This past weekend, all three series that are part of the Mazda Road to Indy program tested for two days on the infield road circuit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While there were certainly many familiar faces present, including Star Mazda champ Tristan Vautier and USF2000 champ Petri Suvanto, there were also many new-comers testing at all three levels. We’ll break down the test not by day, but by series and look at how things went for the teams and what we can expect looking forward through the off-season and into the beginning of 2012.
Team Pelfrey testing on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. -- Photo by Eric McCombs, IndyCar.com
Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear
The first three sessions of the weekend were topped by Andretti Autosport’s Zach Veach running the #77 machine in his familiar green and white Zakosi Data Backup machine. Zach’s best time on Friday would be a 1:27.1120. This certainly wasn’t Zach’s first laps in a Star Mazda machine as he rejoined his 2010 USF2000 teammate Sage Karam for the last couple of events for the 2011 season, and will continue with the team in 2012 as he continues to climb the Mazda Road to Indy ladder.
Zach Veach at the IMS road course. -- Photo by Eric McCombs“I have to thank the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for giving us the opportunity to test on the circuit. My goal is to race here on the oval, but getting a chance to run the road course has been great. Testing is a lot of fun because the pressure isn’t the same and you can have a lot of fun and allows you to learn and work on your driving style a bit, and though we were fastest in both sessions, there’re still things to work on and I’m looking forward to the rest of the test.” — Zach Veach, #77 Andretti Autosport
In the final session of the weekend, Jack Hawkesworth piloting the #11 Team Pelfrey car would top the time sheets for the weekend with a 1:25.431. The 2011 USF2000 champion, Petri Suvanto, would be right behind him in the other Team Pelfrey car, #81, posting a 1:25.811, second fastest time of the weekend. Team Pelfrey, although new to Star Mazda in 2011, proved that they were a championship contending team with their drivers, Connor Di Phillipi and Nick Andries, finishing 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in driverp points and securing the 2011 Team Championship title.
“Making my debut here in the US at a track like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where drivers around the world want to race, and coming away with the fastest time is great. Team Pelfrey put together a great car and it has been a good test working together and learning as I look to competing in the championship in 2012.” — Jack Hawesworth
Testing will continue through the off-season and we’ll do our best to keep you up to date on the latest driver announcements and testing results.
Timing and Scoring Results
Session #1
Pos
No.
Name
Best Tm
Best Speed
In Lap
Diff
Gap
2nd Best
2nd Spd
2nd Lap
Sponsor
1
77
Zach Veach
1:28.472
102.297
20
1:28.768
101.956
19
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2
81
Petri Suvanto
1:29.598
101.011
19
1.126
1.126
1:29.928
100.641
18
3
11
Jack Hawkesworth
1:29.795
100.790
20
1.323
0.197
1:29.888
100.685
13
4
99
Nickolas Katifi
1:30.104
100.444
23
1.632
0.309
1:31.048
99.403
22
5
66
Zach Meyer
1:30.304
100.221
10
1.832
0.200
1:30.471
100.036
15
Damis Partners III
6
20
Carlos Linares
1:32.587
97.750
9
4.115
2.283
1:32.856
97.467
7
Mindeporte
7
75
Jeff Garibotti
1:35.420
94.848
20
6.948
2.833
1:37.110
93.197
17
Session #2
Pos
No.
Name
Best Tm
Best Speed
In Lap
Diff
Gap
2nd Best
2nd Spd
2nd Lap
Sponsor
1
77
Zach Veach
1:27.112
103.894
24
1:27.137
103.864
32
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2
11
Jack Hawkesworth
1:27.806
103.073
22
0.694
0.694
1:28.188
102.626
23
3
81
Petri Suvanto
1:27.884
102.981
24
0.772
0.078
1:27.897
102.966
23
4
66
Zach Meyer
1:28.200
102.612
33
1.088
0.316
1:28.224
102.584
34
Damis Partners III
5
99
Nickolas Katifi
1:28.680
102.057
37
1.568
0.480
1:28.735
101.994
25
6
20
Carlos Linares
1:29.129
101.543
28
2.017
0.449
1:29.349
101.293
27
Mindeporte
7
75
Jeff Garibotti
1:34.904
95.364
22
7.792
5.775
1:35.581
94.688
17
Session #3
Pos
No.
Name
Best Tm
Best Speed
In Lap
Diff
Gap
2nd Best
2nd Spd
2nd Lap
Sponsor
1
77
Zach Veach
1:26.035
105.194
24
1:26.249
104.933
23
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2
11
Jack Hawkesworth
1:26.882
104.169
15
0.847
0.847
1:26.941
104.098
24
3
81
Petri Suvanto
1:26.941
104.098
10
0.906
0.059
1:26.966
104.068
8
4
99
Nickolas Katifi
1:27.337
103.626
21
1.302
0.396
1:27.368
103.589
27
5
66
Zach Meyer
1:27.700
103.197
18
1.665
0.363
1:27.777
103.107
20
Damis Partners III
6
20
Carlos Linares
1:29.806
100.777
11
3.771
2.106
1:29.931
100.637
17
Mindeporte
7
75
Jeff Garibotti
1:31.041
99.410
23
5.006
1.235
1:31.139
99.303
24
Session #4
Pos
No.
Name
Best Tm
Best Speed
In Lap
Diff
Gap
2nd Best
2nd Spd
2nd Lap
Sponsor
1
11
Jack Hawkesworth
1:25.431
105.938
21
1:25.522
105.825
20
2
81
Petri Suvanto
1:25.811
105.469
24
0.380
0.380
1:26.001
105.236
25
3
77
Zach Veach
1:25.921
105.334
23
0.490
0.110
1:26.213
104.977
22
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