2017 Indy Lights season | |
---|---|
Indy Lights | |
Season | |
Races | 16 |
Start date | March 12 |
End date | September 3 |
Awards | |
Drivers' champion | Kyle Kaiser |
Teams' champion | Belardi Auto Racing |
Rookie of the Year | Colton Herta |
The 2017 Indy Lights season was the 32nd season of the Indy Lights open wheel motor racing series and the 16th sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. A 16-race schedule was announced on September 14, 2016. [1] The schedule included a stop at Gateway Motorsports Park for the first time since 2003. This replaced the race at Phoenix International Raceway after it returned to the schedule for only a single season. The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round to end the season was omitted, as it was for the other Road to Indy series.
American Kyle Kaiser driving for Juncos Racing led a steady campaign where he finished every lap of the season in a season where no particular team or driver was dominant and in doing so essentially clinched the championship with one round remaining (he only had to start the final round). Kaiser won three races with an additional three podium finishes. Santiago Urrutia struggled during the first half of the season but logged six podium finishes in the last seven races, including two wins, to vault his way to second in the championship. Colton Herta won six poles, but was only able to convert that to two wins and he finished third in the championship. Brazilian rookie Matheus Leist had a brilliant stretch of races in the middle of the season, capturing three wins, but was otherwise unremarkable and wound up fourth. Zachary Claman DeMelo won a single race and finished fifth in points while 2016 Pro Mazda Championship winner Aaron Telitz bookended the season with his only two wins and finished sixth. Nico Jamin won three races but also suffered four DNFs and fell to seventh in points. Juan Piedrahita captured his first Indy Lights pole at Gateway Motorsports Park, his 57th Indy Lights start.
Team | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
---|---|---|---|
Andretti Autosport | 27 | Nico Jamin [2] | All |
28 | Dalton Kellett [3] | All | |
48 | Ryan Norman [4] | All | |
Andretti Steinbrenner Racing | 98 | Colton Herta [5] | All |
Belardi Auto Racing [6] | 5 | Santiago Urrutia [7] | All |
9 | Aaron Telitz [8] | All | |
51 | Shelby Blackstock [9] | All | |
84 | Chad Boat | 15 | |
Carlin [6] | 11 | Garth Rickards [10] | All |
13 | Zachary Claman DeMelo [11] | All | |
22 | Neil Alberico [12] | All | |
26 | Matheus Leist [13] | All | |
Juncos Racing [6] | 18 | Kyle Kaiser [14] | All |
31 | Nicolás Dapero [15] | All | |
Team Pelfrey [6] | 2 | Juan Piedrahíta [16] | All |
3 | Patricio O'Ward [17] | 1–4 | |
Rd. | Date | Race name | Track | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | March 11 | St. Petersburg 100 | Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida |
2 | March 12 | |||
3 | April 22 | Legacy Indy Lights 100 | Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama |
4 | April 23 | |||
5 | May 12 | Grand Prix of Indianapolis | Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course | Speedway, Indiana |
6 | May 13 | |||
7 | May 26 | Freedom 100 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval | Speedway, Indiana |
8 | June 24 | Grand Prix of Road America | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
9 | June 25 | |||
10 | July 9 | Mazda Iowa 100 | Iowa Speedway | Newton, Iowa |
11 | July 15 | Grand Prix of Toronto | Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
12 | July 16 | |||
13 | July 29 | Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
14 | July 30 | |||
15 | August 26 | Illinois 100 | Gateway Motorsports Park | Madison, Illinois |
16 | September 3 | Grand Prix of Watkins Glen | Watkins Glen International | Watkins Glen, New York |
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 30 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|
|
Pos | Team | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Belardi Auto Racing | 393 |
2 | Andretti Autosport | 389 |
3 | Carlin | 365 |
4 | Juncos Racing | 282 |
5 | Team Pelfrey | 162 |
The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy ladder system, between the USF2000 Championship and Indy NXT. The series is sanctioned by the United States Auto Club and operated by Andersen Promotions. The series' champion is awarded a scholarship package to advance to Indy NXT competition for the following season. It competes on all open-wheel disciplines: road courses, street courses, and ovals.
Bryan Herta Autosport is an American auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and the Michelin Pilot Challenge. It is owned by former IndyCar driver Bryan Herta. The team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon.
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Nicolas Jamin is a French racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with United Autosports.
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The 2016 Indy Lights season was a season of open wheel motor racing. It was the 31st season of the Indy Lights series and the 15th sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series.
The 2016 Pro Mazda Championship was the 18th season in series history. The season will begin on March 12 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and end on September 11 at Monterey Grand Prix.
Zachary Claman DeMelo is a Canadian professional race car driver from Montreal, Quebec. He has competed in Formula Renault 2.0, the IndyCar Series and other open-wheel series, most recently competing for Belardi Auto Racing in Indy Lights in 2019.
Patricio "Pato" O'Ward Junco is a Mexican professional auto racing driver who competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren. He is the 2018 Indy Lights champion. He is signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme and is McLaren's reserve driver for the 2024 Formula One season.
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