MRTI: Grand Prix of St. Pete Race One Report

GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETE, RACE ONE REPORT

          

 


SHELBY BLACKSTOCK
NO. 51 STARSTRUCK MAZDA

  • Series rookie was caught in an incident on Lap 1 of Race One forcing him to pit for repairs
  • Came to the checkered flag in P10 and will start tomorrow’s 70-minute race from the 12th position

“Today… let’s just say was the worst day of my Mazda Road to Indy career. We started qualifying and I made a mistake, spun and had some rear damage. Luckily we got the car going, but because we caused the red flag, I lost my fastest lap time which put us to the back of the grid. On the (race) start we went with a different, new setup — the car was feeling good, but unfortunately there was an incident on track and I couldn’t get out of the way in time and clipped the right rear, knocking out the rear tow. The rest of the was was survival trying not to hit any walls because the car was close to not driveable. Hopefully tomorrow we can get the Starstruck car back together in one piece and get a good setup on it, go and get a better position than we did today. I want to thank my team for all their hard work. This weekend has been — you could call it a hell week – but hopefully we have a better day tomorrow.


MATT BRABHAM
NO. 83 ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

  • Third-generation racer made contact on track resulting in a drive-thru penalty and was also forced to pit to replace his front wing
  • No. 83 team decided to bring the 21-year-old in for fresh Cooper Tires and resulted in the fastest lap of Race One and a starting position of sixth for Race Two

“Not the best of races. I didn’t quite get the start I wanted, then on the restart due to the crash, we picked up a couple of positions and it was looking alright there. It was my mistake — I didn’t really out-brake myself, but I didn’t realize the closing speed on the car in front and I ended up just running into the back of them in Turn 1. Sorry about that; it was my fault. Rightfully so I got a drive-thru penalty so that ruined my race, but as I said it was my fault. Sorry to the guys, the team has been working great and hard all weekend; I was hoping to get some results for them. We managed to get some positives out of it with the fastest lap. We came in, put new tires on and manages to get the fastest lap and get some points on that side. Hopefully it improves our position for tomorrow on the starting grid.”


DALTON KELLETT
NO. 28 K-LINE INSULATORS USA, INC. ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

  • Finished Race One on the streets of St. Pete from the seventh position after starting from 13th
  • Queen’s University student will start tomorrow’s Race Two from the 13th position

“The first race went really well considering that we started 13th coming out of qualifying. I was able to make it up to seventh and it was a very exciting race. St. Pete always brings some really good racing for the season opener. I have to thank the Andretti Autosport guys for giving me a great car; I was able to make the passes I needed to make up some spots. Really looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully we start a little bit further up on the grid, and hopefully you’ll be seeing the K-Line Insulators No. 28 doing the same thing tomorrow.”


WEIRON TAN
NO. 22 WEIRON TAN ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

  • Started Race One from the ninth position and made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 4 resulting in an early retirement
  • Racer/engineering student will roll off the grid from the seventh position

“Race Two was a bit disappointing. We had a problem with (overheating) brakes, and of course problems with the brakes means an issue with the whole corner. The braking efficiency of the car wasn’t so good in turns. I couldn’t slow the car down enough so that I could roll the speed in the corners — resulting in problems around the whole track really. That didn’t turn out so well for us until one of the turns, Turn 4, where basically (the brakes) just failed and it hurt us (resulting in contact with the tire barrier). Disappointing that we couldn’t pick up any points today and hopefully we’ll do better for tomorrow’s race.”