IndyCars - Portland: Reconnecting with an old friend

The Sports Roundtable and Bar
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Saturday afternoon at Portland - Pro Mazda hold Race 1 of their weekend…

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…and also crowned the 2018 champion, though it wasn’t the race WINNER. The WINNER was Oliver Askew for Cape Motorsports, while P2 was Rinuis VeeKay for Juncos Racing, getting enough points in the doing to take the title. P3 at the end was Vice-Champion for 2018, Parker Thompson for Exclusive Autosport.
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Mazda’s John Doonan congrats Oliver Askew on his first WIN in Pro Mazda

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Calling this race is easy and short. On the opening lap Oliver got the jump on pole-sitter Rinus VeeKay and took him in Turn 1 to take the lead, with Parker staying in P3. Nikita Lastochkin for Cape Motorsports missed the turn and took the chicane, instead, slotting in last, as the field began to stretch out. On lap 4 Moises de la Vara for DEForce Racing put a wheel off in Turn 4 and did some damage. He would pit and never return.

The field continued to stretch out and without the benefit of Push-to-Pass, once out there and apart, no one else could gain ground and no more passes were made in the contest. The quartet of P1 Askew, P2 VeeKay P3 Thompson and P4 David Malukas for BN Racing traded Fastest Lap among themselves several times, to no avail, as the field was too evenly matched on both talent and speed and too small to crowd each other.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s new Champion Rinus VeeKay in P2 on the left, Oliver Askew in P1 in the middle and Vice-Champion Parker Thompson in P3 on the right:

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Simply by starting the race, Nederlander Rinus Van Kalmthout - popular in the Netherlands for years as a top karter, he uses the name “VeeKay” he acquired there - became the 2018 Pro Mazda Champion in his rookie year in the series. With still one race left to run, VeeKay already has 8 WINS, 9 podiums and 6 poles. He was also the Vice-Champion of USF2000 in 2017 - his formula car debut year in the US - with 3 WINS and 12 podiums. He also holds 5 European karting titles and 2 Vice-Championships in karting. By taking the title he will be awarded the last near-$800,000 Mazda-sponsored scholarship to run the full season of Indy Lights in 2019.

Left to right, Dan Anderson, head of the Mazda Road to Indy, Rinus VeeKay, 2018 Pro Mazda Champion, john Doonan, head of Mazda Motorsports and Chris Pantani, head of Cooper Tires Racing:

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This was the last on-track activity of the day

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IndyCar has released Day 2 highlights, including qualifying…

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Racer magazine’s Marshall Pruett interviews our new Indy Lights Champ, Pato O’Ward…

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Spotter’s Guide - Changes in livery since Gateway…

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There are not a lot of livery changes but a few different or new drivers will be in the field on Sunday.

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Carlos Munoz is going to be the driver in the # 6 Lucas Oil car for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at both Portland and the season finale at Sonoma, subbing for the injured Robert Wickens, but the livery is unchanged:

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Graham Rahal was in the Mi-Jack car for Gateway but jumps back into the black and white One Cure car for Portland:

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Sebastien Bourdais was in his usual yellow and black SealMaster car for St. Louis, but tries a new sponsor, Gorilla Automotive Products, for Portland. The car is pink and white with a gorilla head on both the sidepod tops and the tail:

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Jordan King takes over the # 20 Chevy for Ed Carpenter Racing, as is usual for all road and street course, but the livery remains the same black and white by Fuzzy’s Vodka:

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Alfonso Celis is the driver of the # 32 Juncos Racing car at Portland, but the liver is at it has been, all year:

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Santino Ferrucci is returning to the fray in the # 39, a purple car for Dale Coyne Racing with sponsorship from Cly-Del, a Connecticut metals manufacturer:

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Jack Harvey returns to action in the same stunning dark chrome pink and black SiriusXM with AutoNation car, the # 60 for Meyer Shank Racing with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports:

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Sunday morning at Portland - The Indy Lights close the season…

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As expected, the stops were all pulled out for the last race of the Indy Lights season and it turned into a wild one from the start. From his P7 start the WINNER was 2018 Champion Patricio O’Ward for Andretti Autosport. P2 went to Aaron Telitz for Belardi Auto Racing abd P3 went to Aaron’s teammate, Santiago Urrutia.

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Pato disappears in delightful donut smoke

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The race started with a bang. As pole-sitter Ryan Norman for Andretti Autosport led the field down to Turn 1 the cars fanned out 6 wide across the whole width of the track and then squeezed into the Festival Curves, with the result that Norman and teammate Dalton Kellett went straight off and into the signage that makes up the chicane. That signage is held in place by 50-pound sandbags and the cars went airborne as they hit them. Funneling through the turns without damage were Aaron, Santi and Pato, now P1, P2 and P3 respectively. Also making it through was Heamin Choi for Juncos in P4 and teammate Victor Franzoni in P5 with Andretti’s Colton Herta surviving in P6.

As the full-course caution came out to replace the signage, Kellet, Norman and Herta arrived in the pits. Herta got a new nose and rejoined while Ryan and Dalton retired with suspension damage. On the lap 6 restart, Heamin dropped back, allowing Victor into P4 and Colton into P5. By lap 7 Colton took Victor in Turn 1. Lap 8 saw Santi take the lead from Aaron in Turns 8 and 9. By lap 9 Pato was by Aaron in Turn 1 to take over P2. Pato and Santi then battled hard for the P1 spot for several laps, at many times nose to tail. On lap 18 Pato put on a clinic in Turn 1, snookered Urrutia and got by clean. He then started to lay down laps faster than Ryan Norman’s qualifying lap.

Pato checked out. Meanwhile, Aaron retook P2 from Santi on lap 25. On lap 27 Santi tried to reply in Turn 1 but muffed it and went into the chicane to rejoin back in P3. On the same lap Victor got well beside Colton in Turn 7 but the two cars bumped each other, putting them both off and back on the track, with Victor in P4 and Colton in P5. By lap 32 Race Control decided to give Colton the position back and Victor allowed him by in Turn 1, but then hounded him for the remainder of the lap, trying to regain it. He was not able to do it however, and the race ended 3 laps later. Pato then favored the crowd with at least a dozen donuts all around the track.

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Here is your happy podium - The last Lights podium of 2018, that’s Aaron Telitz in P2 on the left, Pato O’Ward in P1 in the middle and Santi Urrutia in P3 on the right:

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Next up, the IndyCars race! The grid for this race is in post # 20…

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Sunday afternoon - The IndyCar race…

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…was a wild one! - all that could happen, happened and all that one could ask for happened, At the end Takuma Sato for Rahal Letterman Lanigan WON his first natural road course victory in 9 years of IndyCar driving, from a P20 start. Taking P2, a car-length or two off Sato’s tail was Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport while P3 went to the Frankenstein-colored car of Sebastien Bourdais for Dale Coyne Racing.

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The race started with a bang - as expected - in the Festival Curves, as exiting the Curves Zach Veach for Andretti in P6 and James Hinchcliffe for Schmidt Peterson in P7 tried to occupy the same space with the result that Hinchcliffe spun on the exit to Turn 3, collecting several cars off track left and in the dust, including Hinchcliffe, Ed Jones and Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi, Graham Rahal for RLL and Marco Andretti for Andretti Autosport, who wound up upside down. No one hurt, but Rahal, Jones and Andretti were out and Hinchcliffe was 20 laps down before rejoining.

Dixon, in the fight for the championship, miraculously put his car in reverse, backed up a bit and rejoined, though in the back of the field, but on the same lap. One of his title rivals, Will Power for Team Penske, led for 8 laps before a transmission problem developed that disabled 1st gear for him. He would drop through the field until he eventually had a bad off in Turn 11, bringing out a yellow and putting him a lap down.

The other title contender, Alexander Rossi for Andretti, led for much of the race and was poised to take the points lead over Dixon by a wide margin when his teammate Zach Veach finally lost grip in his lap-1 damaged car and also went off in Turn 11, bringing out another caution. Soon after, Santino Ferrucci also stopped on course in his Dale Coyne machine and that was ill-timed for Rossi and perfect for Dixon, who had stayed out on the Veach caution. The two flipped ends of the field with Dixon near the leaders and Rossi fighting back from the rear. At the finish Dixon was P5 and Rossi soldiered hard up to P8, minimizing his bad fortune.

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Notable:

  • This race had it all, including lots of passing all over the track and changing and differing fuel strategies, as the race went on. Some great drives early were not rewarded late and some perseverance early was rewarded late.

  • Having great races were Spencer Pigot in P5 and Charlie Kimball in P7. Simon Pagenaud, who has struggled all weekend, ended up being the best Penske car in P6, while Will Power ended up in P21 and Josef Newgarden in P10, effectively taking them out of the title hunt, without a miracle at Sonoma.

  • Running very strong but catching the yellows badly were Jordan King for Ed Carpenter and Jack Harvey for Meyer Shank with SPM. Both were legitimate TOP FIVE contenders at one time. Harvey posted the 2nd fastest lap of the race. Zach Veach, even damaged, also ran in the TOP FIVE until he lost it in Turn 11/12 and went a lap down.

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Here is your very happy but somewhat obscured podium - That’s Ryan Hunter-Reay on the left in P2, Takuma Sato in the middle in P1 and Sebastien Bourdais in P3 on the right:

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With this result there are only four drivers POSSIBLE for the title, going to Sonoma, and really only the TOP TWO have a chance:

1 - Scott Dixon, 3 WINS, 598 points
2 - Alexander Rossi, 3 WINS, 3 poles, 569 points
3 - Will Power, 3 WINS, 4 poles, 511 points
3- Josef Newgarden, 3 WINS, 4 poles, 511 points

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With double points available at Sonoma, this is still a battle for the title, right down to the final race of the season, and that will be the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma, Sept 14-16.

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Next, Pro Mazda closes out their season. The grid for this race is in post # 15…

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Sunday afternoon at Portland - Pro Mazda closes out the season…

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With the title already decided at the start of Race 1, Race 2 was a free-for-all with a bold start that shaped the finish. At the end the WINNER was David Malukas, taking his 3rd WIN of the season for BN Racing. P2 was Champion Rinus VeeKay for Juncos Racing and P3 was Oliver Askew for Cape Motorsports, taking his 2nd podium of the weekend.

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As the field came down to Turn 1 they were 5 cars wide and trying to funnel into the turn. It was Dave Malukas who got it just right and spit out the other side in the lead ahead of pole-sitter Rinus VeeKay with Oliver Askew slotting into P3, and the podium was set and never changed. Clashing in the turn were Parker Thompson for Exclusive Autosport and Rob Megennis for Juncos. Rob would come out in P4 and Parker in P5. Meanwhile, Moises de la Vara for DEForce hit the back of Sting Ray Robb for Team Pelfrey. Both would pit. Robb would get a new front wing and rejoin, several laps down, but de la Vara was out for the day. Parker Thompson would also pit for a cut tire. He would need three laps to get back out again.

The field didn’t change until lap 17 when Rob Megennis finally succumbed to lap 1 damage and pitted, out of the race. That elevated Thmpson to P5, behind Nikita Lastochkin for Cape Motorsports. The race finished with that order on lap 30.

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Here is your happy and last Pro Mazda podium for 2018 - That’s Rinus VeeKay in P2 on the left, David Malukas in P1 in the middle and Oliver Askew in P3 on the right:

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And that closes out the 2018 season of Pro Mazda, with Rinus VeeKay as Champion and Parker Thompson as Vice-Champion. Juncos Racing took the Team Championship by a whopping 193 points over Cape Motorsports. Congrats to all who participated!

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Next, USF2000 hold their final race of the season. The grid for this event is on post # 13…

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Sunday evening at Portland - USF2000 close out the season…

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…and 2018 Champion Kyle Kirkwood made it historic by taking his 12th WIN of the year - the 11th in a row - to match the all-time single-season WIN record of JR Hildebrand set in 2006. P2 at the end was fellow rookie Rasmus Lindh for Pabst Racing and P3 was fellow rookie Julian Van der Watt for Team Pelfrey in his 1st podium of the season.

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We are so used to this!

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At the start pole-sitter Rasmus Lindh took the huge field into Turn 1 and most got through, but Jose Sierra for DEForce Racing went it too hot, banged off Igor Fraga for Exclusive Autosport and ended up banging into series rookie Braden Eves for Newman Wachs, taking Eves and himself out of the race. Fraga would survive, slotting into P6. On the lap 3 restart P2 Kaylen Frederick rear-ended his teammate, Rasmus Lindh, and both had to run through the chicane, instead of the Festival Curves, but both remained in P1 and P2, though Frederick was immediately called in for a drive-through penalty, elevating Kyle Kirkwood to P2 with Lucas Kohl for Pabst Racing in P3. A battle developed between P4 Igor Fraga and P5 Julian Van Der Watt that would be many laps long.

On lap 7 Kyle finally took P1 in the move in Turn 7. On lap 8 Julian passed Igor for P4, while Colin Kaminsky passed his DEForce teammate Kory Enders for P8. By lap 14 Kory returned the favor and re-took P8 from Colin, but two laps later Colin took it back again, in Turn 1. By lap 21 Julian had escaped Igor and was onto the tail of P3 Lucas Kohl. For several turns they battled until Julian took Lucas in Turn 7, setting the podium. Lucas then found himself under attack by Igor Fraga and on lap 24 the Brazilian finally succumbed to Fraga, his younger fellow countryman, in Turn 1. The race ended one lap later.

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Here is your happy and final USF2000 podium for 2018 - That’s Rasmus Lindh in P2 on the left, Kyle kirkwood in P1 in the middle and Julian Van der Watt in P3 on the right:

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With this result Kyle Kirkwood holds a whopping 440 points. Vice-Champion is fellow rookie Rasmus Lindh with 238 points. The Team Championship goes to Pabst Racing, beating out Cape
Motorsports by 15 points.

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This was that last on-track activity of the weekend…and what a great weekend it was, with HUGE crowds all three days and great weather to bring the IndyCars back. This track should end up being a season favorite, once again. Thanks, Portland!
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IndyCar has released a Race- Re-Mix of the terrific race, including the huge 1st lap shunt…

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Friday at Laguna Seca - The WeatherTech gang hold practice

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All three classes of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship held two practice sessions at Laguna Seca this day and we have the COMBINED results here, starting with P class:

The fastest guy all day turned out to be Dane Cameron in the # 6 Acura ARX-5 DPi for Acura Team Penske, who turned in a time of 01:16.865 seconds for a speed of 104.817mph in the P2 session, besting the time of Renger Van der Zande in the # 10 Cadillac DPi V.R. for Wayne Taylor Racing by a mere 0.017 seconds. Renger’s time was the TOPS of the P-1 session. P3 on the day was the other Acura DPi, the # 7 driven by IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves, thanks to his P-2 session efforts. Dane shares the # 7 with IndyCar driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Renger shares the # 10 with Jordan Taylor and Helio shares the # 7 with Jordan’s brother Ricky Taylor.

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The Acura Team Penske # 6 - TOP performer on the day

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In the GTLM class the best time for the day wad turned in by Dirk Mueller in the # 66 Ford GT for Ford Chip Ganassi, a car he shares with Joey Hand. Dirk’s P-2 session time was 01:23.265 s for a speed of 96.760mph, beating out teammate and IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe’s P-2 time by 0.162 seconds. Ryan’s co-driver is Richard Westbrook. P3 for the day was Jan Magnussen in the # 3 Corvette for Corvette Racing. Jan and co-driver Antonio Garcia are edging out Briscoe and Westbrook in the points in GTLM class, at the moment, but not by much.

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Fast Ford - the # 66 in the hands of Dirk Mueller

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In GTD class the rabbit for the day was Joerg Bergmieister in the Park Place Motorsports # 73 Porsche 911 GT3 R with a P-2 session time of 01:25.148s for a speed of 94.620mph. He shares that car with Patrick Lindsay and he bested Alvaro Parente in the same session by 0.123 seconds. Alvaro drives the # 86 Acura NSX GT3 with IndyCar driver Katherine Legge. P3 was points-leader Bryan Sellers in the # 48 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 he pilots for Paul Miller Racing with Madison Snow as co-driver. Bryan posted his time in the P-1 session - tops in that session. Katherine Legge - 2nd in the points - must finish AHEAD of Bryan and Madison this weekend, if she is to have a shot at the title.

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Joerg Bergmieister does the trick for Park Place in the Porsche

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The WeatherTech classes will have 1 more practice on Saturday morning and then qualify for Sunday’s race in Saturday afternoon.
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Friday at Laguna Seca - The CTSC hold their practices…

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Just like the WeatherTech gang, the crowd from the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series also had two practice sessions involving all three classes and we have the TOP performers on the day for each class, starting with the Grand Sport guys:

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TOPS in the GS class was Kris Wilson in the # 99 Aston Martin Vantage for Automatic Racing that he shares with Gary Ferrera. Kris posted a time of 01:33.123s for a speed of 86.517mph in the P-1 session. He bested Spencer Pumpelly in the # 28 Porsche Cayman GT4 MR by a teensy 0.029 seconds. Spencer’s co-driver in the car for RennSport One is Dillon MacHavern. P3 on the day, like the other two cars, was a P-1 session effort by Trent Hindman in the # 7 Ford Mustang GT4 for VOLT Racing. Co-driver is Alan Brynjolfsson

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Automatic’s fast Aston with Kris Wilson onboard

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In the Touring Car class Tom O’Gorman continues to impress with another TOP TIME for the # 12 Audi RS3 LMS TCR for eEuropartsDotCom Racing, taking the TCR-class car he shares with Kenton Koch to a P-2 session time of 01:34.671 seconds for a speed of 85.102mph. He was faster than Stephen Simpson in the # 54 Audi for JDC-Miller Motorsports by a healthy 0.553 seconds. Stephen’s co-driver is Pro Mazda alum Michael Johnson. P3 on the day with a P-1 session time was Pierre Kleinubing in the # 75 Audi for Compass Racing. He shares that car with Roy Block.

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The eEuroparts Audi RS3 LMS TCR in the hands of Tom O’Gorman

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Finally, in the Street Tuner class the rabbit on the day was Mat Pombo in the # 73 Mini JCW that he drives for the Mini JCW Team with Mike LaMarra. Mat’s P-1 session time was 01:39.853 seconds for a speed of 80.686mph. He bested Devin Jones in the # 81 BMW 328i for BimmerWorld Racing by 0.468 seconds. Nick Galante is the co-driver in that car. The P3 time was put in by Mark Pombo in another Mini JCW Team car, the # 52 - and like the other two cars, it was a P-1 session effort. Mark shares the car with 16-year-old Colin Mullan who this week was nominated as one of the 6 finalists for the 2018 Team USA Scholarship.

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The # 73 John Cooper Works Mini in the Corkscrew at Laguna

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On Saturday the CTSC will hold one more practice in the morning, then qualify mid-day and then race in the early evening - last on-track activity.

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