MRTI: Road America weekend digest
By Kyle LavigneJun 28, 2017, 10:00 AM EDT
Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography
It was a packed weekend at Road America for the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, with all three series completing two races apiece through the weekend. It marks the third time this year that all three series competed at the same facility on the same weekend, the other two being the streets of St. Petersburg and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. And the tightly-packed weekend saw no shortage of dramatics, ranging from first-time winners to drastic championship swings.
Carlin's Rise
Prior to the month of May, Carlin was enduring somewhat of a disappointing run this season in Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires. A perennial front-runner the last two years and a championship winner in 2016 with driver Ed Jones, the British-based outfit had gone winless through the opening six races of the 2017 season.
However, that all changed when 19-year-old rookie Matheus Leist scored his first career Indy Lights victory at the Freedom 100, and the momentum appears to be permeating through the entire team.
Leist was strong again at Road America, winning Race 1 and finishing fourth in Race 2, while Zachary Claman De Melo took his maiden Indy Lights win in Race 2. Third Carlin driver Neil Alberico finished a somewhat disappointing seventh and eighth in the two races, but with two finishes of third and three finishes of fourth already to his name in 2017, the Californian is also building momentum of his own.
Race 2 winner Claman De Melo, who was all but speechless afterward, highlighted the overall strength of the team, specifically referencing his own engineer, who he described as a big influence on his development. "It's such a great group at Carlin: from the team to the other drivers, we all push each other so hard. I'm learning from everyone on the team and I can't thank my engineer, Matt Greasley, enough. He's helped me develop as a driver to be in front like I was (in Race 2)," said the 19-year-old.
Zachary Claman De Melo scored his first career Indy Lights victory at Road America. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography
Leist, too, mentioned chemistry within the team as being crucial to their success, and is elated that race wins are starting to come their way. "It's great to get wins now – I felt at the beginning of the year that we had a car to win, but I couldn't put it all together," he said following his Race 1 triumph. "Everything was new to me, but I'm glad I have a team like Carlin to help me to improve my techniques, as well as my teammates. Everything is going our way now so I hope we can keep up the momentum!"
A championship run may be beckoning as Indy Lights begins its summer stretch. Currently, Leist ranks second in the overall standings, best of the Carlin group, while Alberico sits tied for fifth with Aaron Telitz. Claman De Melo sits seventh.
Consistent Kaiser Rolls on With Indy Lights Championship Lead
Kyle Kaiser might not have been the immediate title favorite at the beginning of the season. But, on the strength of one win (Race 2, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course) and five podiums, including finishes of third and second at Road America, Kaiser has asserted himself as the man to beat in the 2017 championship.
Further, the 21-year-old's consistency is juxtaposed with inconsistency from some of his title rivals.
Aaron Telitz won Race 1 on the streets of St. Petersburg to open the season, finished second at the Freedom 100, and has four additional finishes of sixth or better. But, he has also endured three finishes of 11th or worse.
Colton Herta, winner of a pair of races (Race 2 outings at both the streets of St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park), has had a "feast or famine" season, featuring the aforementioned wins along with two additional podiums, but also with five finishes of tenth or worse to counter.
The aforementioned Leist, admittedly on a hot streak, started the year slowly with finishes of 15th and 11th at St. Petersburg. And Nico Jamin, with a pair of 14th-place finishes his worst placings this year, has also encountered some struggles of his own.
Kaiser, however, has finished sixth or better in eight of nine races so far, with his worst finish being ninth at the Freedom 100. Still, one cannot assume that Kaiser is choosing to play prevent while those around him sputter. As he explained after Race 1, in which he finished third, he is still on the charge and looking to get the best finishes he can.
"I think it's important to finish races but I'm not trying to be careful. When you're too defensive and careful you get wrecked. I showed that this weekend. We made a lot of good passes. I was aggressive to the very last lap. That's the plan the rest of the year," Kaiser asserted.
As a result of his consistency, Kaiser holds a 28-point lead over Leist. But, with only 50 points separating the top six, the championship is still anyone's for the taking.
Marvelous Martin Withstands Furious Franzoni Charge
Martin (8) and Franzoni (23) had an intense battle in Race 2 at Road America. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography
Perhaps the best battle across all three Mazda Road to Indy series came in Race 2 of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and involved title combatants Anthony Martin and Victor Franzoni.
Franzoni, the Race 1 winner over Martin, was forced to start 15th, last on the grid, when a red flag prevented him from setting a lap time in qualifying, but he very quickly rocketed his way through the field, climbing up to third four laps in. He then took advantage of a restart to get around then second-place runner TJ Fischer before setting his sights on Martin for the lead.
Martin, however, was firm but clean in his defense and withstood every challenge from Franzoni to score his third win of the season.
"I just had to put my head down and my bum up and really focus on the road ahead of me and not behind me," Martin quipped afterward. "It's hard, because you have that car in your mirrors but you can't let it affect you. That worked out a lot better (in Race 2 than in Race 1). We will go back and work on a few things to find some speed and be ready for Mid-Ohio."
Franzoni, meanwhile, tried to balance the disappointment of not winning against his impressive charge to second. "I'm sad not to win, but other people would say it's good that I came back to finish second. But we lost points today, even though I came from last to second," he explained. "I had to be really smart and really aggressive. I couldn't lose time but I couldn't crash. I had to pick my spaces, especially with guys who were battling with each other. It was fun."
As a result of their battle, Franzoni leaves Road America with a slim seven-point lead over Martin.
Veekay Sweeps, Askew Hits Trouble in USF2000
Of the three Mazda Road to Indy championships, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda seemed to have the most straight-forward title picture. The dominant Oliver Askew, winner of five races in a row and with a worst 2017 finish of second (Race 1, St. Petersburg) looked all but unbeatable heading into the weekend, and there was no reason to believe his run would slow down.
And then the races happened. Camber shims on the left-front wheel became loose in the middle of Race 1, forcing an emergency pit stop for repairs, which dropped him to 17th in the finishing order.
Askew rebounded to finish third in Race 2, but Dutch driver Rinus VeeKay (full surname of Van Kalmthout) swept the weekend with two race wins, the first of his USF2000 career.
Rinus Veekay won both USF2000 races at Road America. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography
An elated Veekay was beside himself over the success, which occurred at the home track for his team, Pabst Racing. "We're so happy – it's great to do this here, the home track for the team. I was screaming on the radio again! I'm so happy that we have the speed and we can really show what we can do."
Veekay's triumphs combined with Askew's troubles to slice the championship deficit to 24 points between the two. With 30 points available for race wins and seven races remaining, the USF2000 championship has suddenly been blown open.
Indy Lights and USF2000 resume action at Iowa Speedway on July 9, while Pro Mazda returns at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a triple-header on July 28-30.
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