Team Pelfrey on Pace in Toronto

July 16, 2018|

Team News

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TORONTO, Ontario, Canada – Team Pelfrey hit the streets of Toronto this weekend for Rounds eight and nine of Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Rounds ten and eleven of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.

After showing strong pace at the previous street course event in St Petersburg, hopes were high and the initial pace in practice and qualifying demonstrated this with all of the drivers proving to be competitive, especially Sting Ray Robb as he qualified inside the top five for both races.

Unfortunately, Team Pelfrey drivers were involved in several incidents throughout the weekend which were out of their control, in particular impacting the luckless Andres Gutierrez who despite strong starts in both races was forced to retire from both Pro Mazda outings after other drivers made contact with his #81 Prisma/Riverina Natural Oils machine.

Pro Mazda Championship

Photos courtesy of INDYCAR Photography

Sting Ray Robb (No. 82 GoOutLocal.com / Trademark Dental / Munk Family Dental /Intervention.com / Big Idaho Potato Team Pelfrey Pro Mazda)

Qualifying 1:4^th
Qualifying 2:5^th
Race 1:11^th
Race 2: 7^th

“This weekend, I was hoping for a really good run. We had really great results at our last street race in St. Petersburg, but the results were the exact opposite. It was a really tough weekend. Race #1, I was a launching pad for Harrison Scott, who ended up in the wall. Race #2, I got my front wing taken off so I had zero grip out there. Overall, we had a really great development weekend, we’re improving every race, but we don’t have a result to show for it. Hopefully the next event will be better.”

Andres Gutierrez( No. 81Prisma / Riverina Natural Oils Team Pelfrey Pro Mazda)

Qualifying 1: 7^th
Qualifying 2: 7^th
Race 1:10^th
Race 2:12^th

“I think it’s been a really unfortunate weekend for us as a team. Yesterday, I felt like we couldn’t maximize on what we had after the Race 1 crash, where nearly half the field was involved. Today, I really wanted to prove myself, and I just really couldn’t. I started the race in P7 and moved up to P6 and then I tried to pass Sting Ray (Robb), but ended up being passed in turn 8, and in that same lap, the guy in front of me hit the wall, which left me with nowhere to go, so I crashed into him. It’s very unfortunate the bad luck that we’ve had and it’s a real shame because we had a very well-prepared race car this weekend, what Team Pelfrey gave me was great. It was unfortunate, but I think we can take some positives out of it as we were quick. I think now in Mid-Ohio we can look forward to being at the front of the field.”