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IndyCar
INDY LIGHTS: Hawksworth Ready For Lights Debut With Schmidt
News on Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' Jack Hawksworth, plus Mazda Road To Indy signings by Belardi and Juncos Racing.
After taking the Pro Mazda series by storm, Jack Hawksworth enters the 2013 Firestone Indy Lights season as one of the championship favorites. (Photo: LAT)
Jack Hawksworth has kick-started his bid to make it back-to-back championship triumphs across the other side of the Pond in 2013, and as he endeavors to cement his reputation as America’s brightest young British hope, the gifted Bradford-born speed demon can count on some vital local support.
After shifting his nascent single-seater career stateside in 2012, Hawksworth promptly broke virtually every record in the book en route to clinching the fiercely-contested Star Mazda Championship crown as a US racing rookie. He subsequently stepped things up another gear this year by signing to compete for multiple title-winning operation Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship – just one notch down the ladder from his ultimate IZOD IndyCar Series goal.
The McLaren Autosport Award finalist, British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star and TORGOEN Swiss brand ambassador had the chance to get to grips with his new ‘office’ during the first official pre-season testing outing around Florida’s 2.21-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway road course. There, he was able to gauge his potential against a number of the rivals he is likely to encounter in wheel-to-wheel duels over the course of the coming months.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to spend some more time working with the team and to start preparing in the best way possible for the St. Petersburg curtain-raiser next month,” Hawksworth revealed. “It was a great integration and relationship-building exercise, since I got to see more of how SPM works and by the same token, they got a better idea of how I work.
“We experimented with some different changes and tweaks to the set-up in order to try and understand the characteristics of the Lights car more and figure out the best way to extract performance from it. Compared to last year, it has quite a lot more horsepower than the Mazda but is also quite a bit heavier; that means it requires a little more patience, but you still need to maintain the same level of commitment.
“There is certainly an art to driving these cars, but being with such a good team means it shouldn’t take me long to get up-to-speed. There are highly-skilled individuals across this whole team, and we have a great chance to have a fantastic season.”
If the 21-year-old Cullingworth native is confident about his prospects in the light of SPM’s experience, expertise and outstanding record in the sport – the last time any other outfit lifted the Indy Lights laurels was in 2009 – then he has also received a timely shot-in-the-arm from back home, as Bingley-based business and education internet solutions firm Exa Networks has thrown its backing behind his quest for glory.
As Hawksworth thanked Exa for its support and forecast ‘a great season’ ahead together, the company’s Head of Projects and Business Solutions, Mark Elders, mused that partnering with the former national and international karting ace was a ‘no-brainer’.
“I first observed Jack’s passion for racing in karts, and his ultimate ambition to become a professional racing driver was a clear indication of his determination from the start,” Elders opined. “Having seen him race close-up, I was left in no doubt that he would be a success. The opportunity to sponsor him was a ‘no-brainer’, and it was with great excitement that we decided to help him where we can. He’s a Bradford lad just like us and is a young man starting out on an exciting career path.
“At the same time, Jack is so well-grounded and mature for his age, and with such natural talent it’s easy to understand why we all support him. He is a real professional and is always analysing the car and his own performance and communicating with his team to make things better. That’s something you don’t often see in young drivers.
“This year, he has been given a seat in arguably the best Indy Lights team there has ever been – certainly the most victorious team in the series’ history. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has won the past three championships in a row, meaning Jack could not be in any better hands.
“So many people in the business have noticed his exceptional ability, and I’m pretty confident he is going to have an excellent 2013. His longer-term goal is to gain a seat in IndyCars and race in the legendary Indianapolis 500 – and if he is as successful as he was last year, he’s going to achieve that objective. For Jack Hawksworth, the future is looking extremely bright!”
Belardi Adds Estrela to USF2000 Squad
Belardi Auto Racing is proud to announce its third seat for the 2013 Cooper Tires USF2000 Presented by Mazda season has been filled by Skip Barber notable Danilo Estrela.
A 19-year-old from Goiânia, Brazil, Estrela began his racing career like most open-wheel drivers: karting. After a successful two years in karting, Danilo set his eyes on formula and touring cars and began making waves throughout Europe.
2010 brought a huge change for Danilo as he made a move to America to begin his career in North American motorsport. The Brazilian became a Skip Barber Karting Shootout winner which allowed him to have a fully funded ride in the BFGoodrich Skip Barber National Championship where he scored one win, four podiums and many top fives. From there Estrela again competed in the shootout where he won for the second year in a row, and followed with another successful National Championship season where he captured all pole positions and clinched six wins out of the season's 12 events.
"I am really happy to join Belardi Auto Racing," Estrela said. "The whole team is awesome and I am really thankful for all the help and effort that [team owner] Brian, the engineers, mechanics and everyone has put in. They have made my job as a driver a lot easier.
"Working with the team at the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy test, and again at Sebring a few weeks ago, showed me that this is a team I can be successful with, and I really just can't wait to start the season with them. I have to mention JJRD and Jonatan Jorge for continuing to help me and guide me
through my racing career."
Team owner Brian Belardi is equally excited saying, "Danilo is a going to be a great addition to the Belardi Auto Racing team. He was quick and adapted very well when he tested with us at IMS last October, so we gave him another test at Sebring during a
team test a few weeks ago and continued to impress us. The whole team is really pleased with his work ethic and excitement, and we are really just happy to have him."
Estrela joins the diverse program at Belardi Auto Racing with American Matt McMurry, as well as Canadian Daniel Burkett. The new teammates will officially kick off the 2013 season at Sebring International Raceway as the USF2000 series supports the 61st 12 Hours of Sebring for the American Le Mans Series.
Diego Ferreira Returns to Juncos Racing for 2013 Pro Mazda Championship
Juncos Racing pleased to announce Venezuelan driver Diego Ferreira will return to the team as they battle for the 2013 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires.
Returning to Juncos Racing after a very impressive rookie season, Ferreira, 18, who will pilot the #57 Juncos Racing/Team Viso Venezuela machine, finished sixth in the Star Mazda Championship with seven Top-5 finishes and claiming the 2012 “Most Improved Drive of the Year.”
“I’m very excited to renew my contract with Juncos Racing and the Team Viso Venezuela for this year,” said Ferreira. “This will be my second season in the championship and I feel so strong to fight for the championship this year. I have to say thanks to all my sponsors from Venezuela, and to the team believing in me to go for the championship. This is going to be a great season with a lot of new tracks and we will be working hard to get the results. We have a big calendar with many days of testing and simulations to help us claim the championship.”
Ricardo Juncos, Team Owner, feels confident Ferreira will be a top contender for the Pro Mazda Championship after a successful 2012 rookie season.
“I’m extremely happy to sign Diego for a second year,” said Juncos. “He’s proved to everyone what he can do and how strong he can finish after last season’s results. The chemistry between Diego and the team is perfect and we all feel very strong for this 2013 season.”
The Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires will begin the 2013 season March 1-2, 2013 at the newly constructed 3.4 mile road course Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. For more information please visit juncosracing.com and promazdachampionship.com.
After shifting his nascent single-seater career stateside in 2012, Hawksworth promptly broke virtually every record in the book en route to clinching the fiercely-contested Star Mazda Championship crown as a US racing rookie. He subsequently stepped things up another gear this year by signing to compete for multiple title-winning operation Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship – just one notch down the ladder from his ultimate IZOD IndyCar Series goal.
The McLaren Autosport Award finalist, British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star and TORGOEN Swiss brand ambassador had the chance to get to grips with his new ‘office’ during the first official pre-season testing outing around Florida’s 2.21-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway road course. There, he was able to gauge his potential against a number of the rivals he is likely to encounter in wheel-to-wheel duels over the course of the coming months.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to spend some more time working with the team and to start preparing in the best way possible for the St. Petersburg curtain-raiser next month,” Hawksworth revealed. “It was a great integration and relationship-building exercise, since I got to see more of how SPM works and by the same token, they got a better idea of how I work.
“We experimented with some different changes and tweaks to the set-up in order to try and understand the characteristics of the Lights car more and figure out the best way to extract performance from it. Compared to last year, it has quite a lot more horsepower than the Mazda but is also quite a bit heavier; that means it requires a little more patience, but you still need to maintain the same level of commitment.
“There is certainly an art to driving these cars, but being with such a good team means it shouldn’t take me long to get up-to-speed. There are highly-skilled individuals across this whole team, and we have a great chance to have a fantastic season.”
If the 21-year-old Cullingworth native is confident about his prospects in the light of SPM’s experience, expertise and outstanding record in the sport – the last time any other outfit lifted the Indy Lights laurels was in 2009 – then he has also received a timely shot-in-the-arm from back home, as Bingley-based business and education internet solutions firm Exa Networks has thrown its backing behind his quest for glory.
As Hawksworth thanked Exa for its support and forecast ‘a great season’ ahead together, the company’s Head of Projects and Business Solutions, Mark Elders, mused that partnering with the former national and international karting ace was a ‘no-brainer’.
“I first observed Jack’s passion for racing in karts, and his ultimate ambition to become a professional racing driver was a clear indication of his determination from the start,” Elders opined. “Having seen him race close-up, I was left in no doubt that he would be a success. The opportunity to sponsor him was a ‘no-brainer’, and it was with great excitement that we decided to help him where we can. He’s a Bradford lad just like us and is a young man starting out on an exciting career path.
“At the same time, Jack is so well-grounded and mature for his age, and with such natural talent it’s easy to understand why we all support him. He is a real professional and is always analysing the car and his own performance and communicating with his team to make things better. That’s something you don’t often see in young drivers.
“This year, he has been given a seat in arguably the best Indy Lights team there has ever been – certainly the most victorious team in the series’ history. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has won the past three championships in a row, meaning Jack could not be in any better hands.
“So many people in the business have noticed his exceptional ability, and I’m pretty confident he is going to have an excellent 2013. His longer-term goal is to gain a seat in IndyCars and race in the legendary Indianapolis 500 – and if he is as successful as he was last year, he’s going to achieve that objective. For Jack Hawksworth, the future is looking extremely bright!”
Belardi Adds Estrela to USF2000 Squad
Belardi Auto Racing is proud to announce its third seat for the 2013 Cooper Tires USF2000 Presented by Mazda season has been filled by Skip Barber notable Danilo Estrela.
A 19-year-old from Goiânia, Brazil, Estrela began his racing career like most open-wheel drivers: karting. After a successful two years in karting, Danilo set his eyes on formula and touring cars and began making waves throughout Europe.
2010 brought a huge change for Danilo as he made a move to America to begin his career in North American motorsport. The Brazilian became a Skip Barber Karting Shootout winner which allowed him to have a fully funded ride in the BFGoodrich Skip Barber National Championship where he scored one win, four podiums and many top fives. From there Estrela again competed in the shootout where he won for the second year in a row, and followed with another successful National Championship season where he captured all pole positions and clinched six wins out of the season's 12 events.
"I am really happy to join Belardi Auto Racing," Estrela said. "The whole team is awesome and I am really thankful for all the help and effort that [team owner] Brian, the engineers, mechanics and everyone has put in. They have made my job as a driver a lot easier.
"Working with the team at the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy test, and again at Sebring a few weeks ago, showed me that this is a team I can be successful with, and I really just can't wait to start the season with them. I have to mention JJRD and Jonatan Jorge for continuing to help me and guide me
through my racing career."
Team owner Brian Belardi is equally excited saying, "Danilo is a going to be a great addition to the Belardi Auto Racing team. He was quick and adapted very well when he tested with us at IMS last October, so we gave him another test at Sebring during a
team test a few weeks ago and continued to impress us. The whole team is really pleased with his work ethic and excitement, and we are really just happy to have him."
Estrela joins the diverse program at Belardi Auto Racing with American Matt McMurry, as well as Canadian Daniel Burkett. The new teammates will officially kick off the 2013 season at Sebring International Raceway as the USF2000 series supports the 61st 12 Hours of Sebring for the American Le Mans Series.
Diego Ferreira Returns to Juncos Racing for 2013 Pro Mazda Championship
Juncos Racing pleased to announce Venezuelan driver Diego Ferreira will return to the team as they battle for the 2013 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires.
Returning to Juncos Racing after a very impressive rookie season, Ferreira, 18, who will pilot the #57 Juncos Racing/Team Viso Venezuela machine, finished sixth in the Star Mazda Championship with seven Top-5 finishes and claiming the 2012 “Most Improved Drive of the Year.”
“I’m very excited to renew my contract with Juncos Racing and the Team Viso Venezuela for this year,” said Ferreira. “This will be my second season in the championship and I feel so strong to fight for the championship this year. I have to say thanks to all my sponsors from Venezuela, and to the team believing in me to go for the championship. This is going to be a great season with a lot of new tracks and we will be working hard to get the results. We have a big calendar with many days of testing and simulations to help us claim the championship.”
Ricardo Juncos, Team Owner, feels confident Ferreira will be a top contender for the Pro Mazda Championship after a successful 2012 rookie season.
“I’m extremely happy to sign Diego for a second year,” said Juncos. “He’s proved to everyone what he can do and how strong he can finish after last season’s results. The chemistry between Diego and the team is perfect and we all feel very strong for this 2013 season.”
The Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires will begin the 2013 season March 1-2, 2013 at the newly constructed 3.4 mile road course Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. For more information please visit juncosracing.com and promazdachampionship.com.
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