Indy Lights Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Nicolas Dapero began the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires as an unknown in the paddock. The Argentinian finished sixth in the 2015 Brazilian F3 Championship with five podiums and a fastest lap in 12 races before going to race in the United States. After an interesting 2016 season, Dapero will be moving up to Indy Lights for 2017 with the same team he raced with in Pro Mazda in Juncos Racing. Dapero began 2016 with pairs of tenths, seventhsRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief It has been announced that Garth Rickards will join Carlin for the 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires season. The 24-year-old American competed in USF2000 the past two seasons, competing in 2015 with Team Pelfrey before switching to Pabst Racing for 2016 and going on to capture a podium at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The jump up to Indy Lights means that Rickards will skip the Pro Mazda Championship – the second step on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder. “To say I am excitedRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Belardi Auto Racing announced on Friday that is has signed Santiago Urrutia for the 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires campaign. A rookie in 2016, Urrutia finished runner-up in the championship with four wins and seven podiums in 18 starts. The 20-year-old Uruguayan expressed his belief in his new team and the motivation for next year. “We have a really strong crew and I believe that we are going to have one of the greatest teams in the paddock,” said Urrutia, winner of the 2015Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Across all three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires, there were moments that stood out from the start of the season to the end.  Here’s a look at the top five moments across the Mazda Road to Indy. 1. Indy Lights: The Freedom 100 Dean Stoneman earned both of Andretti Autosport’s wins this season and scored their final victory of the year at the Freedom 100, edging out Carlin’s Ed Jones by 0.0024 of a second.  JonesRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In an announcement that came out of left field, Colton Herta was announced as Andretti Autosport’s fourth driver in their Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires program alongside Dalton Kellett, Nico Jamin and Ryan Norman today. Herta’s entry is funded with a partnership between Andretti Autosport and Steinbrenner Racing, which is owned by the same family that purchased the New York Yankees in 1973. After racing British F4 in 2015 and EuroFormula Open in 2016, the son of current IndyCar team co-ownerRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Juncos Racing announced that it will bring back Kyle Kaiser for a second Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires campaign in 2017. The 20-year-old joined the team for the 2014 Pro Mazda Championship, finishing sixth in the standings before moving up to Indy Lights in 2015. He enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2016, finishing third in this year’s championship behind Ed Jones and Santiago Urrutia. The Californian becomes an immediate favorite for the title after scoring two wins, three poles and nine podiums. The chance toRead More

Ryan Norman will begin his Mazda Road to Indy career competing in Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires with Andretti Autosport. The rookie will pilot the No. 48 Flip Side Mazda as part of Andretti’s 2017 stable. “I’m very excited to join Andretti Autosport for the 2017 Indy Lights Season,” said Norman. “With their great success in IndyCar and Indy Lights, it is the perfect environment for me to learn and grow as a driver. I want to thank Michael Andretti and the rest of the team for this wonderfulRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Andretti Autosport’s announcement that Nico Jamin will join the team’s Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires program was confirmation of the their commitment to returning to the top of the championship table. Jamin had a rough go of it during the 2016 season of the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires.  Then again, anybody not in a Team Pelfrey car did, but the 20-year-old Frenchman won two races en route to third in the championship. The 2015 winner of theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer One of the more storied teams in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires will close the garage doors as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports confirmed they will not be fielding a team in the 2017 championship. Despite nearly winning the 2016 championship with Santiago Urrutia, the team will be centering its focus on the Verizon IndyCar Series program after winning seven championships in the final step on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder The team had tested 2016 Pro Mazda standout PatoRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Carlin joined the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires grid in 2015 as Trevor Carlin sought to expand his open-wheel racing empire to the U.S. and succeeded in his second year of operations by securing an Indy Lights championship with driver Ed Jones. Let’s look back at his championship run. The season got off to an uneventful start for Jones as St. Petersburg gave the Dubai-based Brit a tenth and a seventh to start the season off in what is nowRead More