ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – For the first time in four years, the Mazda Road to Indy ladder competed at the iconic Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisc. Team Pelfrey’s Aaron Telitz swept the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires Saturday double header at his home circuit, in front of his Wisconsin sponsors, friends and family.
The Birchwood,Wisc. – resident not only dominated both races from start to finish, but the 22 year-old also set a new track record in Friday’s qualifying session. The ten year-old qualifying track record was broken with a lap time of 2 minutes and 4.782 seconds in his No. 82 Rice Lake Weighing Systems Team Pelfrey Mazda. His experience at the historic circuit and consistency proved to be the key to taming the 40-minute races.
Current points leader and teammate, Pato O’Ward saw his five-race consecutive win streak come to an end with a fourth-place finish in both races. For TJ Fischer, the weekend festivities were his first in Pro Mazda, after competing for Team Pelfrey in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda earlier this season. Fischer gained valuable experience on the longest and one of the most demanding tracks on the schedule and scored an impressive fifth place in his Pro Mazda debut. Finishing out his rookie weekend, Fischer put together another solid run to finish sixth.
After the Kohler Grand Prix weekend, O’Ward’s championship lead in the point standings has shrunk to a 28-point advantage over Telitz, with Telitz 62 points clear of Will Owen in third.
The Mazda Road to Indy travels to Iowa Speedway, July 9-10 for the second and final oval race of the 2016 season. You can catch all of the weekend coverage on ProMazdaChampionship.com and Team Pelfrey social media.
Pato O’Ward (No. 80 BuyGapGuard.com Team Pelfrey Mazda) on this weekend’s performance: “Overall it wasn’t a great weekend for me. I struggled to get on pace with Aaron [Telitz]. Points wise it was crucial for me to keep my head in the race and make sure to manage my race and think about the big picture. Looking forward to Iowa though and hope to be drinking some Topo Chico in victory circle!”
TJ Fischer (No. 81 Rathbun Associates Team Pelfrey Mazda): “For this being my first weekend of competition in Pro Mazda, I was excited to be able to fit comfortably in the car and learn from my teammates. I started getting more aggressive as the weekend progressed and really found the car at the late stages of Race Two. I really enjoyed competing at Road America; it’s an amazing track and now I can’t wait to get back in the car.”
Aaron Telitz (No. 82 Rice Lake Weighing Systems Team Pelfrey Mazda): “I couldn’t imagine this weekend going any better than it did. I’ve had this race circled on my calendar for a very long time and to be able to sweep the weekend and set a new track record in front of my friends, family and sponsors is unreal. I want to thank Rice Lake Weighing Systems, Morrie’s Mazda of Chippewa Valley, Rising Star Racing, the entire Team Pelfrey crew and my friends and family for all of their support.”