Zachary Claman De Melo Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 10 drivers from the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list continues with the sixth-place championship finisher, Graham Rahal. Graham Rahal, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 2017: 6th in the championship Wins: 2, Top 5: 6, Top 10: 12, Poles: 1, Laps Led: 110 Best Finish: 1st – Two times (Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) 2017 was a year of two halves for Graham Rahal and the dividing line was JuneRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In an Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires season that saw a ton of unpredictability with seven different winners, one thing was predictable: consistency from one driver would win the championship. That consistency came from Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser. Kaiser entered his third season in Indy Lights and his fourth Mazda Road to Indy season with Juncos Racing (fifth MRTI season overall). His second Indy Lights campaign was a big improvement over his first with two wins and only two finishes outsideRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing today announced that Indy Lights driver Zachary Claman DeMelo will make his Verizon IndyCar Series debut at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on September 17th. In anticipation of a multi-car effort for next season, RLLR will have Claman De Melo pilot the No. 16 Honda sponsored by Paysafe as a teammate to the team’s full time driver Graham Rahal. “I’m thrilled to be driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for my (Verizon) IndyCar Series debut at theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer A thrilling final three lap shootout nearly allowed Juan Piedrahita to earn his first win in the Mazda Road to Indy but it was Santiago Urrutia who walked away from Gateway Motorsports Park with another victory in his sophomore Indy Lights season. The race began with a first lap yellow flag after Belardi Auto Racing teammates Aaron Telitz and Shelby Blackstock had contact resulting in Telitz’s retirement from the event. Soon after the green flag came out for the restart there wasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Nico Jamin started second and with five previous victories was hoping for a win at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires. The Frenchman’s wish was granted in Sunday’s race. It was a chaotic start as teammates Jamin and Colton Herta had light contact while fighting for the lead on the first lap of the race. Jamin led the first lap, but eventually Herta got around to lead a lap. Further back in theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Santiago Urrutia has had a roller coaster of an Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires season full of happiness, frustration and every emotion except for victory until Saturday’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Urrutia claimed his first Indy Lights victory of the season at the 2.258 mile road course and his fourth at the track in five races, counting his previous starts in Indy Lights and in the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires. Urrutia started onRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Kyle Kaiser had to deal with Colton Herta in front and Santiago Urrutia behind. By Lap 25, neither were a concern for the California native as he went on to win the second Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race on the streets of Toronto, completing a weekend sweep for Juncos Racing. The 45 lap race started with Herta on pole ahead of Urrutia and Kaiser but Kaiser got second at the start. While the leaders were going through Turn 2, NicoRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer After a morning qualifying session that saw the Juncos Racing driver put his car on pole position for that critical bonus point, Kyle Kaiser followed that up with a victory in the first of two races for the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires on the streets of Toronto. Kaiser led from the start and never looked back, building up a gap over Matheus Leist until the Carlin driver nudged his car into the Turn 8 tire barrier on Lap 3, causingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — His second oval race in his career and his second oval win, Matheus Leist made it three Iowa wins in a row for Carlin by winning the Indy Lights 100 on Sunday at Iowa Speedway. The race began with Colton Herta on pole and leading 31 laps. However, Leist was able to get around him after a caution and pulled away. The lone caution came out when one of Leist’s teammates Garth Rickards spun on Lap 27. The cautionRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer SPEEDWAY, Indiana- After earning his first Indy Lights victory at Barber Motorsports Park, Andretti Autosport driver Nico Jamin scored his second Indy Lights win of 2017 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Friday afternoon. Starting on pole, Jamin was able to keep ahead at the start and hold off teammate Colton Herta early in the race before managing a closing gap to Zachary Claman De Melo late in the going. For Claman De Melo, the start was abysmal. He fellRead More