Event Headlines
Brabham Dominates Round 2 as Ferreira Retains Points Lead with Second Austin, Texas – Matthew Brabham was disappointed to finish third in yesterday’s opening round of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires at the Circuit of The Americas, especially after setting the pace consistently during pre-season testing. Last year’s winner of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda more than made amends in this afternoon’s Round 2, run over 12 laps on the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course, sweeping from third to first at the drop of the green flag and never being seriously challenged. Brabham, from Manalapan, Fla., found the perfect way to celebrate his 19th birthday earlier in the week by stretching out a huge lead once the race was finally underway after a melee at the exit of Turn One caused the first couple of laps to be run behind the Pace Car. The #83 Team Andretti Autosport driver stretched out an advantage of almost eight seconds by Lap 7, and even though that was negated by another full-course caution after Colombian Juan Piedrahita had an incident at Turn 15 in the #9 Petrosur/Sisolec/GFK Motors/Red Line Oil entry run by JDC MotorSports, Brabham kept his wits about him and eased clear again over the final three laps to take the checkered flag 4.771 seconds clear of his nearest challenger. |
Ferreira Takes Charge for Juncos Racing to Win COTA Pro Mazda Opener Austin, Texas – Diego Ferreira had displayed dramatic improvement during his rookie season in 2012, and the youngster from Maracay, Venezuela, clearly demonstrated he had continued on that upward curve over the winter as he came out of the blocks to score a fine first-ever victory in today’s opening round of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires at Circuit of The Americas. Ferreira, 19, claimed a surprise pole position earlier this afternoon, posting the fastest time on the very last lap of qualifying and narrowly eclipsing pre-season favorite Matthew Brabham, who had set the pace in convincing style during pre-race tests for Andretti Autosport. Brabham, in turn, only narrowly edged the Team Pelfrey pair of Spencer Pigot, from Orlando, Fla., and Petri Suvanto, from Nurmo, Finland, as the top four were covered by a scant 0.089s around the demanding 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course.
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Pro Mazda Series Kicks Off New Chapter at Circuit of The Americas
Sanctioned by INDYCAR, Pro Mazda represents the second step on the acclaimed Mazda Road to Indy development ladder which offers aspiring champions of the future an opportunity to progress all the way from the grassroots of the sport to the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. Pro Mazda replaces the Star Mazda Championship that ceased operations in 2012 after 22 years and bridges the gap between the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Firestone Indy Lights. |