This week was a busy week for the Mazda Road to Indy program! The Firestone Indy Lights series and the Star Mazda Championship series both had their pre-season “Spring Training” open tests at Barber Motorsports Park, and the US F2000 National Championship had both their final testing session, and their first two races at Sebring International Raceway. Along with the testing, we also had some late driver announcements, although I suspect we’re not finished hearing about those. Testing US F2000 The Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship held…
Read MoreCategory: Indy Lights
news and commentary on the direct feeder series to the IndyCar Series.
Indy Lights – Éirinn go Brách
Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, O2 Racing Technology announces that they have signed the winningest driver in Star Mazda Championship history, Dubliner Peter Dempsey. Dempsey competed in the Star Mazda Championship for Andersen Racing in 2008 and scored wins at Road America, Trois-Rivières, Mosport, and the New Jersey Motorsports Park against the likes of John Edwards, Alex Ardoin, and Joel Miller. He would finish 3rd in the championship that year. In 2009, Peter raced for AIM Autosport and improved on his results scoring five race wins at Iowa…
Read MoreFirestone, staying for now
Just a week after Firestone Tires announced they would not return to the IZOD INDYCAR Series following 2011, the company and series have now agreed to an extension that will run to the end of the 2013 season. The terms agreed upon are those the tire maker offered in January. The cost of tires will increase for teams, also the brand will no longer sponsor the “Lights Series” following 2011. The deal keeps the maker for the first two seasons of the new car which debuts in 2012. After meeting…
Read MoreIndyLights – Newgarden Signs with Sam Schmidt Motorsports
We already knew that Josef Newgarden, @RacerOfTomorrow on Twitter, had made the bold move of declining his invitation to the FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy after his 2010 season in GP3 in hopes of securing a ride in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Well, it seems that Newgarden’s gamble paid off big time as it was announced yesterday that he’ll round out the Sam Schmidt Motorsports Firestone Indy Lights full-time squad joining Victor Carbone and previously rumored, but not yet officially confirmed, Esteban Guerrieri. Bryan Clausen and Conor Daly will…
Read MoreIndy Lights – Belardi Auto Racing Finalizes Driver Roster
Today, Belardi Auto Racing announced that Jorge Goncalvez would join Anders “The Viking” Krohn to round out their 2011 Firestone Indy Lights driver roster. Jorge has made it to the Firestone Indy Lights series through a somewhat unique route. While he has has some experience in karting, beginning in 2006, he also started racing cars that same year. He ran one race in the Formula Renault 1.6 Panam GP Series and made the podium! Not bad for your first time out. He then moved to Formula Renault Campus France in…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy Weekly Wrapup: 2/13-2/19
There’s not been a whole lot going on this past week in the Mazda Road to Indy Program, but we did get a couple of big driver announcements late in the week. The fields are starting to fill up, so in the coming weeks, we’ll be putting together a preview of the 2011 seasons for the Cooper Tires presents the US F2000 National Championship powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, and the Firestone Indy Lights Series including a summary of driver/team combinations. For now, though, let’s…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy Wrap-up: 2/6-2/12
Well, I mentioned it on the OpenPaddock.net Podcast Ep. 75, but I didn’t think things would happen so fast. We’ve had a lot of testing going on recently, and at this late date, testing isn’t solely for the cars, but is a genuine evaluation of driving talent. Think of these late pre-season tests as job interviews. With so much testing going on, it only stood to reason that we’d start hearing more and more driver announcements in the comming weeks. Well, we ended up with four just this week and…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy Wrapup: 1/29-2/5
There’s not been much in the way of announcements this past week from the Mazda Road to Indy teams and series, but there has been a lot of testing! Winning top prize for “Most Grueling Testing Program” is Juncos Racing which took their four-driver team on a three-week boot camp tour, testing at three very different tracks in three consecutive weeks. Not only does the non-stop testing give the engineers a lot of data and the drivers a lot of seat time, but it also, and more importantly, gives the…
Read MoreGarage 36 – Liza Markle and the New INDYCAR Nation Fan Club
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download Liza Markle, INDYCAR’s new Director of Fan Engagement, joins us for our third episode of Garage 36 where we bring you the news and happening of the INDYCAR Nation, The official fan club of the IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, and the Mazda Road to Indy. 2011 brings some significant changes and new personnel to the fan club formally known as Indy Downforce. For this up coming season, all members will enjoy exclusive access to news, videos, photos, and interviews throughout the…
Read MoreIndy Lights – Ostella Completes Test with Jensen MotorSport
Toronto native, David Ostella, signed on wtih Jensen MotorSport last November to run in the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights Series after competing for two years in the Star Mazda Championship with the AIM Autosport team. Ostella got his first opportunity to test a Firestone Indy Lights car down at Sebring International Raceway around the short course and laid down a best time of 58.4 s. “It was a really productive test for David and for our team. This was David’s first time driving the Indy Lights car on a road…
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