Andries makes surprise season debut at Circuit of the Americas
 March 5, 2013| 
  • Team News

Pinellas Park, Fla. - In an 11th hour deal that got him to the track race day morning, Nick Andries made his return to the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires (formerly the Star Mazda Championship) and his debut for JDC Motorsports for the season opening rounds of the 2013 season at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, his first race since a one-off Firestone Indy Lights drive at last year’s Long Beach Grand Prix.

“We’ve been working on putting together a program for the 2013 season and I hope to make an announcement about my plans in the coming weeks,” said Andries from the paddock at Circuit of the Americas. “I knew that missing the first two races of the season would all but eliminate me from championship contention so we scraped together what we had and funded this weekend ourselves. I really have to thank my family and some very close friends for chipping in to get me to Austin. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Taking an early morning flight out of Tampa, Andries arrived at Circuit of the Americas in time to get fitted into his #19 Pro Mazda ride prior to the first session of the day. New car gremlins limited Andries to a handful of laps late in the session to get acquainted with the track layout as well as the new for 2013 Cooper Tires. Despite the challenges, he was 13th out of 16 drivers, an understandable 8.228 sec. off the quick time of the session.

After learning which way the track went, qualifying was more representative of Andries ability to get into an unfamiliar car at an unfamiliar circuit and get up to speed quickly. A 2:05.724 lap was by far the quickest lap of the drivers who missed pre-season testing, and put Andries 11th on the grid for Race 1.

Unfortunately Race 1 was over almost as soon as it started. Andries got a jump on the field at the drop of the green flag, and was working his way up the inside of the pack heading into Turn 1 when he was run into from behind in the braking zone, damaging the rear wing and rear suspension on his car, knocking him out of the race. To add insult to injury, the lack of a complete race lap meant that Andries would start 15th for Race 2.

Overnight the JDC Motorsports team was able to put Andries’ #19 back together in time for the morning warm-up, where he posted the 10th quickest time. From 15th, Andries worked his way through the field, making his way to 8th at the finish while recording his quickest race lap – a 2:05.874 – on the last lap of the race.

“All things considered the weekend went okay. Getting knocked out of Race 1 so early was unfortunate but after that I had time to get acquainted with the team and the car, and to learn the new tires. I want to thank the JDC Motorsports team for getting me up to speed on such short notice. I can’t wait to get back to St. Pete.”

Next up
The Formula Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires heads to St. Petersburg, Fla. to join the IZOD IndyCar Series for their season opener the weekend of March 22-24. Nick Andries will announce his plans for the balance of the 2013 season prior to this event.

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About Nick Andries:
Nick Andries began racing in kid karts when he was just five years old. After five years in karts, Andries began his transition into racecars by participating in Skip Barber Racing School. After earning a scholarship at the Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shoot-out, he went on to win the 2009 Skip Barber Summer Race Series Championship. In 2010 Nick participated in the Skip Barber National Series, finishing sixth in points with one win, while competing in select Star Mazda races for Andersen Racing. In 2011 Andries finished 3rd in the Star Mazda Championship with a series high seven podium finishes. He returns to the Formula Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires after a one-year hiatus.

Away from the track, Andries is a Mechanical Engineering student at St. Petersburg (Fla.) College. Learn more about Nick Andries at www.nickandries.com and follow Nick on Twitter at @NickAndries81.
  
Formula Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires
The Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires will debut in 2013 as a new series, replacing the Star Mazda Championship which ceased operation in 2012 after 22 years. The series is sanctioned by INDYCAR and owned and operated by Andersen Promotions. It is the second official step on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system with the series’ champion awarded a scholarship package from Mazda to advance to Firestone Indy Lights competition the following year.

For more information, visit www.promazdachampionship.com

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