|
 |
|
 |
| July 08, 2012 News |
| Star Mazda: Hawksworth Sweeps Toronto Doubleheader |
 | Jack Hawksworth extended his championship lead with the Round Eight win and weekend sweep on the streets of Toronto
(Photo: Star Mazda Championship - Eric McCombs) |
Jack Hawksworth completed a perfect weekend behind the wheel on Sunday (July 8) , as the championship leader converted the Round Eight pole position on the streets of Toronto into a win. Joining the Team Pelfey rookie on the post-race podium were JDC MotorSports' Juan Piedrahita and Andretti Autosport's Sage Karam.
Hawksworth, who earned his fourth PEAK Performance pole of the season with the fastest lap in race one of the Toronto doubleheader, never put a wheel wrong in a race that featured multiple full-course cautions and subsequent re-starts. Despite a slowly leaking right rear tire, which was virtually flat in victory lane, the No. 82 Team Pelfrey/TORGOEN Swiss Watches/EXA Networks Mazda never came any real threat of note.
"This kind of weekend has been in the works for a while, actually, given how professional the team is and how hard they work," said Hawksworth. "I'm happy to leave Toronto and head for the Edmonton Indy with the championship lead and a lot of positive momentum."
Behind the race winner, Juan Piedrahita once again showcased great racecraft and speed on a street circuit. The No. 9 JDC MotorSports/Petrosur/GFK Motors Mazda battled his way forward in the early portions of the race ultimately making the most of a couple incidents to earn his second podium result of the season.
The comeback story of the race was, however, Sage Karam in the No. 88 Andretti Autosport/Comfort Revolution Mazda. After failing to get away from the standing start in race one in Toronto via broken differential, the American gained four places immediately in race two, and with each few laps of green followed he made the most of each opportunity to move forward, ultimately cross the finish line in third.
The race started going sideways about three laps in when fourth-place starter Petri Suvanto, the 2011 USF2000 Champion who is racing in Star Mazda this season with scholarship funding from the Mazda Road to Indy, overcooked his entry to turn three and went down the runoff. Re-joining the battle at the end of the field, he fought his way back up to finish eighth in his No. 81 Team Pelfrey/Mazda Road to Indy Mazda. The first full-course yellow came out on lap five when Ryan Tveter contact the concrete retaining wall exiting turn 11 onto the front straight in his No. 33 Team GDT/Rogers TV/Motorola Mobility Canada Mazda.
After a long yellow, the green flag flew again and the drivers got two laps of green-flag racing before Zach Veach, who scored a podium finish in Round Seven, just caught the turn seven tire barriers with his No. 77 Andretti Autosport/K12/Zakosi Data Backup Mazda.
When the green waved again, it was Hawksworth and Connor De Phillippi first and second respectively. Unfortunately, De Phillippi's chances at a win promptly went way when went too deep into turn three. He almost recovered, but on the exit the tire barrier reached out and grabbed his left rear, spun him into the wall ending his race.
This ultimately setup the top-three, with Hawksworth leading Piedrahita, and Karam up to third.
Gabby Chaves, who finished on the podium in race one, drove from seventh to fourth in race two in his No. 19 JDC MotorSports/CLARO/Marca Colombia/Tecpro Mazda. Diego Ferreria moved from eighth to fifth in the No. 57 Juncos Racing/Team Viso Venezuela Mazda, and Gustavo Menezes came from 10th to finish sixth in the No. 83 Team Pelfrey/TrueCar.com/Oakley Mazda.
The three Canadian drivers, Stefan Rzadzinski, Zack Meyer and Jerimy Daniel all had a reasonably good day. Daniel, driving the No. 10 The Racing Company/FixAuto Mazda for his family-owned team, battled his way up through the field from 18th to finish ninth. Meyer moved up one spot from 13th on the grid to finish 12th in his No. 66 AIM Autosport/Damis Partners III Mazda, and Rzadzinski was battling for a top-five spot before a mid-race lazy spin sent the No. 99 JDC MotorSports/PoweredByAlberta.com Mazda home in 10th.
With all said and done in Toronto, Hawksworth leads the championship with 197 points, followed by De Phillippi (158), Chaves (150), Scuncio (141), Piedrahita (140) and Karam (140).
Next up for the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is the Indy Edmonton on July 21–22.
Star Mazda Championship cars all carry two Replay XD1080 cameras to provide exciting driver POV footage for races that are broadcast tape-delayed on Discovery's Velocity Channel and globally on ESPN International. In the U.S., the Toronto race will air on Velocity at 12 Noon on Saturday, August 4. For international dates and times, please visit http://www.StarMazda.com and click the Star Mazda TV logo on the home page; or go to http://intltv.espn.com/
The top-three will be posted following every session on the EFCN Facebook page, and EFCN Twitter page.
Star Mazda Championship
Round 8 - Race Results
July 8, 2012
Streets of Toronto - Toronto, Ontario
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Diff. | Fast Time| 1. | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | - | 1:09.834 | | 2. | Juan Piedrahita | JDC MotorSports | 0.557 | 1:10.497 | | 3. | Sage Karam | Andretti Autosport | 0.751 | 1:10.382 | | 4. | Gabby Chaves | JDC MotorSports | 1.905 | 1:10.314 | | 5. | Diego Ferreira | Juncos Racing | 2.637 | 1:10.377 | | 6. | Gustavo Menezes | Team Pelfrey | 3.667 | 1:10.967 | | 7. | Martin Scuncio | Juncos Racing | 3.822 | 1:11.060 | | 8. | Petri Suvanto | Team Pelfrey | 5.077 | 1:10.935 | | 9. | Jerimy Daniel | The Racing Company | 7.133 | 1:11.255 | | 10. | Stefan Rzadzinski | JDC MotorSports | 7.144 | 1:10.964 | | 11. | Ashley Freiberg | JDC MotorSports | 7.346 | 1:11.819 | | 12. | Zack Meyer | AIM Autosport | 9.090 | 1:12.511 | | 13. | Andre Mendez | Team GDT | 10.433 | 1:13.753 | | 14. | Carlos Linares | Linares Racing | 1 Lap | 1:13.284 | | 15. | Bruno Palli | Juncos Racing | 1 Lap | 1:11.906 | | 16. | Connor De Phillippi | Juncos Racing | 2 Laps | 1:10.300 | | 17. | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 8 Laps | 1:10.307 | | 18. | Camilo Schmidt | Linares Racing | 8 Laps | 1:11.673 | | 19. | Walt Bowlin (E) | AIM Autosport | 13 Laps | 1:16.349 | | 20. | Ryan Tveter | Team GDT | 16 Laps | 1:15.567 | | 21. | Corey Lewis | Team GDT | 17 Laps | 1:15.571 | |
|
|
|
|
Go Top
|
|
|
|
|
