Iowa Speedway – Indy Lights and Pro Mazda practice #2 and other notes

The Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire race on Sunday afternoon has been shortened to 100 laps due to concerns about having enough fuel to run 115 laps.

—————

TSO had a chance to talk to three different Indy Lights drivers from three different teams and all three said that getting tucked up behind another car is tough and it will tough to pass during the first half of the race.  All three also echoed that it will be very important to take care of their Cooper Tires and they expect plenty of passing opportunities in the second half of the race when tire wear becomes an issue.

—————

Canadian Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire driver is debuting a new fire suit this weekend.  Can you tell that he is a Canadian?
Canadian Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire driver is debuting a new fire suit this weekend. Can you tell that he is a Canadian?

Had a chance to talk to Daniel Burkett about his new fire suit.  He explained he just wanted to do something different to represent his homeland of Canada.  He thought about a hockey player fire-suit, but a light-bulb went off and he said “what’s more Canadian than a Lumberjack.”  This is the first thing that came to Steve’s mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL7n5mEmXJo

———-

Pro Mazda – Friday afternoon practice

The Pro Mazda drivers took to a very warm (it’s 90F and the humidity is 68% – it’s whatever the descriptor beyond moist is) track for their second 45 minute practice session of the day.

The first half of the session was run under green flag conditions and the top five drivers were: Dalton Kellett (Andretti Autosport), Timothe Buret (Juncos Racing), Jose Gutierrez (Juncos Racing), Garett Grist (Juncos Racing) and Santiago Urrutia (Team Pelfrey).

A trio of Pro Mazda machines demonstrate the different lines a driver can utilize to get around the Iowa Speedway bullring.  (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)
A trio of Pro Mazda machines demonstrate the different lines a driver can utilize to get around the Iowa Speedway bullring. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Cape Motorsports with /WTR’s rookie driver Daniel Burkett turned an impressive 82 laps during the three-quarter hour session.

However, his championship contending teammate Neil Alberico was not so fortunate.  The 22 year-old had only turned three laps before his team called him onto pit lane with spiking temperatures.  The team took the No. 3 Rising Star Racing supported car back to the paddock.  The team confirmed to TSO that when they went to fill it back up with water, that the water began pouring out the bottom of the engine.  They were still diagnosing the problem, but they didn’t sound to convinced that it would be a quick fix.

Will Owen talked to IndyCar Radio and he said the biggest challenges with Iowa Speedway was the bump in Turn 2 and also how physical the track is.   He mentioned that holding his head in place for the half-hour race will be a challenge.

The entire session ran green.

The second session time sheet is as follows:

RANK — DRIVER — QUICK LAP (MPH) — LAPS TURNED

1 Jose Gutierrez 141.530 68

2 Timothe Buret 141.420 66

3 Dalton Kellett 140.967 60

4 Garett Grist 140.925 54

5 Will Owen 140.902 67

6 Weiron Tan 140.237 56

7 Santiago Urrutia 139.802 54

8 Pato O’Ward 139.295 30

9 Daniel Burkett 138.871 82

10 Florian Latorre 138.240 66

11 Alessandro Latif 137.658 72

12 Neil Alberico 134.982 3

13 Raoul Owens 134.493 43

Indy Lights – Friday afternoon practice

The 11 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire entries took to the circuit at 2pm for the second 45 minute practice session of the day.

With the extreme heat (106F with the humidity factored in) during the session the seven-eighths of a mile track was not as busy as the morning session.

Indy Lights points leader Jack Harvey gets some Iowa Speedway advice from his teammate James Hinchcliffe (who won here in 2013) (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)
Indy Lights points leader Jack Harvey gets some Iowa Speedway advice from his teammate James Hinchcliffe (who won here in 2013) (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The top five at the half-way point were: Ethan Ringel (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian), Scott Anderson (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian), Max Chilton (Carlin), Jack Harvey (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian) and Ed Jones (Carlin).

The session occurred under blue skies and  ran “clean and green” for the entire 45 minutes.

The second session time sheet is as follows:

RANK — DRIVER — QUICK LAP (MPH) — LAPS TURNED

1 Ethan Ringel 160.532 39

2 Scott Anderson 160.524 36

3 Max Chilton 160.100 23

4 Jack Harvey 160.084 34

5 Ed Jones 159.238 22

6 RC Enerson 159.208 45

7 Kyle Kaiser 158.969 57

8 Spencer Pigot 158.047 49

9 Juan Piedrahita 158.030 52

10 Felix Serralles 155.139 65

11 Shelby Blackstock151.965 54