IndyCars - The off-season: Series news and comment until the March 2014 kick-off

The Sports Roundtable and Bar
54

+++
.

It’s getting close to time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans…

.
Monday was Day 2 of scrutineering for the iconic race, as the 60 cars that will compete in the four categories get the required looky-see by race officials. Drivers are already showing up for the race week and that includes a huge number of IndyCar folks - some are alums of the InyCars and the Mazda Road to Indy and some are current IndyCar drivers, hot off the Texas race, last weekend.

Let’s take a look at the IndyCar folks who will be at Le Mans, this year, starting with the LMP1 class:

.
LMP1 class

Former IndyCar multiple race-winner Mike Conway will co-drive the # 7 Toyota Racing TS050 Hybrid with Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez. This is a favored entry, expected to do very well.

Mike Conway

.
.
.
Former Schmidt Peterson IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin will join fellow Russian Vitaly Petrov and English F1 driver Jensen Button in the # 11 BR1-AER for SMP Racing - another highly-regarded entry.

Mikhail Aleshin

.
.
.
LMP2 class

Former Juncos Racing Pro Mazda driver Timothe Buret will drive the # 23 Ligier JS P217-Gibson for Panis Barthez Competition with co-drivers Will Stevens and Julien Canal.

Timothe Buret

.
.
.
Former Pro Mazda star Will Owen will co-drive the # 32 Ligier JS P217-Gibson for United Autosports with IndyCar great Juan Pablo Montoya and with Will’s European Le Mans co-driver Hugo de Sadeleer. This should be a stout entry - lots of success in the driver’s seat from all three guys.

Will Owen (left) and Juan Pablo Montoya

.
.
.
Former Schmidt Peterson Indy Lights driver Andre Negrao will pilot the # 36 Alpine A470-Gibson for Signatech Alpine with co-drivers Nicolas Lapierre and Pierre Thiret.

Andre Negrao

.
.
.
Former Pro Mazda ace Weiron Tan will join fellow Malaysians Jazeman Jaafar and Nabil Jeffri in the # 37 ORECA 07-Gibson for Jackie Chan DC Racing.

Weiron Tan

.
.
.
Former Juncos Racing Pro Mazda ace Jose Gutierrez will drive the # 40 ORECA 07-Gibson for G-Drive Racing with James Allen and Enzo Guibbert.

Jose Gutierrez

.
.
.
GTE Pro class

Former Team Pelfrey Pro Mazda pilot Luis Felipe “Pipo” Derani will be in the # 52 Ferrari 480 GTE for AF Corse with co-drivers Toni Vilander and Antonio Giovinazzi.

Pipo Derani

.
.
.
Current IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan returns for his 2nd Le Mans driving the # 67 Ford GT for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing with co-drivers Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell.

Tony Kanaan

.
.
.
Current IndyCar driver Scott Dixon - hot off WINS at Detroit and Texas - will join former IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook in the # 68 Ford GT for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing.

Scott Dixon (left) and Ryan Briscoe

.
.
.
Current IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais will drive the # 69 Ford GT for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing with Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand. This same squad WON this class at Le Mans in 2016 in a Ford GT and Seb has had no less than 3 P2s in the LMP1 class, as well. It cannot hurt a bit that the 4-time IndyCar Champion was born in Le Mans.

Sebastien Bourdais

.
.
.
.
Tuesday will have no on-track activity, but Wednesday will be practice and Thursday will be devoted to qualifying…Stay tuned!

.
.
.
.
M

56

+++

.
Pro Mazda has some new faces this week…

.
All three rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder are testing at Road America this week in anticipation of the big racing weekend at the end of the month, in support of the IndyCars. The middle rung of the ladder, Pro Mazda, has acquired some new names in driver’s seats while also welcoming some familiar names back to the MRTI.

First and foremost England’s Toby Sowery will be joining BN Racing for both Road America races, teaming with title-contender David Malukas. The 21-year-old drove 2 races for Benik in USF2000 last season, to get his feet wet. Sowery is a much-accomplished driver, with a 2014 Championship in MSV F3 Cup with 10 WINS and 14 podiums, a 2014/2015 Championship in MRF Challenge with 4 WINS and 9 podiums and 5 WINS in the BRDC British F3 championship since then.

Toby Sowery

.
.
.
Another driver returning to the sport will be Australian Anthony Martin, who hotly contested the Pro Mazda title with eventual champ Victor Franzoni in 2017. The 23-year-old from Kalgoorlie is just one of the best young talents in the business. He will be driving for Team Pelfrey at Road America. No word yet on any future races. He is going to have to learn the new PM-18 chassis very quickly, however, as he and Victor fought in the old Elan chassis with Mazda Rotary power.

Anthony Martin

.
.
.
New to the series this week will be Mexican teen Raul Guzman who will step into the RP Motorsport Racing # 27 PM-18 in place of Lodovico Laurini, who has been in the car up to now. No word from the team yet on whether or not this is a permanent replacement. Raul was 3rd in the Italian F.4 Championship last year, with 3 WINS.

Raul Guzman

.
.
.
Finally, we have a new gentleman driver joining the fray, as Dr. Steven Ford will compete for the first time this season in the # 12 PM-18 for Texas Autosports. Ford is an anesthesiologist, by trade but is also a much-accomplished musician and has been racing semi-pro for years. The guy is livin’ the dream.

Steven Ford

.
.
.
Welcome, one and all!

.
.
M

59

+++

.
They are TESTING at Road America!

.
As mentioned in the post above, all three series that makes up the Mazda Road to Indy have been testing at Road America in Wisconsin in anticipation of the great IndyCar race weekend at the end of the month. Each series was out on track for two tests on Monday and each will complete another two tests today.

The first to complete all four tests were the kids from USF2000 - the most junior series and the largest field of all three series. We have the results here:
.

Here are the test results of all four tests COMBINED, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie; the best session for each driver is in ( )

.
1 - Kaylen Frederick, Pabst Racing - time of 02:09.3357s for a speed of 111.728mph (3)

.
2 - Lucas Kohl, Pabst Racing - time of 02:09.4150s for a speed of 111.659mph (3)

.
3 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Cape Motorsports time of 02:09.4289s for a speed of 111.647mph (1)

.
4 - Kory Enders, DEForce Racing - time of 02:09.5856s for a speed of 111.512mph (3)

.
5 - Calvin Ming, Pabst Racing - time of 02:09.6022s for a speed of 111.498mph (3)

.
6 - Julian Van der Watt [R], Team Pelfrey (3)
7 - Igor Fraga [R], Exclusive Autosport (3)
8 - Jose Sierra [R], DEForce Racing (3)
9 - Rasmus Lindh [R], Pabst Racing (3)
10 - Michael D’Orlando [R], Team BENIK (3)

11 - Kyle Dupell [R], Team Pelfrey (3)
12 - Alex Baron, Swan / RJB Motorsports (3)
13 - Colin Kaminsky, DEForce Racing (3)
14 - Russ McDonough [R], BN Racing (3)
15 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports (3)
16 - Manuel Cabrera [R], Exclusive Autosport (3)
17 - Bruna Tomaselli, Team Pelfrey (3)
18 - Darren Keane, Newman Wachs Racing (2)
19 - Sabre Cook [R], Team BENIK (3)
20 - Keith Donegan [R], ArmsUp Motorsports (3)

21 - Zach Holden [R], DEForce Racing (3)
22 - Oscar DeLuzuriaga [R], Newman Wachs Racing (3)
23 - David Osborne [R], Newman Wachs Racing (3)
24 - Mathias Soler-Obel [R], Sol. O Racing (4)
25 - Max Peichel [R],Newman Wachs (4)

.
.
.
Notable:

  • Three drivers from “the speed boys” - Pabst Racing - are in the TOP FIVE, as is championship points-leader Kyle Kirkwood. Also in the group is DEForce racing’s most experienced driver Kory Enders. There are no surprises in this group. All have been fast all season.

  • Kyle Kirkwood topped Session 1 and Igor Fraga topped Session 2. 16-year-old Kaylen Frederick topped both sessions 3 and 4. The best session for most drivers was Sessions 3, this morning.

  • NOT on track were Jayson Clunie for Exclusive Autosport or James Roe for Swan / RJB Motorsports, and we don’t know why. Also missing was Jamie Caroline for BN Racing but we know Jamie had to fly back to England for a family crisis. Hopefully, he will be back for the races.

  • New to the grid is Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports. Jacob ran 2 races in 2017 for Newman Wachs Racing, but spent most of the year competing in US F4.

Added, Jacob Abel (left) and subtracted, Jamie Caroline

.
.
.
continued…

.
.
.
M

60

+++

.
They are TESTING at Road America!..(part 2)…

.
Next to finish all four test sessions were the gang from Pro Mazda, with a 16-car field. As with USF2000, most of the guys were fastest in the T-3 session today.

.
Here was the order of speed for all four test sessions COMBINED, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie; the best session for each driver is in ( )

.
1 - David Malukas [R], BN Racing - time of 02:00.3640s for a speed of 120.056mph (3)

.
2 - Rinus VeeKay [R]), Juncos Racing - time of 02:00.5057s for a speed of 119.915mph (3)

.
3 - Parker Thompson [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 02:00.8867s for a speed of 119.537mph (3)

.
4 - Andres Gutierrez [R], Team Pelfrey - time of 02:01.0356s for a speed of 119.390mph (3)

.
5 - Harrison Scott [R], RP Motorsport Racing - time of 02:01.1423s for a speed of 119.285mph (3)

.
6 - Sting Ray Robb, Team Pelfrey (3)
7 - Toby Sowery [R], BN Racing (3)
8 - Rob Megennis [R], Juncos Racing (1)
9 - Carlos Cunha, Juncos Racing (1)
10 - Raul Guzman [R], RP Motorsport Racing (3)

11 - Oliver Askew [R], Cape Motorsports (3)
12 - Nikita Lastochkin, Cape Motorsports (1)
13 - Anthony Martin, Team Pelfrey (3)
14 - Antonio Serravalle [R], Exclusive Autosport (3)
15 - Charles Finelli, BN Racing / FatBoy Racing! (3)
16 - Steven Ford [R], Texas Autosport (4)

.
.
.
Notable:

  • All five of the TOP FIVE are title contenders this season, with Parker Thompson currently the points leader, so no surprises in this group.

  • Rob Megennis topped the T-1 session, while David Malukas topped T-3. Rinus VeeKay topped both sessions 2 and 4.

  • Raul Guzman is in the # 27 for RP Motorsport Racing instead of Lodovico Laurini, who has been in the car up to now. Anthony Martin is in the # 80 for Team Pelfrey, instead of Rafael Matins, who very capably started the season in the car. Toby Sowery is driving the # 78 for BN Racing instead of Kris Wright, who has been in the car for most of the season. How long any of these changes last is unknown.

Left to right, substitutes Raul Guzman, Anthony Martin & Toby Sowery

.
.
.
continued…

.
.
.
.
M

62

+++

.
They are TESTING at Road America!..(part 3)…

.
The final series to complete all four test sessions were the guys from Indy Lights, with 7 cars participating in all sessions. In this case ALL of these drivers did their best effort in the T-3 session, so the COMBINED results are simply a report of the T-3 session.

.
Here is the order of speed for the Indy Lights T-3 session with times for all: [R] denotes rookie

.
1 - Victor Franzoni [R], Juncos Racing - time of 01:52.7325s for a speed of 128.183mph

.
2 - Pato O’Ward [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:52.8097s for a speed of 128.095mph

.
3 - Ryan Norman, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:53.3538s for a speed of 127.481mph

.
4 - Santiago Urrutia, Belardi Auto Racing - time of 01:53.3717s for a speed of 127.460mph

.
5 - Aaron Telitz, Belardi Auto Racing - time of 01:53.3830s for a speed of 127.448mph

.
6 - Colton Herta, Andretti Steinbrenner - time of 01:53.4134s for a speed of 127.414mph

.
7 - Dalton Kellett, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:54.7636s for a speed of 125.914mph

.
.
.
.
Notable:

  • All the cars were within .6 seconds of each other over the huge 4-mile track, except for Dalton Kellett who was 2 seconds off Victor. That is remarkable parity over the big distance.

  • Pato topped the T-1 session on Monday. Victor topped all three of the other sessions. Franzoni - the 2017 Pro Mazda Champion - has been getting better in this car with each weekend.

  • Colton Herta is the points leader going into the race weekend. Pato is 2nd and Santi is 3rd. Victor sits 4th.

.
.
.
The race weekend will be June 22-24, where USF2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights will each have 2 races in support of the IndyCars. These are among the most prized races of any one of these young drivers - and that is also true of the IndyCar guys.

.
.
.
.
M

64

+++

.
Wednesday - more testing at Road America…

.
On the Wednesday following two days of the Mazda Road to Indy test, some of the big cars came to Elkhart Lake to test the new aero kit in preparation for the Kohler Grand Prix, later this month. They were both cars from Rahal Letterman Lanigan, with Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato, both cars from Schmidt Peterson, with James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens and rookies Matheus Leist for AJ Foyt Enterprises and Alfonso Celis for Juncos Racing.

Celis started the season as an Indy Lights driver for Juncos, but he and his management feel that the big cars are a better fit for him and he will debut in the series at Road America in the # 32 Chevrolet.

Alfonso Celis moves up from Indy Lights this month

.
Alfonso Celis

.
.
.
No times were released to indicate who was fastest or generally how fast the cars were, but Graham Rahal said that the car was wonderful to drive:

“Elkhart’s in a league of its own when it comes to road courses in the country, and with the new bodywork, the car just continues to accelerate down the straights more and more; it’s awesome.

“We had a little less downforce than last year — not a ton, and it made it so fun to pound around.

"…And back to driving the car, it’s a lot of fun even around the Carousel; it’s a blast. As I said to a group of fans that were there watching, Elkhart highlights all the right things about Indy cars and IndyCar racing.”

Graham in the pits at Road America.

.
.
.
With it’s long straights Road America is a speed track where IndyCars can get very close to oval speeds, at times. The new car will accelerate out of the corners a lot faster than the old car, but cornering will be dicier, so total lap speeds will likely be very close.

.
.
.
The Kohler Grand Prix will be June 22-24 with great support from the Mazda Road to Indy and the Pirelli World Challenge SportsCar series.

.
.
.
M

65

+++

.
Thursday morning, James Hinchcliffe was on Megyn Kelly TODAY…

.
…and we have that here…

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
M

66

+++

.
The 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans are over…

.
…and while no IndyCar drivers were WINNERS in class, this year, our boys did get on the podiums where they competed.

In the top LMP1 class the WINNERS were Kaz Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi and Formula One Champion Fernando Alonso, in his Le Mans debut, driving the # 8 Toyota TS050 hybrid. P2 was the sister car, the # 7 Toyota in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi, José María López and IndyCar driver Mike Conway. P3 were Thomas Laurent, Mathias Beche, and Gustavo Menezes piloting the # 3 R13-Gibson for Rebellion Racing.

Toyotas P1 and P2 at Le Mans

.
.
IndyCar driver Mike Conway pulls down a P2

.
.
.
In the LMP2 class the WINNERS were Roman Rusinov, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Andrea Pizzitola in their # 26 Oreca 07-Gibson for G-Drive Racing. P2 was the # 36 A470-Gibson in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre, Pierre Thiriet and Indy Lights driver Andre Negrao for Signatech Alpine. Graff-SO24 finished P3 with Vincent Capaillaire, Tristan Gommendy and Jonathan Hirschi in the # 39 Oreca 07-Gibson.

Rebellion Racing’s winning ORECA 07 Gibson

.
.
Indy Lights veteran Andre Negrao gets a P2 for Signatech Alpine

.
.
.
continued…

.
.
.
.M

67

+++

.
The 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans are over…(part 2)…

.
In the GTE Pro class the winners were Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in the # 92 Porsche 911 RSR for Porsche GT Team. P2 was ther sister car from Porsche GT Team, the # 91 driven by Frederic Makowiecki, Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz. P3 was the # 68 Ford GT for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing driven by Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais.

The Porsche GT Team # 92

.
.
Sebastien Bourdais pulls in yet another Le Mans podium - a P3, this time.

.
.
.
No IndyCar drivers competed in the GTE-Am class but the WINNERS were the # 77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche squad of Julien Andlauer, Christian Ried and Matt Campbell in a Porsche 911 RSR. P2 was the # 54 Ferrari GTE 488 for Spirit of Race driven by Giancarlo Fisichella, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr, while P3 went to Jeroen Bleekemolen, Ben Keating and Luca Stolz in the # 85 Ferrari F488 GTE for Keating Motorsports.

.
.
.
Congrats to all the winners and competitors for yet another great Le Mans!

.
.
.
.
M

68

+++

.
We’re saddened to have to report the death of Jeff Green…

.
who succumbed to injuries he sustained at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park during a vintage Formula 5000 race. Starting from pole, Jeff left the track in his Lola T300 at Turn 8 for reasons not yet known and made hard contact with a wall. He was later pronounced dead at Lakeridge Health Bowmanville hospital.

Jeff Green

.
.
Green became known to IndyCar fans as a Pro Mazda driver for Juncos racing in 2017. The 61-year-old was never a title contender but his driving DID create a champion. Juncos Racing had no intention of competing in Pro Mazda in 2017 when Green came to them with a proposal: He would fund his own car and also help to fund a second car, if they would campaign them.

Victor Franzoni was set to compete on a limited schedule for ArmsUp Motorsports in USF2000 when he got a call from Ricardo Juncos that if he wanted to, Jeff would help him race in Pro Mazda, instead. The two became teammates and quickly became great friends, as the older man relied on the young talent for coaching.

And The two made for a great team, as Green substatially improved from a dead-last runner in every early outing to as high as a P5 in his first-ever oval race at Gateway. Franzoni, of course, went on to become the 2017 Pro Mazda Champion and is competing for Juncos in Indy Lights today on that scholarship. He fully credits Green with making it all possible.

Victor Franzoni

.
.
.
A heartbroken Franzoni posted on Instagram:

“Devastated!! Yesterday this awesome guy Jeff Green had a racing accident and left us. Jeff was one of the most amazing person I met, always extremely happy and helping everyone!! I learned a lot with you Jeff!! You were an inspiration and you’ll be always remembered. Prayers for his family and friends. R.I.P Jeff Green.

.
.
.
Racing deaths are so rare these days it lulls us into the mistaken belief that racing is safe. It is never safe. It is just a tiny bit safer today than it was yesterday. RIP Jeff. Thanks for the ride.

.
.
.
M

70

+++

.
Le Mans update - Indy Lights drivers WINS!..

.
Following tech inspection the winning car in the LMP2 class - the # 26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 07 Gibson - has been disqualified for a fuel rig violation, as an additional part in the rig allowed the car to fuel substantially faster than other LMP2 cars.

The result of that is the # 36 A470-Gibson in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre, Pierre Thiriet and Indy Lights driver Andre Negrao for Signatech Alpine is now the class WINNER. P2 now is team Graff-SO24 with Vincent Capaillaire, Tristan Gommendy and Jonathan Hirschi in the # 39 Oreca 07-Gibson. Sweetening the pot even further, the P3 car is now the # 32 United Autosports Ligier JS P217 of Pro Mazda alum Will Owen, Hugo de Sadeleer and IndyCar driver Juan Pablo Montoya in his Le Mans debut.

Your 2018 LMP2 class WINNERS, left to right, Nicolas Lapierre, Pierre Thiriet and Indy Lights driver Andre Negrao:

.
.
.
Their mount, the Signatech Alpine A470-Gibson # 36

.
.
.
Now on the podium, Will Owen (left) and Juan Pablo Montoya

.
.
.
.
Cograts to Andre, Will and Juan Pablo - You make us proud!

.
.
.
M

71

+++

,
Gabby Chaves will be in the Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen…

.
There are going to be a big number of IndyCar drivers at IMSA’s next WeatherTech SportsCar Championship endurance race at Watkins Glen International at the end of June, though most of them will not be current IndyCar guys, but add one to the list of current guys, as Gabby Chaves has been asked to substitute for injured Joao Barbosa in the # 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPI V.R. for Action Express. His co-drivers will be Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fittipaldi, who are both TIED for the series points lead in the P class with Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr - also AX guys.

.
Gabby Chaves

.
.
.
Gabby is a great choice to fill in for Joao, injured in a bicycling accident. Not only is he familiar with The Glen - it was his last endurance race in 2016 - but he is an outstanding endurance racer. Gabby once WON the Six Hours of Bogota in two different classes on the same day! He was entered in two different classes in two different cars as a co-driver and he kept jumping out of one car and into the other for the entire race, taking BOTH to wins. It’s unprecedented!

.
.
.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen is the 3rd of 4 Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races held each year - the championship within the championship. It is going to be June 28-July 1.

…
.
.
M

73

+++

.
"Inside IndyCar" presents the 102nd running of the Indy 500 recap…

.
.
.
.
Here’s 23 minutes of fun as Will Power finally grabs the ring after years of trying to get this one buttoned down on an otherwise great career. Enjoy:

.
.
.
.
M

75

+++

.
New kid on the block - USF2000 increases the field for Road America…

.
The 3 junior series of the Mazda Road to Indy are known for their large fields of international drivers as kids from all over the world come to get a foot into open wheel racing in North America. This week all 3 series that make up the MRTI will be competing at Road America, in support of the IndyCars, and USF2000 will be getting a new face. Meet Danial Nielson Frost, from Singapore:

.

.
.
The 16-year-old already has an impressive open-wheel resume, with a few seasons of SouthEast Asia Formula 4, where Danial pulled down 8 WINS and 21 podiums. He also competed in the Formula Masters Asian series with a WIN and 10 podiums. He competed against Pro Mazda drivers Rinus VeeKay and Rob Megennis in the 2017-2018 MRF Challenge series during the off-season.

.
Danial leading a pack in F4 SE Asia, at Sepang

.
.
.
For his USF2000 debut Danial will drive for Canadian powerhouse team Exclusive Autosport, currently also running Igor Fraga and Manuel Cabrera.

Igor Fraga (left) and “Manu” Cabrera - teammates

.
.
.
No word yet on how many races Danial will run for EA. Welcome to the fray, Danial. Have fun!

.
.
.
M

76

+++

.
Katie Hargitt gets you “Up to Speed” in IndyCar as we head to Road America…

.

.
.

.
.
.
.
M

78

+++

.
Maybe you’ve heard this…maybe not…

.
…but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is going to create a dirt track on the inside of Turn 3 at the Speedway in order to run a USAC Midget dirt race on the Brickyard 400 race weekend in September. This is the brainchild of IMS President J Douglas Boles who knows that open-wheel Midget racing is one of the most popular forms of local racing there is and ever was. It was the career birthplace of some of the greatest names in the sport of motor racing.

Doug Boles

.
.
.
The trouble-makers at Racer magazine decided to ask IndyCar drivers if they would be willing to race Midgets on that track, that weekend - not necessarily against USAC Midget regulars, who would embarrass them, but against each other in a special heat race. Take a look:

.
.
.

.
.
.
.
BOY, that would be a blast!

.
.
.
.
M

79

+++

.
A week ago the Supercars were racing in Darwin…

.
While we were watching the action at Le Mans and prepping for the big event at Road America the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship were doing Season Rounds 15 & 16 - The CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway in the Northern Territory.

The WINNER of Round 15 - a 42-lap event - was Scott McLaughlin driving the # 17 Ford Falcon FG/X for DJR Team Penske - his 6th WIN if the season, from a P2 start. P2 at the end was Shane van Gisbergen in the # 97 Holden Commodore ZB for Triple Eight Race Engineering from his P5 start while P3 went to pole-sitter David Reynolds in the # 9 Holden for Erebus Motorsports.
.

Scott McLaughlin cements his points lead with another “W” in his column.

.
.

It turned out to be the race strategy that most affected the win for Scott, as both Reynolds and van Gisbergen elected to pit later, hoping a shorter stop would enable them to lead on exit but it didn’t turn out that way as McLaughlin made the most use of his good tires early and then was able to hold off the pair when they finally emerged from the pits.

The podium, left to right: P1 Scott McLaughlin, P2 Shane van Gisbergen & P3 David Reynolds:

.
.
.
Season Round 16 - a 72-lap event - was WON by David Reynolds from his P4 start. P2 was Scott McLaughlin in a valiant charge with an ailing car from his P2 start while P3 was Jamie Whincup in the # 1 Holden for Triple Eight Race engineering from his P3 start.

.
David Reynolds, GREAT first lap.

.
.
David Reynolds won the race with a superb 1st lap where he jumped from his P4 start to P1, passing pole-sitter Rick Kelly for Nissan Motorsports, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup. He was never seriously challenged again. On the same start Whincup lost positions and ended up P6, but would recover to P3. Midway, Scott began to overheat his oil and the Ford began to smoke. After pit stops David led Scott, Jamie and Rick, in order. McLaughlin caught a break, as a Safety Car had to come out, allowing him to cool down, a bit. On the restart Reynolds again motored off and McLaughlin held off Whincup to the end.

P3 in Round 16, 2017 champion Jamie Whincup

.
.
.
Our gal in Supercars, IndyCar driver Simona de Silvestro, had a fairly static weekend in her # 78 Nissan Altima L33 for Team Harvey Norman. She qualified P24 in Round 15 and finished in P22. She improved her qualifying in Round 16 to start P17 but couldn’t advance and finished in P17.

Simona de Silvestro

.
.
.
Following this event here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Darwin:

1 - Scott McLaughlin 1775
2 - Shane van Gisbergen 1614
3 - David Reynolds 1448
4 - Craig Lowndes 1360
5 - Jamie Whincup 1342

.
.
.
.The next outings for the Supercars will be the Watpac Townsville 400 - a SuperStreet event - at Reid Park in Townsville, Queensland, July 6-8. There will two races of 70 laps each.
.
.
.
.
M

82

+++

.
Great pics from the Mazda Road to Indy at Road America…

.
With 6 races total - 2 for each series - there was bound to be a lot of action and some great moments from the MRTI presence at Road America, last weekend. The kids made history with some broken records and some new race WINNERS for the season. There were also some heart-felt moments of reflection and joy. Take a look:

.
16-year-old American David Malukas driving for BN Racing not only took pole in both Pro Mazda races, setting the new track record TWICE, but he WON both races - his first ever Mazda Road to Indy WINS - and he was beyond joyful

.
.
.
American Colton Herta took his fourth Indy Lights series WIN in a row in Race 1 and took out his elation on his worn set of Cooper tires on his Andretti Steinbrenner Dallara IL-15 to the delight of the big crowd:

.
.
.
After taking pole in Indy Lights Race 1, a very dejected Victor Franzoni failed to get his Juncos Racing Dallara to victory, settling for P3, but the next day he went from P3 to the TOP in a dominant fashion in his first-ever Indy Lights WIN in a race he had dedicated to his late friend, teammate and mentor, Jeff Green. Tears flowed, and not just from Victor:

.
.
.
.
Florida’s Kyle Kirkwood easily WON USF2000 race 1 of the weekend for Cape Motorsports but took the WIN in Race 2 on the final lap with great timing on a pass on leader Rasmus Lindh going into Turn 1 on a natural green/white/checker lap, following another caution. Kirkwood not only WON his 5th race of the year, and 4th in a row, but simply survived, as 12 of the 26 cars entered bombed out in the crash-infected race. His look in Parc Ferme was one of a relieved survivor, as much as a winner.

.
.
.
If you’re not watching the Mazda Road to Indy, you’re missing some great racing and all that goes with it.

.
.
M

83

+++

.
There’s a BIG IMSA weekend coming up at Watkins Glen International…

.
… and it all gets going on Thursday as they are going to do the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen - the 3rd of 4 Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races within the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 6 Hours will be supported by the Continental Tire SportsCar Chalenge, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA and Lamborghini Super Trofeo, and there will be IndyCar folk - former and current - in all four series!

.
.
Most of the IndyCar drivers are in the P-class of the WeatherTech series, so let’s start there:

.
Current IndyCar driver Gabby Chaves will be substituting for an injured Joao Barbosa in the # 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi V.R. for Action Express. His co-drivers will be series points-leader Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fitipaldi, who is the add for this race.

Gabby Chaves

.
.
.
Two-time Indy 500 WINNER Juan Pablo Montoya will drive the # 6 Acura ARX-05 DPi for Acura Team Penske with former IMSA Champ Dane Cameron.

Juan Pablo Montoya

.
.
.
Three-time Indy 500 WINNER Helio Castroneves will driver the sister car, the # 7 Acura DPi for Acura Team Penske with former IMSA Champ Ricky Taylor on board, as well.

Helio Castroneves

.
.
.
Pro Mazda alum Pipo Derani will be in the # 22 Nissan DPi for Extreme Speed Motorsports with Johannes van Overbeek and add-on Nicolas Lapierre.

Luis Felipe Derani

.
.
.
Former multi-winner IndyCar driver Mike Conway will be helping out in the # 31 Whelen Cadillac for Action Express with regulars Felipe Nasr and Eric Curran - both sharing the points lead with teammate Filipe Albuquerque from the # 5 Caddy.

Mike Conway

.
.
.
Former Indy Lights driver and PC class Champion James French will co-drive the # 38 ORECA 07 LMP2 with former IPC Champion Kyle Masson for Performance Tech Motorsports.

James French

.
.
.
Former IndyCar driver Sebastian Saavedra and former Indy Lights driver Gustavo Yacaman make up the squad for the # 52 Ligier JS P2 for AFS / Pr1-Mathiasen Motorsports.

Sebastian Saavedra (left) and Gustavo Yacaman

.
.
.
Current IndyCar driver Spencer Pigot is the add-on to help out regulars Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito in the # 55 Mazda RT24P DPi for Mazda Team Joest.

Spencer Pigot

.
.
.
Former USF2000 pilot and PC-class Vice-Champion Robert Alon and fellow regular Simon Trummer will get help from Nelson Panciatici in the # 85 ORECA 07 LMP2 for JDC-Miller Motorsports.

Robert Alon

.
.
.
Former Indy Lights Champion and IndyCar Rookie of the Year Tristan Vautier will co-drive the # 90 Cadillac DPi V.R. with young Matt McMurry for Spirit of Daytona Racing.

Tristan Vautier

.
.
.
continued…

.
.
.
M

84

+++

.
There’s a BIG IMSA weekend coming up at Watkins Glen International…(part 2)…

.
There are two IndyCar guys who will contest the GTLM class:

Pro Mazda alum Connor de Phillippe will be in the # 25 BMW M8 GTE for BMW Rahal Letterman Lanigan along with fellow regular Alexander Sims. Joining them will be legendary BMW-meister Bill Auberlen.

Connor de Phillippe

.
.
.
IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe will be in his usual mount, the # 67 Ford GT for Ford Chip Ganassi with fellow regular Richard Westbrook.

Ryan Briscoe

.
.
.
In the GTD class we will have 3 IndyCar folks:

IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth will be in the # 15 Lexus RC-F GT3 with David Heinemeier Hansson.

Jack Hawksworth

.
.
.
IndyCar driver and broadcaster Townsend Bell will be in the # 64 Ferrari 488 GTE for Scuderia Corsa with his long-time co-driver Bill Sweedler and their compatriot for these endurance races, Frank Montecalvo.

Townsend Bell

.
.
.
IndyCar driver Katherine Legge is running the season race-by-race, as the # 86 Acura NSX GT3 for Meyer Shank Racing has no season funding, but it hasn’t stopped her from being 2nd in the points, only 3 points out, with a WIN at Detroit, last race weekend. She and her co-driver Alvaro Parente will be there for this one, for sure.

Katherine Legge

.
.
.
The Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series will have two IndyCar guys:

USF2000 alum and Porsche Cup Champion Jesse Lazare will co-pilot the # 69 McLaren GT4 with Porsche Cup Vice-Champion Corey Fergus in the GS class for Motorsports in Action.

Jesse Lazare

.
.
.
Pro Mazda alum and paraplegic Michael Johnson will drive the # 54 Audi RS3 LMS TCR in the TC class for JDC-Miller Motorsports by using hand controls. His co-driver is Stephen Simpson, who is from South Africa, but recently became an American citizen.

Michael Johnson

.
.
.
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA will have one IndyCar guy:

American Trenton Estep was a Mazda Road to Indy Shootout finalist after a great year in F1600. He will drive the # 3 Porsche 991 Cup car for JDX Racing. Trenton is the current points leader in the top Platinum class.

Trenton Estep

.
.
.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo gets an IndyCar gal this weekend:

IndyCar driver Pippa Mann will co-drive the # 47 Lamborghini Huracan Evo in the Pro-Am class with Patrick Liddy, who is leading the points in class. They will drive for Precision Performance Motorsports.

Pippa Mann

.
.
.
That’s 20 IndyCar drivers in this great weekend of SportsCar racing and we will try to keep an eye on all of them. Thursday will be the first day of the event, with practice for Porsche GT3 Cup, the CTSC and Lambo Super Trofeo…STAY TUNED!
.
.
.
.
M