Belardi Auto Racing Tag

By Road to Indy A little more than a month after the conclusion of a hard-fought 2017 season, teams and drivers from all three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires will officially begin preparations for the 2018 campaign this weekend. At least 40 drivers representing more than 16 nations and 11 different teams will grasp an opportunity to drive on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course located in Speedway, Ind., during the seventh annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test on October 21/22. TheRead More

By Road to Indy The map of Belardi Auto Racing’s 2017 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season might just look like a Richter Scale, with spectacular highs and punishing lows punctuating the year. In the end the team and its three drivers – Shelby Blackstock, Santiago Urrutia and Aaron Telitz – came back from numerous adversities to take four victories and 14 podium finishes, earning their first team championship. The Indy Lights team is at the heart of its program but Brian Belardi admits that his thoughts have begunRead More

By Road to Indy Driving for Belardi Auto Racing, Santi Urrutia enters the final two races of the season tied for second place in the standings with Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing’s Colton Herta and within mathematical reach of points leader Kyle Kaiser of Juncos Racing. Santiago “Santi” Urrutia came into the 2017 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires as one of the favorites for the championship after finishing an agonizingly close second in 2016. But his title aspirations were dealt a blow in November, when Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, with which he hadRead More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Colton Herta impressed everyone yesterday on his Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires debut by charging through from sixth to second. But that was nothing compared to this morning on the Streets of St. Petersburg. The 16-year-old from Valencia, Calif., started from the pole and displayed remarkable poise as he outpaced the field to win the Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Cooper Tires in convincing style for Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing. The son of 1993 Indy Lights champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 car owner BryanRead More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Aaron Telitz tried his utmost to turn the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season opener into a procession, but fortunately his fellow protagonists failed to follow his script during an otherwise action-packed Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Cooper Tires. As Telitz, 25, from Birchwood, Wis., romped to an impressive debut victory from the pole for Belardi Auto Racing, the remainder of the 15-car field staged a thrilling contest which ended with fellow Americans Colton Herta (Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing) and Neil Alberico (Carlin) completingRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief One of the most talked about newcomers to the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series, Colton Herta, paced the final few minutes of qualifying en route to his maiden pole for the second race of the St. Petersburg doubleheader weekend. The driver of the No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing Mazda set a time of 1 minute, 06.5465 seconds. Last year’s championship runner-up, Santi Urrutia, will start alongside Herta in his No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing Mazda/Dallara IL-15. Dalton Kellett occupies the third spot with rookie PatoRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires begins with a host of changes. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports closed their Indy Lights team, but their cars were destined to see the grid with other teams. Andretti Autosport and Carlin both expanded to four cars, while Belardi Auto Racing expanded to three cars. Team Pelfrey Juan Piedrahita returns to the yellow and black squad in the No. 2 entry, while Pato O’Ward has the No. 3 machine at his disposal for St. Petersburg. O’WardRead More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg kicked off today with practice and qualifying for four of the six races which comprise the start of a new campaign for the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires. A dramatic qualifying session for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the highest rung on the acclaimed open-wheel development ladder which offers Mazda Scholarships to enable talented drivers to reach all the way from the grassroots of the sport to the Verizon IndyCar Series, ended with Aaron TelitzRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The final step of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires has offered some fantastic racing over the past few years. The Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires has seen some close finishes and tighter action with its fair share of dicing passes and chaos behind the wheel. Drivers are looking to move up to the Verizon IndyCar Series with the Mazda scholarship award and a few drivers look like they’re on the right track to do just that. Aaron TelitzRead 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