlin
12 28 Dalton Kellett 33 1L Off Andretti Autosport
13 5 Santi Urrutia 30 4L Pit Belardi Auto Racing
14 2 Juan Piedrahita 27 7L Contact Team Pelfrey
15 26 Matheus Leist 15 19L Mechanical Carlin
category: Indy Lights News/Results, USF2000 News/Results

St. Petersburg Grand Prix – More ProMazda Notes and USF2000 Race #2 Report

Posted by  on Saturday, March 11th 2017     

By Patrick Stephan (@TSO_Patrick)

The second and final USF2000 race of the weekend got started under clear/blue skies and with temperatures in the temperatures approaching 80 degrees here on the waterfront in St. Petersburg.

This race didn’t get off as cleanly as the morning event. Up front, things were relatively clean though there was a lot of tire smoke as the driver’s piled in to Turn 1. But, at the back, we saw some contact, including one car climbing someone else’s tires and getting up on the two wheels. They didn’t turn over though, and we didn’t get a replay, but I’m pretty sure the car up in the air was Bruna Tomaselli, who is running a National Class car.

As the field worked through Turn 1 and Turn 2, things started to get a little cleaner, but we did see something odd. A couple cars dove inside of the curbing in Turn 3 – taking a straight shot through there. Seemed to be an “escape” option for those drivers, and we didn’t hear of any immediate penalties, so presuming they didn’t make any spots with the move.

Pole sitter Parker Thompson was able to stay out front, with second place Oliver Askew just behind him during the early part of the race.

By the time we got a full course yellow for Andre Castro on Lap 4, the Top-5 was Thompson, Askew, VeeKay, Megennis, and Dickerson. The big movers so far were Luke Gabin coming from 11th to 7th, and Devin Wojcik going from 14th to 9th.

We didn’t get a replay of the Andre Castro crash, but he apparently had contact in Turn 2. He’s going to be glad to get out of St. Pete, he’s had a rough weekend with multiple crashes.

Back to green at the end of lap 10, Parker Thompson gets a little wide under braking and loses three spots in Turn 1. Askew took over the lead, with VeeKay in second. Megennis muscled his way to third down in Turn 4, and Kaylen Frederick moved to fourth. Thompson finished the next lap in 5th.

On lap 12, Askew was already enjoying the clean air and was 1.5501 seconds ahead of VeeKay. Race #1 winner Megennis is third. Several car lengths back in fourth is Frederick, who is getting a lot of pressure from Thompson who is trying to get some of those spots back he lost on the restart.

Megennis passed VeeKay for second in Turn 4, and then got passed back later that lap (Turn 8?) on lap 18. But, then Megennis slid wide at Turn 10, and slammed the right rear corner in to the concrete barrier at the exit of the turn. He kept going with the right rear folded up, and pulled off to the right side of the track – mostly out of the way heading toward Turn 11. We did not go yellow.

With Askew up front and two laps to go, Parker Thompson made a strong move in Turn 1 to get to 3rd, bringing Luke Gabin with him as Kaylen Frederick goes down to fifth.

They would finish that way, with Askew’s margin of victory 1.2 seconds over VeeKay.

Oliver Askew was nearly speechless in victory lane, as his tearful parents stood by and watched him do his post race radio interview. He did say, “I’m almost about to cry myself.”

Cameron Das made it to 9th from 18th starting spot. Another big mover was Devin Wojcik, who got 7th from 14th. Luke Gabin started 11th and almost made the podium, finishing 4th.

Here is the unofficial finishing order:

Pos Car # Name Laps Diff Status Team
1 3 Oliver Askew 21 0.0000 Active Cape Motorsports
2 21 Rinus VeeKay 21 1.2056 Active Pabst Racing
3 90 Parker Thompson 21 2.3376 Active Exclusive Autosport
4 91 Luke Gabin 21 2.6342 Active Exclusive Autosport
5 81 Kaylen Frederick 21 3.7514 Active Team Pelfrey
6 36 Dakota Dickerson 21 4.1598 Active Newman Wachs Racing
7 7 Devin Wojcik 21 6.2958 Active ArmsUp Motorsports
8 11 Kory Enders 21 10.6152 Active DEForce Racing
9 38 Cameron Das 21 10.8155 Active Newman Wachs Racing
10 22 Calvin Ming 21 13.0797 Active Pabst Racing
11 23 Lucas Kohl 21 13.8469 Active Pabst Racing
12 82 Ayla Agren 21 14.3971 Active Team Pelfrey
13 20 Chandler Horton 21 18.5136 Active RJB Motorsports
14 27 Colin Kaminsky 21 18.9143 Active Kaminsky Racing
15 34 Kris Wright 21 21.7216 Active John Cummiskey Racing
16 92 Dev Gore 21 40.6488 Active Exclusive Autosport
17 2 Ricky Donison 21 53.6367 Active Cape Motorsports
18 12 Moises de la Vara 20 16 Active DEForce Racing
19 80 Robert Megennis 17 3L Contact Team Pelfrey
20 37 Andre Castro 4 16L Contact Newman Wachs Racing
21 8 Bruna Tomaselli 1 19L Mechanical ArmsUp Motorsports

 

Couple quick notes from the ProMazda Race #1 Podium:

TJ Fischer was very thankful when he came in to the media center. He talked about his “Project 02” platform this year. He is using racing to push/educate kids to keep competing in sports even if they have asthma (which he does). The program exists to encourage proper treatment and management of the illness so kids don’t have to let it put them on the sidelines.

On catching up to the front two cars, he said they can make a few tweaks. He also noted tomorrow’s race is a 40 minute race, today’s was 30 and the tires were just starting go off at the end of today’s race. He’s expecting to be sliding around a lot at the end of the race tomorrow.

Franzoni about his crazy week getting this ride this weekend. He was planning to run a USF2000 car here for ArmUp Motorsports. But, while he was off at NOLA doing his day job (mechanic/tuner on a go kart), he got a call from Juncos with a really good deal to run in ProMazda.

In the race, he said he was losing some grip when he got close to Martin, and had to depend totally on the tires – and he couldn’t do that for very many laps before he had to back off and try again later.

Martin said this is his first podium in three years here at St. Pete. He was “taking the air away” from Franzoni (as Victor himself noted), and focused on driving to a lap time.

Martin thought he was able to really control the tire wear today, but that extra 10 minutes tomorrow will be a challenge or as he put it, “really gone throw a spanner in the works.”

ProMazda Race #1 Podium. Franzoni (l), Martin (c), Fischer (r)

category: Pro Mazda News/Results, USF2000 News/Results

St. Petersburg Grand Prix – Saturday USF2000 Race #1

Posted by  on Saturday, March 11th 2017     

By Patrick Stephan (@TSO_Patrick)

The first race for the new Tatuus USF-17 car was a good one. That’s pretty much exactly what anyone would want from a new car debut as the entire 21 car field made it through Turn 1. I did notice a slow car at the end of that lap – which I believe was Colin Kaminski with a flat left rear. Oddly enough in talking to others in the media center, I may have been the only one that saw that. Kaminski was able to finish the race though – so I need to go and check that out a little bit more.

Up front, pole sitter Robert Megennis jumped out to a big early lead. He was up by a full second at the end of Lap 1 and over two seconds at the end of Lap 2.

One of the many early battles was for second spot as Calvin Ming was trying to hold of Dakota Dickerson. By lap 5, that had let Megennis get out to a 2.4 second lead over Ming.

Oliver Askew though was on the move and so was Rinus VeeKay. Askew passed Dickerson for third on lap 7. On lap 12, VeeKay had moved all the way to fourth from his 14th starting spot.

With Megennis still out front, but not stretching his lead very much, Askew went around Ming in Turn 3 to take the second spot.  Askew would then start eating in to Megennis lead and by lap 18 he had closed it to 1.1 seconds.  Veekay had also moved up another spot to third.

Lap 21 saw the trio getting really tight with Askew just behind Megennis who was now taking more defensive lines to hold on to his lead that was officially 0.27 seconds. The next lap it would get even closer to 0.11, but that was also when Veekay got really close to Askew and started pressuring him for the second spot. Megennis got back to a 0.4 second lead as they took the white flag.

While putting on a good fight for the win and for second, the Top-3 would hold their spots as they came to the checkered flag.

The official margin of victory was .02617 seconds, but Veekay in third was just 0.6656 behind the race winner.

Kaylen Frederick came home in the fourth spot, 4.4 seconds behind Megennis, with Parker Thompson finishing 5th.

There wasn’t much damage in this USF-17 debut, though Ayla Agren pulled off on course on Lap 7 with mechanical issues. Chandler Horton was also listed as out with Contact after 15 laps – but I have to admit – I never saw a replay so not sure what happened there. And Devin Wojcik completed just 21 laps before pulling off the track.

After the race, we heard Megennis who said “This is a dream come true. I can’t believe this is happening,” said the 2016 USF2000 Rookie of the Year and Tilton Hard Charger Award winner. This is his first USF2000 victory after earning a pair of third place finishes last year (St. Pete #1, Barber #2).

“I was getting a little scared there at the end, with Oliver and VeeKay coming,” said the very happy 17 year old from New York, New York.

VeeKay was clearly the biggest mover in race going from 14th to 3rd, but Lucas Kohl also went from 17th to 12th.

VeeKay (a rookie from Holland), told us that the key to most of his passes was to get a good exit off the previous corner, “get in to the other driver’s slipstream, and then get off the line under braking so I could get keep more downforce and brake later.” He said the passing “wasn’t the most difficult” of his career.

Speaking of which, VeeKay reiterated his story getting to the Mazda Road to Indy. He had come to the US in 2015 for the Chris Griffis Memorial test, but as he was just 14 years old, the karting star didn’t believe he was ready to make the move over here just yet. Now 16, “I am now ready in my head to make the move over here.”  He is staying in the US now in “blocks” – he heads back to Holland tomorrow night and will stay there during the long break until Barber (April 21-23) .

As has been noted before, he was planning to run here with a Benik/Carlin partnership that fizzled (nothing to do with Rinus). That left him scrambling and over the past couple weeks he tested with both Newman Wachs and Pabst Racing (signing with the latter). He called the decision on which team to go with one of the hardest of his life, “pretty tough decision for a 16 year old,” he noted.

Now, if you go searching for more on Rinus (perhaps starting with his website rinusvankalmthout.com ) you will see that he goes by a couple different versions of his last name.  Officially it’s van Kalmthout, but here it’s listed as VeeKay.  On much of his social media it’s simple the letters VK.

Oliver Askew told us after the race that the set-up on his Cape Motorsports car was really easy on the tires and he wasn’t getting any degradation unless he was in another driver’s turbulence/aero wash.  That allowed the 19 year old from Jupiter Florida to run down Megennis as the race came to a conclusion.

He told us after the race that he was being pretty careful, “I kept telling myself that it’s all about the points. So many people come out of here with a big deficit and I didn’t want to do that.”

Parker Thompson will start from the pole in Race #2 today 2:00pm. Askew is 2nd, then VeeKay, Dickerson and Megennis.

The USF2000 Podium chats with Rob Howden. Askew (l), Megennis (c), VeeKay (r) (Photo by Patrick)

Here are the results from USF2000 Race #1:

P No Name Laps Diff Start Status Team
1 80 Robert Megennis 24 0.0000 24 1 Team Pelfrey
2 3 Oliver Askew 24 0.2617 3 Active Cape Motorsports
3 21 Rinus VeeKay 24 0.6656 14 Active Pabst Racing
4 81 Kaylen Frederick 24 4.4945 5 Active Team Pelfrey
5 90 Parker Thompson 24 5.5526 6 Active Exclusive Autosport
6 36 Dakota Dickerson 24 5.8130 4 Active Newman Wachs Racing
7 22 Calvin Ming 24 8.6849 2 Active Pabst Racing
8 38 Cameron Das 24 9.0166 11 Active Newman Wachs Racing
9 12 Moises de la Vara 24 9.9387 8 Active DEForce Racing
10 37 Andre Castro 24 11.3788 7 Active Newman Wachs Racing
11 91 Luke Gabin 24 18.1934 9 Active Exclusive Autosport
12 23 Lucas Kohl 24 19.1204 17 Active Pabst Racing
13 2 Ricky Donison 24 21.7107 12 Active Cape Motorsports
14 34 Kris Wright 24 35.5310 18 Active John Cummiskey Racing
15 11 Kory Enders 24 39.1987 10 Active DEForce Racing
16 27 Colin Kaminsky 24 48.9080 19 Active Kaminsky Racing
17 92 Dev Gore 24 69.1516 21 Active Exclusive Autosport
18 8 Bruna Tomaselli 23 1L 20 Active ArmsUp Motorsports
19 7 Devin Wojcik 21 2L 15 Off ArmsUp Motorsports
20 20 Chandler Horton 15 8L 16 Contact RJB Motorsports
21 82 Ayla Agren 6 17L 13 Off Team Pelfrey
category: USF2000 News/Results
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