Although the testing at Barber Motorsports Park and the early practice sessions on the Streets of St. Petersburg belonged to JDC MotorSports’ Tristan Vautier, today belonged to Team Pelfrey’s Connor Di Phillipi. Connor won the 2010 season finale at Road Atlanta, but as a member of a brand new team to the Star Mazda Championship it wasn’t surprising to see him and his team struggle for pace during testing. Apparently, it didn’t take them long as although Juncos Racing’s Martin Scuncio took the pole positions for today’s race, Connor won the day and picked up right where he left off in 2010 after passing Martin on a restart after a long yellow-flag period due to a Lap 1 incident.
“I was amazed at how good a car Team Pelfrey gave me for the race; it was absolutely consistent throughout and never faded at all,” said De Phillippi, who finished third in the championship and was Rookie of the Year last year driving for another team. “We were hoping for a podium finish and wanted to strike a balance between being aggressive and still bringing the car home in the points. I was able to keep out of trouble in the race and it feels great to head into Round 2 at Barber Motorsports Park in two weeks leading the championship.”
The podium was completed by Martin Scuncio in P2, and the driver who seemed to be the real man to beat in testing, Tristan Vautier. The driver/team combination for whom we’ve had very high expectations, Patrick McKenna and Team GDT finished solidly in fourth, which is about where they’d been slotting up in testing and practice. I’m still of the opinion that we will see Patrick on the podium a few times this season and perhaps even on the top step. Completing the top five was late addition to the series, JDC MotorSports’ Chris Miller.
Here’s the full results:
| Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Diff | Gap | Best Tm | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Connor De Phillippi | 29 | 1:11.967 | Justice Brothers Products / Trademark Garage Floors | ||
| 2 | 60 | Martin Scuncio | 29 | 2.261 | 2.261 | 1:12.016 | Fuerza Chile |
| 3 | 5 | Tristan Vautier | 29 | 3.032 | 0.771 | 1:12.117 | Cecibon, Circuit du Laquais, Fontanel |
| 4 | 48 | Patrick McKenna | 29 | 6.441 | 3.409 | 1:12.439 | Mosport Ireland / Irish Sports Council / General Data Tech |
| 5 | 85 | Chris Miller | 29 | 10.366 | 3.925 | 1:12.401 | Miller Milling, Red Line Oil |
| 6 | 20 | Carlos Linares | 29 | 13.347 | 2.981 | 1:12.688 | Mindeporte |
| 7 | 27 | Nick Mancuso | 29 | 15.709 | 2.362 | 1:13.045 | Jimmy John’s Sandwiches / Indeck / Lake Forest Sportscars |
| 8 | 28 | Gustavo Menezes | 29 | 17.368 | 1.659 | 1:13.146 | TrueCar, Inc. / www.TrueCar.com |
| 9 | 39 | Richard Heistand | 29 | 20.554 | 3.186 | 1:13.168 | Masney Auto Transportation |
| 10 | 26 | Jérimy Daniel | 29 | 28.881 | 8.327 | 1:14.035 | FixAuto / Sherwin-Williams |
| 11 | 65 | J.W. Roberts | 29 | 35.338 | 6.457 | 1:14.678 | General Data Tech |
| 12 | 66 | Zach Meyer | 29 | 36.267 | 0.929 | 1:14.528 | |
| 13 | 72 | Larry Pegram | 28 | 1 Lap | 1 Lap | 1:15.867 | Foremost Insurance / Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery |
| 14 | 7 | J.V. Horto | 27 | 2 Laps | 1 Lap | 1:12.847 | Programa LeiLoes |
| 15 | 88 | Sage Karam | 1613 Laps11 Laps1:12.878Comfort Revolution | ||||
| 16 | 23 | Walt Bowlin | 82 | 1 Laps | 8 Laps | 1:17.588 | Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery |
| 17 | 81 | Nick Andries | 29 Laps | 8 Laps | Lithionics Battery / GS610 Brake Fluid / Trademark Garage Floors | ||
| 18 | 10 | Tatiana Calderon | 29 Laps | 1.597 | JAC Motors |
