Star Mazda – Hawksworth is Your 2012 Champion

Sage Karam’s hopes of catching Team Pelfrey’s lightning fast rookie, Jack Hawksworth, ended in Race #1 of this past weekend’s double-header at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Hawksworth won the pole for Race #1, and as he has done so often this season, he took the checkers after leading every lap of the race. Karam started off the race on scuffed tyres which fell off more rapidly than expected causing Sage to run off course twice in Turn 6 on consecutive laps. Relegated to mid-pack, there wasn’t much else he could…

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Star Mazda – Two-Fer at Toronto for Hawksworth

The Star Mazda Championship Race #2 at Exhibition Place in Toronto Sunday morning had a lot more chaos and mayhem than the previous day. Grip levels were at a premium and many drivers made several unforced errors creating what the Star Mazda PR folk called “an ugly mess.” Jack Hawksworth, started from pole thanks to his setting fast lap on his way to winning Saturday’s Race #1 and executed a great race strategy, managing his tires and his gap to P2 expertly. ““It was a great weekend. It was such…

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Star Mazda – Beginning the Canadian Swing

The IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, and Star Mazda Championship began their three-race Canadian stint on the streets of Toronto this weekend. Sage Karam was fastest during Friday practice with a 1:08.793 and nearly eclipsed Dane Cameron’s 1:08.755 track record, falling a mere 0.038 sec short. Sage’s hope for Canada is to close the gap on the championship leaders riding the momentum of his great results on the two ovals races at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis and the Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA. “The track picked up a…

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Star Mazda – New Faces on the Podium at Barber

While a little moist at times, the Barber Motorsports Park featured some great racing in the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear, and a bit of a mixup in regards to who we saw on the podium and especially on the top step. Unfortunately, Barber gets a bad wrap for a course that doesn’t permit much in the way of passing. I think every series there this weekend proved that Barber could support some great racing action. Rain on Friday delayed Race #1 for the Star Mazda Championship, after Team…

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Star Mazda – Returning Drivers and a Spring Training Recap

The season-opener for the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear takes place this weekend on the Streets of St. Petersburg, but before we get to the race, there’s still some business to settle and shake out first. Drivers are still being added to the grid, and it looks like the field is shaping up quite nicely. Twenty-two drivers set times during the two-day Spring Training open test at Barber Motorsports Park including the two newest additions to the Juncos Racing stable, Connor Di Philippi and Martin Scuncio. Martin ran with…

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Star Mazda – Team Pelfry Expands to Three Cars with Petri Suvanto

Team Pelfrey had an outstanding inaugural season in the 2011 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear with Connor De Phillippi and Nick Andries who finished 2nd and 3rd in the season championship, respectively. Now, they’re expanding their operations to a three-car effort for 2012 and have come loaded for bear in seeking the series championship. Earlier this off-season, the team signed Jack Hawksworth and Gustavo Menezes. Gustavo joined us for Episode 120 of the OpenPaddock Podcast to discuss his signing and expectations for 2012. Today, the team announced the signing…

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Star Mazda – Team Pelfrey is Locked and Loaded

Both barrels for Team Pelfrey are loaded with two new drivers for the 2012 Star Mazda Championship. Jack Hawksworth was announced as the first of Team Pelfrey’s driver duo last week after a successful weekend of testing on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Open Test on the last weekend in October. Mr. Hawksworth come to the Mazda Road to Indy program from the British Formula Renault 2.0 series where he earned eight top-five finishes, four podiums, a pole…

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Star Mazda – Team Pelfrey and Tristan Vautier Win Championships at Laguna Seca

It was Championship Weekend for the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. As we has mentioned previously, JDC MotorSport’s Tristan Vautier had only to show up in Monterrey to win the championship. As soon as the green flag fell, Tristan was officially the 2011 Star Mazda Drivers’ Champion and will receive a scholarship to compete in the Firestone Indy Lights series in 2012, and presumably drive for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. As is common amongst any champion, the key to Tristan’s success was not just…

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Star Mazda – Barber Testing: Day 2 Wrap-Up

Well, apparently there was an afternoon practice session! I was away on errands and wasn’t able to watch the timing and scoring develop, although after looking at the results, it looks like business as usual for Tristan Vautier. The young Frenchman claimed the fast time of the session once again for JDC MotorSports and really looks to be the easy favourite come St. Petersburg. The Juncos racing squad found their way back to the top portion of the time sheet with Joao Horta and Martin Scuncio slotting up in P2…

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Star Mazda – Barber Testing Results

The Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear held its first open test today at Barber Motorsports Park in preparation for the season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg later this month. For many of the drivers, it was the first time being out in traffic in the Star Mazda cars. The testing results weren’t too surprising. JDC MotorSports is a strong team, especially in Star Mazda where they’ve won the championship with Dane Cameron in 2007 and with Adam Christodoulou in 2009, and they’ve shown that they’re serious about…

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