Andretti Global Press Release

MAZDA RACEWAY RACE REPORTS

Posted on by Patrick Stephan

MAZDA RACEWAY RACE TWO REPORT

        

 

SHELBY BLACKSTOCK
NO. 51 STARSTRUCK MAZDA

  • Starting today’s 38-lap race from the eighth position, the Nashville native maneuvered his way up to fourth place before battling with Ed Jones on the final lap and capturing a fifth-place finish

“We had a massive improvement from yesterday for the Andretti Autosport Indy Lights team. I’m really happy with the weekend, but unfortunately right at the end we didn’t have any rear tires left coming out of the corkscrew and heading into the last corner; Ed Jones had more push-to-pass than we did so he got around us on the final lap. We really needed those points, so we live and learn and move on from here. We learned a lot with the car and this weekend we had more pace than usual, so a great weekend for us.”

 

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

 

  • Canadian racer clinched a top-five finish in fifth today on the 2.238-mile permanent road course after starting from the ninth position and comes away 10th in the Pro Mazda Championship fight (unofficial)

“Finishing fifth here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was a great way to top off the season. Really grateful for all the support I’ve had all year from the Andretti Autosport Pro Mazda crew and K-Line Insulators USA; definitely would not have had the season we’ve had without their support, I’m very grateful for that. It was an exciting race, starting ninth and I was able to make some moves on the first lap and capitalize on all the action and move up to fifth. I think if we had gone green and had some more running, we would have been able to challenge for third and fourth positions. It turns out we spent most of the race behind the safety car, regardless, I’m satisfied with the way we ended our season. Hopefully this provides some good momentum going into next season. Huge thanks to Mazda, Cooper Tires and everyone for all their support this season.”

WEIRON TAN
NO. 22 WEIRON TAN
ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

 

  • Mazda Road to Indy rookie came away with a top-10 finish for today’s Soul Red Finale in P9 and captures fourth in the championship (unofficial)

“Race Two, we actually started pretty well and gained three positions at the start; I got up to sixth and would have been fifth if it wasn’t for the slight contact with another driver going through Turn 3. I got a slight tap on the rear right tire and the suspension wasn’t quite right; the fast lefthand corners became a bit hairy for me which is why I dropped a wheel off at Turn 6 and lost all my positions going back to 10th. It wasn’t the best, regardless of where I finished today, even if I had finished fifth, which I think was where our potential finish, I still had been fourth in the championship. Finishing ninth today, not the best. Thank you very much to the team – the whole Andretti Autosport team did a wonderful job this year, and I’ve been really happy with that. I couldn’t have asked for more from them, and I hope that we will have a better season next time. Thanks so much to the Andretti family – it’s been a great year.”

 

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MAZDA RACEWAY RACE ONE REPORT


SHELBY BLACKSTOCK
NO. 51 STARSTRUCK MAZDA

  • North Carolina resident captured a top-10 finish coming to the twin checkers in P8 for today’s 30-lap race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

“We made some changes for today and some of them helped us and the others hurt us. Once our tires went off, this track was really hard to pass on; we just couldn’t do anything with it, and it was more survival mode for today. I can’t wait to see our video footage because I definitely had some big slides. Hopefully we can fix the car for tomorrow and find some speed.”

WEIRON TAN
NO. 22 WEIRON TAN
ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

 

  • 20-year-old racer rolled his car in the morning’s qualifying session in order to avoid slowing vehicles near the circuit’s famous corkscrew; after getting his fastest timed lap taken away due to causing a red flag, Tan qualified in the 10th position
  • Kuala Lumpur native was involved in today’s incident at the start which caused damage to the front wing and suspension, but was later granted to take the restart in the position he qualified in; the series rookie captured a top-five finish in fifth

“Race One went pretty well for us, I guess (bar the start). In terms of points, I’m third in the championship, and we finished today’s race in fifth starting from ninth with a damaged car from green to checkered flag – obviously that wasn’t fun. At least we made it back; we had to change a wing after the start… I’m not really sure what happened, but someone jumped it and then everyone else followed. Then everyone backed off, and it was an accordion effect – everyone hit each other and the start was mayhem. Apart from that, even after the wing change, the car didn’t feel like it did before. We’re happening finishing fifth. Congratulations to Santiago (Urrutia) for winning the championship, he did really well all year, very well done to him. We can still fight for second in the championship, and that’s what we’ll be aiming for tomorrow.”

 

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

 

  • Driver of the K-Line Insulators USA, Inc. Mazda started today’s 18-lap race from the ninth position
  • Indianapolis resident was also involved in the Lap One incident but was able to clinch a sixth-place finish for Race One

“Today was certainly a hectic day at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Qualifying was pretty action packed; our first run didn’t quite get it done and I was sitting mid-pack when my teammate Weiron (Tan) brought out a red flag when he came in contact with a tire barrier that wasn’t placed in the greatest position at the entry of the corkscrew and flipped his car. Luckily he was okay, and his car wasn’t too badly damaged, but these types of oversights in track maintenance and questionable positions in placing barriers certainly could have resulted in much more grave consequences; I think we can consider ourselves lucky today. We ended qualifying ninth with only two laps to get it done.

Race One started right off with the cars ahead of me looking like they were avoiding an object or go around a slowing car, so I followed them; we got checked up and there was nothing that I could do to slow down and avoid them, so I ran into the back of Jose (Gutierrez). Because we slowed down, I was hit from behind and my left suspension was damaged with part of the undertray missing, so that made it fairly interesting to drive around this track, especially given all the high-speed corners. It was definitely a handful but I was able to keep my position in sixth which was not a bad finish for us.”