Will Owen Takes Second at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, Ind. – Juncos Racing earned their first win of the 2015 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires this past weekend with Rounds 6, 7 and 8 at the Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Rookie Timothé Buret’s win in Round 7 on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway marks his first win since competing in the United States and moves him up to third in the championship. Fellow rookie Will Owen picked up his first podium of the 2015 season with a second-place finish in Round 8. The team currently sits second in the championship, just two points behind the leader.
The fourth weekend of the Pro Mazda Championship kicked off with Round 6, the make-up race from NOLA Motorsports Park. The 21-car field was set off the original starting positions from NOLA early this season. Buret, who started fifth in the #6 BroadSign car had a strong start gaining three positions on the first lap. Buret battled throughout the 15-lap race to take the lead but had to settle for second. Garett Grist, who started seventh in the #5 BlackList/Lander Property Management car took home a Top-5, with a fifth place finish. Teammates Will Owen, driving the #23 AMR car took eighth and José Gutiérrez, driving the #7 Primsa car finished 12th.
Qualifying for Round 7 set the tone for the rest of the weekend for Frenchman Buret, who picked up his first pole in the Pro Mazda series, delivering Juncos Racing their first pole position of the season. Fellow Rookie Owen qualified fourth while teammates Garett Grist took the seventh starting position and José Gutiérrez eighth.
Round 7 of Pro Mazda Championship began with a tight battle for the lead between pole sitter Buret and the #10 of Florian, Latorre. Buret held off Latorre the entire 20 laps to pick up his first win since entering into the Mazda Road to Indy ladder series. Juncos Racing teammates rounded out the top-10 with Grist finishing sixth, Gutierrez seventh and Owen eighth.
The weekend concluded on a high note for Juncos Racing in Round 8 with three of the four drivers finishing inside the top five. Rookie Owen, who started third, moved up to second on the first lap, where he would remain the entire race to claim his first podium since the Cooper Tires Winterfest Championship earlier this year. Buret, who started fourth, worked his way onto the podium for the third time this past weekend, taking third. Gutiérrez, who has battled bad luck throughout the first half of the season, finished just off the podium taking fourth. Teammate Grist, who started ninth, finished eighth.
After completing another successful weekend in the 2015 Pro Mazda Championship, Juncos Racing Team Owner Ricardo Juncos is confident the team has the momentum they need to defend the title for the championship this year.
“Indy GP was an extremely successful weekend for our Pro Mazda team,” said Juncos. “We knew from the beginning that all the talent was in place from the drivers to the crew. Things have finally started to come together and all four of our drivers are performing to the best of their ability. Tim's (Buret) win marks the beginning of his assault on the championship, we believe he has a very good shot at defending the teams title this year. No other team is able to say that all of their drivers have been on the podium this season, and we are pushing to have all of them win at least one race before the close of the season.”
Driver Quotes:
Timothé Buret (Montpellier, France): “This was a great weekend for me, having my family here to see me take my first win in the United States and to take two more podiums. This victory was very important for points in the championship and also helping me build my confidence. I am very happy with our results and now we will focus on the next event later this month.”
Garett Grist (Grimsby, Ontario, Canada): “The Grand Prix of Indianapolis had great racing this weekend. In qualifying I crossed the line and my time went to P2 but then it was taken down because I crossed the a second or two after the red came out. That really hurt us for the weekend because instead of starting second and fourth I had to start seventh and ninth. This was really disappointing considering how have we were in the practices. For the races I did the best I could making moved and passing guys. Each race I moved up a few spots, just too far back to make anything of it. “
José Gutiérrez (Monterrey, Mexico): “The third race of the weekend went really for us. I had a great start on the first lap and I was very happy with how the car felt. The car was so fast and was able to make a pass on Turn 13 for fourth late in the race. My lap times were very consistent and I almost made the fastest lap of the race with a bad tire. I am really looking forward to the rest of the season. We are very prepared for the ovals, where I had a great run at Lucas Oil Raceway last year. I think we are in great shape heading into the first oval of the season later this month.”
Will Owen (Castle Rock, Colo.): “We finally made it back on the podium and I am so excited for it especially since it was here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I had my first win here last year and I am really happy to be back up here. The car has been fantastic the whole weekend. We were second in practice and we were really quick in qualifying. Finally I got the start right today. I have struggled in the races the past few days and I finally got it right and it paid off. I was in second going into the first corner and challenging for the lead and the whole race was a battle. I still have some work to do and more learning to do. This is a milestone for me and it has been a fantastic weekend. I have to thank sponsors, the Juncos Racing crew, AMR, Mazda, Cooper Tires and Speed Group.”
The 2015 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires continues May 23 with Round 9 on the first oval track of the season at Lucas Oil Raceway located in Brownsburg, Ind. For more information please visit juncosracing.com and promazdachampionship.com.
About Juncos Racing: Ricardo Juncos, a second generation and former Formula Renault driver, grew up with a deep passion and desire for racing. At the age of 14, Juncos made his first steps in the racing community driving karts in Argentina. Through his success in karts Juncos was able to join the Formula Renault class competing throughout South America. After funding became difficult as many drivers experience over their career, Juncos began working for many race teams in order to continue his own racing career. During this time Juncos was able to learn all aspects of the car in and out, along with schooling in mechanical and electrical engineering. Stationed in Buenos Aires, Argentina and headed by Ricardo Juncos, in 1997 “Juncos Racing” became a full-service Formula Racing team. By 2003, the team relocated to Miami, Florida as a full-service karting team. During the first few years in the U.S., the team picked up 19 local, regional, and national karting titles. Juncos Racing moved operations north to Indiana, where they developed into a formula open-wheel racing team in 2008. The team went into full swing dedicating most of the time preparing drivers and crew members for the next level in racing. Following this transitional year, Juncos Racing participated in its first open-wheel series, in the 2009 Star Mazda Championship - INDYCAR’s Mazda Road to Indy ladder series. 2010 proved to be a big year for the team with driver Conor Daly capturing the driver championship and finishing second in the team Star Mazda Championship. By 2012, the team’s operations expanded to include cars in the Firestone Indy Lights series and even recorded the fastest lap of the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That same year Juncos Racing took second in the Star Mazda team championship and third driver in the championship with driver Conner De Phillippi while Diego Ferreria was awarded “Most Improved Driver of the Year.” Juncos Racing continued their run in the Pro Mazda Championship (former Star Mazda Championship) finishing second in the 2013 team championship. Most recently the team finished one of their most successful years winning the driver championship, with Spencer Pigot, and the team championship in both the Cooper Tires Winterfest Championship and 2014 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The team operates of out Brownsburg, Indiana.