Toronto - After a double podium weekend at the last round of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Will Owen headed to Toronto, Canada with momentum on his side. Although he had the pace to start the race from the front row, Owen ultimately qualified his Juncos Racing machine in the 5th spot on the grid for both races of the weekend.
The twenty-one year-old didn’t let his starting position hold him back from getting a jump on the competition when the green flag waved for race one. Owen went for the pass around teammate, Jake Parsons going into the first corner, but once they were side-by-side on the exit, Parsons showed no letting up and forced Owen to back out of the maneuver. Owen felt the heat in the following turns and ended up back in 7th position. Championship leader, Pato O’Ward brought out the yellow flag as he made contact with the wall allowing the field to regroup. From here, Owen was able to fight back through the pack and finish the race in 4th position.
Race two was a continuation of the battle that started in race one with Owen’s teammate, Parsons. Another launch from the starting line put Owen in a four car wide swing at one point, which ended in Owen moving by O’Ward who started 2nd. Aggressive pursuit and straight-line speed moved O’Ward past Owen and Parsons a few laps later, leaving Owens battle for 4th with his teammate. Lap after lap of running faster times than Parsons, Owen finally made the daring pass at turn three moving him up to 4th, The pilot of the #23 Juncos Racing machine then opened up the gap for the remainder of the race.
Just shy of podiums in both races, Owen’s double 4th place weekend was enough to keep him 3rd in the Pro Mazda Championship points standings, now tied with Frenchman, Nico Jamin. The field will square off again in two weeks at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course on July 30th and 31st.
Will Owen Driver #23 AMR Juncos Racing
"Toronto was generally a good weekend, but there was both good and bad things about it. One of the bad things was not qualifying where I needed to be. Ultimately I showed that I had the pace in the first race, but still working on getting everything out of the tires. I raced well in both races. In the first one I got shuffled back a little bit, but I was able to stay focused and make up a lot ground along with being the fastest out of the Juncos Racing cars and almost the fastest on track. The second race was tough. I battled for fourth with my teammate and even though I was able to make up a position I had lost a lot of time in the fight and was unable to catch the rest of the field. It was a good weekend, even on a difficult track. I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun in the races."