Lexington, Ohio – Juncos Racing continued the tight battle for the 2017 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires this past weekend with Rounds 7, 8 and 9 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Brazilian Victor Franzoni picked up two second-place finishes and one win in the Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Presented by Allied Building Products.
The second half of the season got underway with two test sessions followed by one practice session for the three race weekend on the 2.258 mile, 13-Turn road course located in Lexington, Ohio. Both Juncos Pro Mazda cars showed great speed and consistency throughout all sessions.
Qualifying for Rounds 7 and 8 followed the next day. Victor Franzoni (Sao Paulo, Brazil) qualified third for Round 7 and second for Round 8. Teammate Jeff Green (Peoria, Illinois) took the ninth starting position for both races.
Round 7 kicked off the three races that same day. Franzoni would drive the #23 Juncos Racing car to a comfortable second place finish. Green driving the #60 Juncos Racing car was involved in an incident which put him eight laps down, ending the day in 13th.
Round 8 proved to be the most successful race of the weekend for Franzoni when he took the lead with four laps to go, earning his fourth win of the season. Green took 13th.
Round 9 concluded with Franzoni claiming his second, second place finish of the weekend, and fifth second place finish of the season. Green took 10th.
Franzoni currently sits second in the Pro Mazda Championship, trailing the leader by four points.
“The weekend went ok for us, but Mid-Ohio is just not my track,” said Franzoni. “I haven’t done well here in the past. We earned two second place finishes and on win which puts us second in the championship by only a few points. We had some good luck and we had some bad luck. We did what we could do this weekend and the team did an amazing job. They worked really hard changing engines overnight. I am really excited for the next race on the oval.”
“Mid-Ohio has proven to me it is one of the most difficult if not the single most difficult tracks to master in all of the United States,” said Green. “If I made a mistake on a corner I usually paid for it the next four corners. The people that manage Mid-Ohio were not only friendly, but I am very thankful and appreciative for what they did.”
Team Principal Ricardo Juncos said “I am really proud of the team and what they were able to do this weekend as we continue to fight for the championship. Both drivers worked really hard on and off track. Victor (Franzoni) did a great job putting the car on the podium all three races and picking up a win. Jeff (Green) really improved a lot over the weekend in his first appearance on the very difficult road course. We still have three races left in the Pro Mazda Championship and we only are four points behind the leader, so we will continue to focus and to work hard for this final month.”
The 2017 Pro Mazda Championship continues August 24-26 for only oval circuit of the season at Gateway Motorsports Park located just outside of St. Louis, Missouri.
About Juncos Racing: Juncos Racing is a championship-winning Mazda Road to Indy team currently running in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires.
Juncos Racing was established by Ricardo Juncos in 1997 as a small formula car race program based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After times became financially tough, Juncos relocated to the United States in 2002 where he worked as a mechanic for a small karting team based in Florida. Juncos was then able to open the doors to his own shop and run in karting series throughout the United States.
In 2009, Juncos Racing entered in the former Star Mazda Championship (now the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires), where the team had great success in its maiden season, finishing second in the driver's championship and third in the team championship. The following year, the team captured its first championship in the series with Indiana native Conor Daly. Fast forward to 2015, where Juncos Racing had its most successful season capturing the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires driver's championship with current Verizon Indy Car Series driver Spencer Pigot and also claiming the Pro Mazda team championship.
The mission of Juncos Racing is to develop young drivers from around the world into the next level of their racing careers through the Juncos Racing Driver Development Program. Through this program, the team not only works with drivers on track to improve their skills behind the wheel, but also gives them the tools needed to understand the engineering and mechanics of the race car. Drivers who have participated in the program and have gone on to compete in the next level include Peter Dempsey, Conor Daly, Connor De Phillippi, Chase Austin, Kyle Kaiser, Nicolas Dapero and Spencer Pigot.