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| July 07, 2012 News |
| Star Mazda: Hawksworth Converts Pole into Toronto Win |
 | Jack Hawksworth led every lap on the streets of Toronto to score his third win of 2012
(Photo: Star Mazda Championship - Eric McCombs) |
Team Pelfrey driver Jack Hawksworth re-asserted his position in the 2012 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear on Saturday (July 7) with his third victory from the pole in Round 7 on streets of Toronto.
Controlling the race from flag-to-flag – despite a standing start that left two cars remaining stationary on the grid and several race incidents resulting in full-course yellows – Hawksworth brought his No. 82 Team Pelfrey/TORGOEN Swiss Watches/EXA Networks Mazda home 0.295s ahead of Zach Veach, who started third in the No. 77 Andretti Autosport/K12/Zakosi Data Backup Mazda, and 1.156s ahead of Gabby Chaves, who started seventh No. 19 JDC MotorSports/CLARO/Marca Colombia/Tecpro Mazda. Chaves now has three podium finishes this season and moves up to third in the points, while Veach has two podium finishes, with today's result his best so far.
With former championship points leader Connor De Phillippi falling victim to an ill-timed rainstorm in qualifying that had him start 15th, and a traffic-congested race that saw him finish seventh, Hawksworth regained the lead in the championship battle with 166 points to De Phillippi's 153.
"I was able to control the race and run the pace I wanted, even with all the yellows and re-starts," said Hawksworth, who set the fast lap of the race and thus won his second PEAK Performance pole award of the weekend for Round Eight. "The Pelfrey team did a huge job to get my car back together after my smash on the Iowa oval, and there's no doubt I had the fastest car on the track all day. The re-starts were useful in teaching me where people will try to pass when the green waves again, but I'm sure everyone else learned the same lessons, and even though I have the advantage of starting from the pole again tomorrow, I'm not taking anything for granted."
Success stories in the race include Juan Piedrahita who started sixth in the No. 9 JDC MotorSports/Petrosur/GFK Motors Mazda and advanced to fourth, Diego Ferreria who moved up from 11th on the grid to finish fifth in the No. 57 Juncos Racing/Team Viso Venezuela Mazda, and Gustavo Menezes who slashed his way up through the field from 17th to eighth in his No. 83 Team Pelfrey/TrueCar.com/Oakley Mazda. Note should also be taken of Ferreria's teammate, Bruno Palli, who advanced from 18th to 10th in the No. 15 Juncos Racing/Team Viso Venezuela Mazda.
Suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune were Sage Karam, winner on the Iowa Speedway oval two weeks ago, who starting from the outside of the front-row was left sitting on the grid as the field accelerated around him due to a broken differential. Ryan Tveter suffered exactly the same problem – though it took a little more time to fully manifest itself, as the No. 33 Team GDT/Rogers TV/Motorola Mobility Canada Mazda was slow to get going from the gird and then pulled off to the side of the track a few corners later. Last but not least, Martin Scuncio, who won at Barber Motorsports Park, stuck his front wing under the rear tire of a car he was attempting to pass resulting in damage and a pit stop for repairs.
The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear doubleheader resumes on Sunday morning (July 8), with Round Eight around the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.
The top-three will be posted following every session on the EFCN Facebook page, and EFCN Twitter page.
Star Mazda Championship
Round 7 - Race Results
July 7, 2012
Streets of Toronto - Toronto, Ontario
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Diff. | Fast Time| 1. | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | - | 1:08.490 | | 2. | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 0.295 | 1:08.797 | | 3. | Gabby Chaves | JDC MotorSports | 1.156 | 1:09.441 | | 4. | Juan Piedrahita | JDC MotorSports | 1.844 | 1:09.385 | | 5. | Diego Ferreira | Juncos Racing | 2.273 | 1:09.498 | | 6. | Petri Suvanto | Team Pelfrey | 2.861 | 1:09.387 | | 7. | Connor De Phillippi | Juncos Racing | 4.168 | 1:09.429 | | 8. | Gustavo Menezes | Team Pelfrey | 5.097 | 1:09.548 | | 9. | Zack Meyer | AIM Autosport | 6.160 | 1:09.814 | | 10. | Bruno Palli | Juncos Racing | 6.798 | 1:09.400 | | 11. | Stefan Rzadzinski | JDC MotorSports | 7.676 | 1:09.503 | | 12. | Corey Lewis | Team GDT | 8.625 | 1:09.671 | | 13. | Ashley Freiberg | JDC MotorSports | 9.705 | 1:09.997 | | 14. | Jerimy Daniel | The Racing Company | 1.044 | 1:10.614 | | 15. | Carlos Linares | Linares Racing | 11.093 | 1:10.452 | | 16. | Walt Bowlin (E) | AIM Autosport | 1:11.759 | 1:13.755 | | 17. | Martin Scuncio | Juncos Racing | 1 Lap | 1:09.599 | | 18. | Andre Mendez | Team GDT | 2 Laps | 1:09.881 | | 19. | Camilo Schmidt | Linares Racing | 2 Laps | 1:09.852 | | 20. | Sage Karam | Andretti Autosport | 21 Laps | No-time | | 21. | Ryan Tveter | Team GDT | 21 Laps | No-time | |
(E) = Expert Series |
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