Road to Indy Category

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Victor Franzoni was set to drive in the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, but a last minute deal with Juncos Racing has allowed him to join the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires. Franzoni tested with the Juncos team during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in October and dominated every session. This announcement helps bolster the Juncos lineup that was thought to have disappeared for 2017. Team owner Ricardo Juncos had announced that the team would not beRead More

PALMETTO, Fla. (March 8) – Cooper Tire and Mazda today announced the renewal of the MRTI Hashtag Program that encourages drivers and teams to utilize the #MRTI and #TeamCooperTire hashtags through their social messaging on Twitter and Instagram. The social media program originated in 2014 as an initiative by Cooper Tire in cooperation with the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, and was designed to encourage drivers and teams to give their fans an inside look at the life of an up-and-coming race car driver, bringing out theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer During the offseason after the 2016 racing season, Cape Motorsports underwent some changes both big and small. The largest change was that the team decided to expand their operations further down the ladder by expanding into the F4 United States Championship.  Team co-owner Nicholas Cape explained the teams’ reason for expanding during the F4 U.S. testing at NOLA Motorsports Park. “Well, pretty much it’s for our internal ladder system.  There’s a gap between karting and USF2000- USF2000’s quite a big step soRead More

PALMETTO, Fla. (March 7, 2017) – The eyes of the open-wheel auto racing world will be focused firmly on St. Petersburg, Fla., this weekend as the Verizon IndyCar Series and all three levels of the acclaimed Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires begin their new season on the challenging 1.8-mile, 14-turn downtown street circuit. More than 50 ambitious drivers literally from around the globe will converge on the scenic waterside track, each and every one of them looking to make a strong start to their campaigns in pursuitRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer As the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires wrapped up their spring testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, several drivers emerged as contenders and other announcements were made that would help shape the different series for 2017. Let’s take a look at each series. Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires Colton Herta will be a driver to watch.  The second generation driver was in the top three in every practice session on both the oval and road course in his first drive inRead More

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires Spring Training Open Test concluded this afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway with 15 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires drivers strutting their stuff in preparation for next week’s season-opening races some 200 miles or so to the northwest on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. A total of 1271 laps were logged during the course of six and a half hours of testing. Rookie Colton Herta, the youngest driver in the field at just 16, emerged with early braggingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Cape Motorsports will be running two Soul Red Mazda liveries in the 2017 Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires as Anthony Martin and Oliver Askew have signed with the team to run the livery in their respective championships. For Martin, he’ll be racing the No.8 Burgess/BLA/Mazda entry in the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires while Askew will be piloting the No. 3 Mazda Racing entry in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda. Both drivers earned theRead More

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Emerging stars Anthony Martin and Oliver Askew confirmed their promise today at Homestead-Miami Speedway, posting the fastest laps respectively in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, both of which wrapped up two days of testing on the 2.21-mile South Florida road course. Askew, 20, from Jupiter, Fla., who was quickest in all three USF2000 sessions yesterday, headed the timing charts in two of today’s three sessions aboard the No. 3 Cape Motorsports Tatuus-Mazda USF-17. He took advantageRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The worst kept secret in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires has finally been made official as Mazda announced that Aaron Telitz will pilot their Soul Red Mazda paint scheme for Belardi Auto Racing in the 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires. The 2016 Pro Mazda champion earned the right to race the Soul Red scheme after winning the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires in dramatic fashion and with it, the MAZDASPEED scholarship that funded theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pato O’Ward will see his Mazda Road to Indy career continue for at least one more round as Team Pelfrey confirmed him in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires for spring training test at Homestead-Miami Speedway and the St. Petersburg season opener on March 10-12. The 17-year-old Mexican raced for Team Pelfrey last season, finishing runner-up in the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires to then-teammate Aaron Telitz. O’Ward has enjoyed phenomenal success over the off-season, having claimed a Rolex 24 at Daytona win inRead More