Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 Series All Set for Double-Header Action
PALMETTO, Fla. –The Mazda Road to Indy is set to provide some thrilling action this weekend as all three steps on the open-wheel development ladder – Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda – will hold a pair of races on the demanding Exhibition Place street circuit in downtown Toronto, Ont., Canada in support of the Honda Indy Toronto. The unique Mazda Road to Indy initiative provides Mazda scholarships at every level to assist aspiring professionals in graduating from the grassroots of the sport to the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500.
Canada’s Thompson and Australia’s Martin Tied for USF2000 Points Lead
The battle for another Mazda scholarship to move from USF2000 to Pro Mazda in 2017 couldn’t be more finely poised with Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammates Parker Thompson, from Red Deer, Alb., Canada, and Anthony Martin, from Perth, Australia, currently tied for the points lead with seven races remaining.
Martin has won four races to the three of Thompson and perhaps has a slight edge after claiming a third and a fourth in Toronto one year ago.
“This isn't just any race coming up,” affirms Thompson. “This is my favorite race of the entire calendar, and not just because it's my home Grand Prix. Toronto is one of the most difficult street circuits in the world. I really look forward to representing the Canadian fans at the event, along with all of my partners I have attending my home race. Sharing the championship lead thus far in the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 standings will just make me push that much harder to be on top this weekend!”
Two more talented young Australians, Jordan Lloyd (Pabst Racing) and Luke Gabin (JAY Motorsports), along with Brazilian Victor Franzoni (ArmsUp Motorsports) have proven to be regular podium challengers, while Yufeng Luo (Pabst Racing) in March became the first Chinese driver to win a race on the Mazda Road to Indy.
Other likely contenders among a quality 23-car field representing no fewer than eight different nationalities will include Jordan Cane, from Bognor Regis, England, who will drive a third Cape Motorsports Van Diemen-Mazda; fellow teenager Robert Megennis (Team Pelfrey), from New York, N.Y.; Norway’s Ayla Agren (John Cummiskey Racing), who finished fourth most recently at Road America; Garth Rickards (Pabst Racing), from Mechanicsburg, Pa.; and Californian Dakota Dickerson, who has displayed steadily improving form with Afterburner Autosport after gaining his opportunity to move into USF2000 via a Mazda scholarship after winning last year’s Skip Barber Racing Championship Shootout.
The Allied Building Products USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto will commence with a pair of practice sessions on Friday, July 15, followed by qualifying on Saturday morning, Race One at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday and then Race Two at 8:25 a.m. on Sunday. Live timing and streaming shows of all sessions will be available on the Road To Indy TV App and at usf2000.com and indycar.com.