SPEEDWAY, IND. – Team Pelfrey carried its strong form from this year’s Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires into this past weekend’s Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Open Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course. Three young drivers chose to “test the Pro Mazda waters” with Team Pelfrey in preparation for potential campaigns in 2015, with 15-year-old Mexican talent Patricio O’Ward stunning onlookers by posting the fastest lap of all. USF2000 graduate Peter Portante, from Plainville, Conn., and Team Pelfrey F1600 regular Augie Lerch, from Tucson, Ariz., also impressed during the test.
O’Ward, from Monterrey, Mexico, has been combining his school commitments with regular trips to Europe to compete in the French F4 Championship, with promising results. He lost no time in becoming comfortable in the Pro Mazda car, setting second fastest time in the first session on Saturday morning, a mere 0.1632 seconds behind series veteran Neil Alberico. The following morning O’Ward set what was to stand as the fastest time of the entire test, 1:23.6525, an average speed of 104.963 around the 2.439-mile, 14-turn track. O’Ward’s time was almost three-tenths faster than both his cousin, Jose Gutierrez, who recently won the final round of this season’s championship at Sonoma Raceway, Calif., and Alberico.
Portante, 18, a podium finisher in this year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, was regularly among the leading contenders, ultimately posting the fourth fastest lap at 1:24.1244, despite being caught out by some inopportune red-flag stoppages. Lerch, 17, belied his lack of racing experience by turning a best lap at 1:26.3668.
WHAT THE DRIVERS SAID:
Peter Portante (#80 Team Pelfrey) - fourth fastest: “I throughly enjoyed my first outing in a Pro Mazda car. We showcased good pace, with room for a lot more if not for some bad timing. I've really got to give credit to Team Pelfrey for preparing me well, because the adjustment from the USF2000 car was fairly easy. I ended up fastest of the drivers who had never driven the car before, and again all that credit goes to the boys at Pelfrey. I just got in there and drove.”
Augie Lerch (#81 Team Pelfrey) - 11th fastest: “This weekend was a big step up for me – my first time in a winged car and also first time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We had some issues at the beginning of the test but once they were all sorted I started to come to speed quickly. I think with more seat time in the car I will find the speed I need.”
Patricio “Pato” O’Ward (#82 Team Pelfrey) - fastest overall: “The expectations for the test were to be in the top of the charts. The first session was to get to know the track and the car and then progress after that first run. I was not quite sure where I was going to be in the time sheets but for sure I knew that it was somewhere around top-five because I knew that was achievable. Our 2015 plan is straightforward: to race the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey and win the championship to get the award to be able to move up to Indy Lights in 2016 and hopefully end up in IndyCar in a few years. My plan now is to do very well in the upcoming French F4 races and finish that championship as strong as possible. I will start preparing mentally and physically for next year, to be as fit as I can be to have the best possibility to come out on top.”
ABOUT TEAM PELFREY:
Dale Pelfrey’s race team, based in Palmetto, Fla., is built upon the same principles he used 35 years ago when establishing his business career – hire the best, acquire the best and expect the best in order to achieve the most. After fielding cars in the IndyCar Series from 1998 until 2000, Team Pelfrey was reformed in 2011, winning on its Pro Mazda debut and going on to earn the Team Championship as well as second and third in the drivers’ title-chase with Connor De Phillippi and Nick Andries. Team Pelfrey went one better in 2012, guiding Jack Hawksworth to the Drivers’ Championship and earning a second successive Team Championship.