Colton Herta Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Two years ago, Pato O’Ward was staring at a crossroads. Having enough funding for the first two race weekends of the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires, the Mexican racer ended up winning three of the first four races and finished second in the other race. In 2018, O’Ward again has won three of the first four races of his championship campaign in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires and despite a seventh at race two in St. Petersburg, the hope is thatRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — After qualifying second, Patricio “Pato” O’Ward knew he would need to find a way around teammate Colton Herta if he was going to claim a redemptive second victory of the young Indy Lights Championship season. What he didn’t know was how quickly he would manage it, or how crucial it would be. O’Ward maneuvered his way around Herta on the opening lap of the 30-circuit event, snagging the top spot shortly before the race’s lone safety car for a crash between DaltonRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — After a month off, the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires races are back at Barber Motorsports Park with two championship doubleheaders: Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires and the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires. Indy Lights Despite the loss of Team Pelfrey in Indy Lights, the Indy Lights field is strengthened by the addition of Alfonso Celis to the Juncos Racing squad. Celis was a test driver for Formula One team Force India and is making his AmericanRead More

By Road to Indy ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – An at-times bizarre weekend on the streets of St. Petersburg ended with popular Uruguayan Santiago “Santi” Urrutia and Belardi Auto Racing taking full advantage of the misfortune of others to claim a clear victory in this morning’s Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Cooper Tires. Coupled with his runner-up finish yesterday, Urrutia now holds a handy Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire points lead in his quest to win a Mazda Road to Indy Scholarship valued at $1M to ensureRead More

By Road to Indy ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Pato O’Ward was gifted an opportunity to start from the pole position for today’s Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season opener after fastest qualifier Aaron Telitz’s Belardi Auto Racing Dallara-Mazda was withdrawn following an incident during qualifying for Race Two this morning. The Mexican teenager took full advantage by storming into the lead at the start of the Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Cooper Tires and was never seriously challenged on his way to a comfortable victory forRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — It’s back to school time for the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires and the streets of St. Petersburg, Fl showcases the drivers on a grand stage. Let’s take a look at random tidbits from Friday. IndyCar For the IndyCar guys, it was an interesting situation on top of the time sheets in the two practice sessions. Matheus Leist was quickest, the first year driver for A.J. Foyt Racing going around the 1.8 mile streetRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The final step on the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires might have the smallest field, but top to bottom the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires has an extremely stacked field going for a one million dollar scholarship package to move to the Verizon IndyCar Series. First, let’s look at the schedule. The 2018 schedule is identical in layout to 2017 except for two changes. The final race weekend is now at Portland International Raceway and it’s also a doubleheader weekend instead ofRead More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – All three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel development ladder will hit the ground running in Florida this coming weekend, March 9-11, in support of the headline Verizon Indy Car Series as part of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Drivers representing at least 18 states and 14 different nations from around the world are expected to be among the starting lineups when Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper TiresRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Colton Herta has been signed to a test and reserve role for BMW Team Rahal Letterman Lanigan in the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. The 17-year-old Californian pilots the No. 98 Mazda/Dallara IL-15 with Andretti Steinbrenner Racing in Indy Lights. Now entering his second season, Herta is coming off a rookie campaign that saw him capture two wins, seven podiums and a series-high seven poles en route to third in the championship. In addition, he was also signed to the BMW Motorsport Junior program whichRead More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – A new season of competition in the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires is almost set to commence. All three rungs on the world’s premier open-wheel development ladder – the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires – will be in action beginning Friday, February 23, for the annual Spring Training open test which will take place over four days at Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida.Read More