Daly Wins Pole, Vautier On Front Row For Round 3 Of The Star Mazda

Posted on June 27th, 2010 by Stephen Rhodes in Other Racing Series - News/Rumors - Qualifying Times

New Jersey Motorsports Park (June 27, 2010) – Call it a ‘rotary rematch.’ The front row for the start of this afternoon’s Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Round 3 of the VISITFLORIDA Cup, is the same as yesterday – American Conor Daly on the pole in the #22 Juncos Racing / INDECK / The College Network / Merchant Services Ltd. Mazda with a lap of 1:15.840 (103.006 mph) and Frenchman Tristan Vautier alongside in the #38 Andersen Racing / Moulin TP / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda with a lap of 1:16.096 (102.660 mph). After serving a stop-and-go penalty for jumping the start, Daly raced his way back up through the field to finish 3rd while Vautier finished 6th.

Caio Lara, winner of Saturday’s Race 1 / Round 6 will start from 5th in the #19 JDC Motorsports / MLD / ATW Mazda, turning a lap of 1:16.522 (102.088 mph). Quebec racer Mikael Grenier, who finished 5th yesterday in his #17 Andersen Racing / Slow Cow / April Super Flow / NAPA Auto Parts / HS Telecom / Desharnais Mazda starts third with a lap of 1:16.122 (102.625 mph), and Norwegian driver Anders ‘The Viking’ Krohn, runner-up in yesterday’s race, is on the outside of the second row in 4th after turning a lap of 1:16.207 (102.510 mph) in his #47 Andersen Racing / Norse Cutting & Abandonment / Trallfa / Colosseum Mazda.

Also of note, starting from 7th on the grid with a lap of 1:16.681 (1012.830 mph), is a hungry young driver named Connor De Phillippi, driving the #11 JDC Motorsports / MAZDASPEED Motorsports / Skip Barber Mazda. He won the 2009 Skip Barber Pro Series and is driving in the 2010 Star Mazda championship with backing from the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder, the unique and prestigious automaker-backed program that helps champions at each level of open-wheel racing move up the ladder. He finished 4th in yesterday’s race, has four top-5s and two top-7s this year and is currently 6th in the championship.

The quickest Master Series (45 and older) driver Gerry Kraut of North Oaks, Minnesota. Currently leading the Master Series championship battle in his #55 JDC Motorsports / Dougherty & Co. / Dougherty Funding LLC Mazda, Kraut is both a company CEO and co-owner of the championship-winning JDC Motorsports team. He starts 14th on the 22-car grid with a lap of 1:17.659 (100.594 mph). The quickest Expert Series (ages 30-44) driver was Californian Patrick O’Neill, who turned a 1:17.989 (100.168 mph) lap in his #64 JDC Motorsports / O’Neill Construction Mazda, good for 15th on the starting grid. Starting next to him, with a time less than 1/10th of a second slower (1:17.629 / 100.632 mph) The other driver proviking widespread interest is Larry Pegram, driving the #72 AIM Autosport / Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery / Foremost Insurance Mazda. Pegram, one of the stars of the AMA SuperBike championship, is making his 4-wheeld racing debut at New Jersey Motorsports Park, competing in the Expert Class for drivers aged 30 – 44. His time of 1:19.076 (98.791 mph) places him 21st on the 22-car starting grid.

All the racing action this weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park, including the Star Mazda Championship, the USF2000 National Championship powered by Mazda and Mazda MX-5 Cup will be broadcast live on HDnet. The pre-race show takes place 12:30 pm – 1:00 pm, and 1:00pm – 4:00 pm will be live coverage of the Playboy Mazda MX 5 Cup, USF2000, and The Star Mazda/Visit Florida Cup. All times are Eastern. Rick Benjamin will call the play-by-play, and a pair of well-known racers, Johnny O’Connell (USF2000 and Star Mazda) and Elliott Forbes-Robinson (Mazda MX-5 Cup) will be the on-air analysts. Todd Lewis will be the pit reporter. In addition to the live broadcast, both Playboy Mazda MX 5 Cup races and one of the two Star Mazda Championship races will be cable syndicated across the USA, Canada and worldwide.

Drivers in the Star Mazda Championship are contending two championships at stake this season, the overall Series championship and the VISITFLORIDA Cup, which will go to the driver scoring the most points in the seven televised races during the 2010 season. VISITFLORIDA races include the season-opener at Sebring, the double-headers at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Autobahn Country Club (broadcast live on HDnet) as well as Mosport and the season finale at Road Atlanta.

Daly leads the Series championship with four wins, five poles and 255 points, followed by Anders Krohn with a pole, two podiums and six top-5 finishes for 211 points. From there, however it gets tight; Grenier in 3rd has 195 points, Joao Victor Horto in 4th and 194, Caio Lara is in 5th with 193 and MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder scholarship winner Connor De Phillippi is in 6th with 192. The VISITFLORIDA battle is even tighter; counting the points earned at Sebring, Race 1 at NJMP and this morning’s qualifying, Conor Daly leads with 76 points, followed by Vautier (who won at Sebring) with 74, Krohn with 73 and Lara with 70.

This afternoon’s Star Mazda Championship Race 2 / Round 7 gets the green light at 3:05 pm.

Pos	No.	Name	Best Tm	Best Speed	In Lap	Diff	Sponsor
1	22	Conor Daly	1:15.840	103.006	5		INDECK, The College Network, Merchant Services Ltd.
2	38	Tristan Vautier	1:16.096	102.660	3	0.256	Moulin TP, Cecibon, Circuit du Laquais, Fontanel
3	17	Mikael Grenier	1:16.122	102.625	3	0.282	Slow Cow, April Super Flow, NAPA Auto Parts, HS Telecom, Desharnais
4	47	Anders Krohn	1:16.207	102.510	3	0.367	Norse Cutting and Abandonment, Trallfa Industries, Colosseum
5	19	Caio Lara	1:16.522	102.088	3	0.682	MLD/ATW/Molecule
6	28	Juan Piedrahita	1:16.626	101.950	9	0.786	Petro Sur, GFK Motors
7	11	Connor De Phillippi	1:16.681	101.877	8	0.841	Mazdaspeed Motorsports, Skip Barber
8	18	Joao Horto	1:16.730	101.812	3	0.890	Wabash Capital Investments
9	16	David Ostella	1:16.761	101.770	5	0.921	GP Global Precast
10	9	Jorge Goncalvez	1:16.777	101.749	6	0.937	Wabash Capital Investments
11	25	Tatiana Calderon	1:16.781	101.744	5	0.941	JAC Motors
12	66	Rusty Mitchell	1:16.835	101.672	8	0.995	Motorola, Petro Comm.
13	85	Chris Miller	1:17.578	100.699	3	1.738	Miller Milling, Red Line Oil
14	55	Gerry Kraut	1:17.659	100.594	3	1.819	Dougherty and Co./Dougherty Funding LLC.
15	20	Carlos Linares	1:17.710	100.528	6	1.870	Instituto Nacional De Deportes
16	81	Nick Andries	1:17.832	100.370	11	1.992	Indy 500/ American Icon Team Pelfrey
17	64	Patrick O’Neill	1:17.989	100.168	2	2.149	O’Neill Construction
18	65	J.W. Roberts	1:18.549	99.454	10	2.709	General Data Tech
19	31	Carlos Conde	1:18.777	99.166	6	2.937	Pronto-GMT, Olympus Securities
20	37	Dom Bastien	1:19.016	98.866	11	3.176	Andersen Race Park
21	72	Larry Pegram	1:19.076	98.791	3	3.236	Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery / Foremost Insurance
22	23	Walt Bowlin	1:20.115	97.510	4	4.275	Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery