Argentinean Nicolas Dapero Earns First Podium Finish in Pro Mazda Championship
Clermont, Ind. – Canadian Garett Grist delivered the seventh podium of the season for Juncos Racing, claiming second in the Cooper Tires Freedom 90 at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. Teammate Nicolas Dapero earned his best finish since joining the Mazda Road to Indy program, taking third in Round 7 of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.
The week at Lucas Oil Raceway started off with rainy conditions, canceling the scheduled promoter test day on the 0.686- mile oval. Teams would only have a total of two practice sessions to prepare for the first oval of the season.
The following day Juncos Racing gave one of their best qualifying runs of the 2016 season. Rookie Dapero earned his best qualifying position, starting second in the #31 Federal Seguros car. Grist qualified third while rookie teammate Jake Parsons started fourth and Will Owen took the sixth position.
Round 7 of the Pro Mazda Championship went green from start to finish for the 90 lap race. Grist, driving the #5 Lander Property Management car, captured second, earning his third podium of the season. Argentinean Dapero took home his first podium finish in the Pro Mazda series, taking third. Parsons drove the #00 Smart Minds Institute car to a fourth place finish in his first run on an oval in his career. American Owen, driving the #23 AMR car finished sixth after battling helmet issues during the race.
Team Principal Ricardo Juncos was pleased to pick up two more podium finishes and with the overall success of all four drivers on the first oval of the 2016 season.
“I am very impressed with all of our drivers and our team in the first oval appearance of the year,” said Juncos. “We had a great race finishing second, third, and fourth. Garett (Grist) has been one of the most successful drivers here at LOR (Lucas Oil Raceway) and that showed with his well-deserved second place finish. Nico (Dapero) had a fantastic run qualifying second in his first race on an oval and was able to pick up his first podium with us. Jake (Parsons) also had a great run in his first race on an oval and showed great pace throughout the two days. Will (Owen) did not get the finish he was looking for since he was battling issues with his helmet throughout the race, but I am very pleased that he fought his way through to the finish. We still have a long way to go in the championship, but I know we will continue to be successful as long as we maintain our focus and continue to work hard. I want to thank everyone who came out to support us this week and to all of the drivers, crew, and families for their dedication to our organization.”
Driver Quotes:
Nicolas Dapero (Buenos Aires, Argentina): “It was a really great weekend. We were able to qualify P2 for the race which was very exciting. This was my first race on an oval. In Argentina we do not have oval tracks. I did a great job in our private tests last year on the ovals which really helped prepare me for this weekend. I want to thank all at Juncos Racing, Mazda Road to Indy because of all the hard work they have done. We will keep working and learning from everything this week. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and getting back on the podium.”
Garett Grist (Grimsby, Ontario, Canada): “It was a good night for us at Lucas Oil Raceway. It’s a track I’ve had a lot of success at before and I was able to continue that tonight with another second place finish. We definitely had the best car out there. The problem is here after the first two or three laps you basically follow the leader for the whole race, unless someone makes a big mistake in front of you. I was able to do the same times as the leader. Our car was really good so I am really happy with our result on the podium. I wish I could have brought home the win, but as I said after the start its just pretty much follow the leader. I’ve got to thank Mac Tools, Lander Property Management, Spider, and my family because without them I wouldn’t be here.”
Will Owen (Castle Rock, Colorado, USA): “I can’t say this was my favorite race of the year. I was very uncomfortable because my helmet was somehow trying to come off during the race. I’m not sure if I didn’t tighten it down enough or if it just came loose, so for at least half of the race I was fighting to keep my helmet on my head. In the beginning I put up a great fight. I was really pushing up to the guys up front, but everyone was just so close and nobody could really make any moves. Not the best weekend, but it could have been worse. Now we are going to head to the Mid-Ohio test and start thinking about road courses.”
Jake Parsons (Melbourne, Australia): “It was awesome to have my first weekend of oval racing. I think it was a very promising start. We had some really great speed in the first session and were strong all week and at times were the fastest car on track. Now with the experience I have gained, I think we are in a really good place going forward together. I’m very happy with how much I learned over these two days.”
The Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires continues next month on June 24th – 26th with Rounds 8 and 9 at Road America located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. For more information please visit juncosracing.com and promazdachampionship.com