2011 Star Mazda / F2000 / Skip Barber season

[JagtechOhio]

Wow, and nothing at New Jersey Motorsports Park next year? I just saw that place last weekend, it is fantastic.

[NaBUru38]

David Ostella (13th in Star Mazda 2009, 12th in Star Mazda 2010) will race next season in Indy Lights for Jensen. 2010 USF2000 champion and 15-year-old Sage Karam will drive for Anrdetti in Star Mazda.

[Morris Dancer]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Side Note:

The May 28 date in Indy is at Raceway Park...the 5/8 mile oval that is a few miles west of IMS.

USF2000 and USAC Midgets also will race...this is the new edition of annual "Night Before the 500" program at O'Reily Raceway Park that has been a tradition for decades.

To hell with tradition - they all should be at IMS on the Memorial Day weekend, with races on Sunday before the '500'. That would fill in the dead time between IndyCar sessions, give the spectators more action to watch, and the support category sponsors a sniff of the big-time instead of hanging around the back-blocks. The midgets would be reminiscent of the old Indy roadsters. C'mon IRL/IMS, bring it on!

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by Morris Dancer

To hell with tradition - they all should be at IMS on the Memorial Day weekend, with races on Sunday before the '500'. That would fill in the dead time between IndyCar sessions, give the spectators more action to watch, and the support category sponsors a sniff of the big-time instead of hanging around the back-blocks. The midgets would be reminiscent of the old Indy roadsters. C'mon IRL/IMS, bring it on!

USF2000 on a 2.5 Superspeedway. Fantastic idea. Maybe the trophy can be a coffin.

[NaBUru38]

Yeah, right, the best way to give young drivers a chance to show their skills is to drive on the rev limiter for some 50-100 miles. Boring! A short track is much more interesting to watch.

[Morris Dancer]

Dunno why you guys are so negative. Remember there's are corners at the end of those straight(away)s. With minimal downforce those little cars would be drifting through Turns 1, 2, 3 & 4! As I said, give the F2000 and Star Mazda sponsors a taste of the big time instead of despatching them to the backblocks.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

2011 Star Mazda calendar:

March 27 - St. Pete (IndyCar)
April - TBA
May 28 - Indianapolis (IndyCar)
June 19 - Milwaukee (IndyCar)
June 25 - Iowa (IndyCar)
July 23 - Mosport (ALMS)
August 7 - Trois-Rivières (NASCAR Canada)
August 27 - Sears Point (IndyCar)
September 4 - Baltimore (IndyCar / ALMS)
September 17 - Laguna Seca (ALMS)

There doesn't seem to be time for another class in Long Beach (IndyCar, ALMS, SCCA World Challenge, Toyota All-Star), and it's sponsored by Toyota. And Honda backs the IndyCar / Grand-Am race at Barber. What else could the April date be?

And the winner is... Barber.

[NaBUru38]

2011 Skip Barber National schedule:

March 16-18 - Sebring (with ALMS)
April 29-May 1 - Virginia (with Skip Barber Regional)
May 27-30 - Lime Rock Park (with Grand-Am)
July 1-3 - Road America (with Skip Barber Regional)
July 21-23 - Road Atlanta (with Skip Barber Regional)
September 16-18 - Mid-Ohio (with Grand-Am)
October 6-8 - Lime Rock Park (with Skip Barber Regional)

Ouch, only three spectator races. The reason is that "not only guarantees the drivers more race time, but allows the option for them to pick up additional seat time through Lapping Sessions and similar activities. Drivers will also be able to receive even more coaching and feedback, as more Skip Barber Racing School instructors will be at this event."

- o -

So the 2010 Road to Indy schedule is:

March 19 - Sebring (USF2000 - with ALMS)
March 27 - St. Pete (Indy Lights, Star Mazda, USF2000 - with IndyCar)
April 10 - Barber (Indy Lights, Star Mazda - with IndyCar)
April 17 - Long Beach (Indy Lights - with IndyCar and ALMS)
May 27-28 - Indianapolis (Indy Lights, Star Mazda, USF2000 - with IndyCar)
June 19 - Milwaukee (Indy Lights, Star Mazda, USF2000 - with IndyCar)
June 25 - Iowa (Indy Lights, Star Mazda - with IndyCar)
July 10 - Toronto (Indy Lights - with IndyCar)
July 23 - Mosport (Star Mazda - with ALMS)
August 7 - Trois-Rivières (Indy Lights, Star Mazda - with Nascar Canada)
August 7 - Mid-Ohio (USF2000 - with IndyCar and ALMS)
August 14 - New Hampshire (Indy Lights - with IndyCar)
August 21 - Road America (USF2000 - with ALMS)
August 27 - Sears Point (Star Mazda - with IndyCar)
September 4 - Baltimore (Indy Lights, Star Mazda, USF2000 - with IndyCar and ALMS)
September 17 - Laguna Seca (Star Mazda - with ALMS)
October 2 - Kentucky (Indy Lights - with IndyCar)
October 16 - Las Vegas, Fontana or none (Indy Lights - with IndyCar)

[NaBUru38]

Juncos' four 2011 Star Mazda drivers will be Tatiana Calderón (10th in 2010 Star Mazda with no top 5s), MartÃ*n Scuncio (6th in 2010 USF2000 with five top 5s and no podiums, 4th in Star Mazda debut at Road Atlanta), Joao Horto (7th in 2010 Star Mazda with four podiums and no wins) and Gustavo Menezes (2009 Jim Russell Future Driver Award winner, jumps straight from karting! I don't like that.)

[NaBUru38]

Ostella will have Juan Pablo GarcÃ*a as teammate in Jensen's Indy Lights team. 2010 Star Mazda vice-champion Anders Krohn will jump to Indy Lights team Belardi.

[gomick]

Some good American names coming through the junior ranks

[NaBUru38]

Sage Karam, Zach Veach, Connor de Phillippi, Mikaël Grenier, Rusty Mitchell, Philip Major, Brandon Wagner, Daniel Herrington. That's not as good as it should be, but it's not a tragedy either.

[NaBUru38]

The first round of the 2011 USF2000 Winterfest has been held at Sebring on January 3-4. Both Andretti cars of Spencer Pigot and Zach Veach retired in race 1, so victory went to Vinicius Perdigão of JDC. On race 2, the Andretti show was completed with a 1-2, with Veach winning and Pigot edging Perdigão by 0.490. The other drivers were J.R. Smart of Pabst, Trent Hindman of Arms Up and Matthew DiLeo of Brian Stweart. 6's not bad, is it!

[gomick]

6 drivers entered?

[NaBUru38]

Exactly. It's a long-term project, you know...

[Tim Northcutt]

Here is some news on the Star Mazda front:

http://www.pelfreyindyracing.com/


I met Dale and Nick last May in Indy when Andersen Racing gave Nick a Star Mazda test at Indianapolis Raceway Park on the oval, then later put him in a team car for most of the rest of the season.

Nick is a sharp young man with talent and Dale is a savvy businessman with a great passion for racing.

I was impressed by both men and i wish them well.

You can officially consider me to be the very first fan of this new Star Mazda team.

[NaBUru38]

The second and final round of the USF2000 Winterfest has been held at Homestead. Spencer Pigot won two races and third in the other one, whereas Zach Veach won it and finished second in the other two. Trent Hindman finished second and third in two of the races. So Veach is the 2011 USF2000 Winterfest champion. There were six cars in the field again.

[Morris Dancer]

Dunno why they bothered having these 'winter series' when only a handful of drivers turned up. Extra pre-season test days would be a better way for drivers to prepare for the upcoming series.

[NaBUru38]

Connor de Phillippi (3rd in 2010 Star Mazda) will switch to the new Pelfrey team, thus joining Nick Andries.

Patrick McKenna (2nd in 2010 USF2000) will step up to Star Mazda's GDT team.

Petri Suvanto (11th in 2010 Formula BMW) and Shannon McIntosh (USAC) will join USF2000's Cape team.

[NaBUru38]

Indy Lights grid so far:


Belardi - Anders Krohn (2nd in 2010 Star Mazda)
Schmidt - Victor Carbone (2010 F2000 CS champion)
Schmidt - Esteban Guerrieri ??? (3rd in 2010 Formula Renault 3.5)
Schmidt - Conor Daly / Bryan Clauson ???
Jensen - David Ostella (12th in Star Mazda 2010)
Jensen - Juan Pablo GarcÃ*a (6th in his last Indy Lights race)
Moore - Gustavo Yacamán (10th in 2010 Indy Lights)

Star Mazda grid so far:

Andretti - Sage Karam (2010 USF2000 champion)
Juncos - Tatiana Calderón (10th in 2010 Star Mazda)
Juncos - MartÃ*n Scuncio (6th in 2010 USF2000, 4th in Star Mazda debut at Road Atlanta)
Juncos - Joao Horto (7th in 2010 Star Mazda)
Juncos - Gustavo Menezes (2009 Jim Russell Future Driver Award winner)
Pelfrey - Connor de Phillippi (3rd in 2010 Star Mazda)
Pelfrey - Nick Andries (one Star Mazda race)
GDT - Patrick McKenna (2nd in 2010 USF2000)
GDT - Carlos Conde (Expert - partial schedule)
GDT - JW Roberts (Expert - partial schedule)
JDC - Chris Miller (2009 F2000 CS champion, 11th in 2010 Star Mazda - partial scedule)

USF2000 grid so far:

Andretti - Spencer Pigot (2010 Skip Barber National champion)
Andretti - Zach Veach (5th in 2010 USF2000)
Cape - Petri Suvanto (11th in 2010 Formula BMW Europe)
Cape - Shannon McIntosh (USAC)
(Winterfest drivers)
PDC - Vinicius Perdigão
Pabst - J.R. Smart
Arms Up - Trent Hindman
Stewart - Matthew DiLeo

[gomick]

At this stage of the year you would've thought Conor Daly had something lined up full-time for 2011?

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by gomick

At this stage of the year you would've thought Conor Daly had something lined up full-time for 2011?

Still not sure if he's going to Europe or not. I don't blame him. That lineup, numberwise, is pitiful.

[NaBUru38]

USF2000 team JDC has hired Colombian Juan Piedrahita (16th in 2010 Star Mazda with a 5th and a 6th) and Australian Luke Ellery (3rd in 2010 Road Atlanta USF2000 race 2).

[Morris Dancer]

With their first rounds only a few weeks away (USF2000 March 17-18; Star Mazda March 27) the entries for both series are still very thin, especially considering the 'next level' incentives of Mazda scholarships in both series. USF2000's website still has the 2010 driver line-up, which is ominous.

[NaBUru38]

USF2000 - Sebring race 1

1. Zach Veach (Andretti)
2. Petri Suvanto (Cape)
3. Spencer Pigot (Andretti)
4. Luke Ellery (JDC)
5. Cole Morgan (Belardi)
6. Juan Piedrahita (JDC)
7. Timmy Megenbier (Sick Tea)
8. Vincent Beltoise (Cape)
9. Matthew DiLeo (Brian Stewart)
10. Luca Forgeois (Stevenson)
11. Wayne Boyd (Belardi)
12. Ardie Greenamyer (AcceleRace)
13. J.R. Smart (Pabst)
14. Shannon McIntosh (Cape)

USF2000 - Sebring race 2

1. Luke Ellery (JDC)
2. Spencer Pigot (Andretti)
3. Petri Suvanto (Cape)
4. Cole Morgan (Belardi)
5. Juan Piedrahita (JDC)
6. Wayne Boyd (Belardi)
7. Ardie Greenamyer (AcceleRace)
8. Zach Veach (Andretti)
9. Luca Forgeois (Stevenson)
10. J.R. Smart (Pabst)
11. Matthew DiLeo (Brian Stewart)
12. Shannon McIntosh (Cape)

Standings:

1. Luke Ellery (JDC), 50
2. Petri Suvanto (Cape), 47
2. Spencer Pigot (Andretti), 47
2. Zach Veach (Andretti), 47
5. Cole Morgan (Belardi), 36

Next weekend, the full Road to Indy ladder will join the IndyCar Series at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.