Anders Krohn tops opening Star Mazda practice Familiar names topped the time sheet the first time ever that the cars and drivers of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear took to the streets at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix. Leading the list was Anders Krohn, pole-sitter for the Sebring season-opener last weekend. His lap of 1:11.798 (90.253 mph) in the #47 Andersen Racing / Norse Cutting & Abandonment / Trallfa / Colosseum Mazda sets a bar that is likely to be raised later today during the afternoon session from 4:00 – 4:40 pm. Second on the sheet, just .014-sec. behind, was Sebring race winner Tristan Vautier, who turned a lap of 1:11.812 (90.236 mph) in his #38 Andersen Racing / Moulin TP / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda. And rounding out the top-3 was Venezuelan Jorge Goncalvez, who qualified 7th and finished 2nd at Sebring in the #9 Team Apex / Wabash Capital Investments Mazda. He turned a lap of 1:12.329 (89.591 mph) around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn course.
Rounding out the top-5 were Brazilian Caio Lara with a 1:12.545 (89.324 mph) lap in the #19 JDC Motorsports / MLD / ATW Mazda and Richard Kent, who had a disastrous outing at Sebring when a driveshaft on his #33 Team GDT / Traka Mazda broke on the reconnaissance lap, leaving him stranded by the side of the track while the rest of the field took the green. He led early in the session and ultimately would up with a 5th-fast lap of 1:12.662 (89.180).
MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder scholarship winner Connor De Phillippi was 6th fast in the #11 JDC Motorsports / MAZDASPEED Motorsports / Skip Barber Mazda and the quickest of the trio of local drivers was St. Petersburg College student Nick Andries, who turned the 11th-fast lap of 1:13.574 mph (88.075 mph) in the #81 Andersen Racing / Team Pelfrey / Tampa Bay Auto Museum Mazda.
With a 17th-fast lap of 1:14.596 (86.868 mph), the quickest Expert Series (drivers 30-44 years old) racer was Californian Patrick O'Neill, making his first start of the season in the #64 / JDC Motorsports / O'Neill Construction Mazda. The fastest Master Series (drivers 45 and older) driver, with a 22nd-fast lap of 1:16.611 (84.583 mph) was Puerto Rico racer Carlos Conde in the #31 Team GDT / Pronto-GMT / Olympus Securities Mazda.
Results
Pos
No.
Name
Best Tm
Best Speed
In Lap
Diff
Gap
1
47
Anders Krohn
1:11.798
90.253
23
-
-
2
38
Tristan Vautier
1:11.812
90.236
26
0.014
0.014
3
9
Jorge Goncalvez
1:12.329
89.591
27
0.531
0.517
4
19
Caio Lara
1:12.545
89.324
21
0.747
0.216
5
33
Richard Kent
1:12.662
89.180
15
0.864
0.117
6
11
Connor De Phillippi
1:12.882
88.911
27
1.084
0.220
7
17
Mikael Grenier
1:12.888
88.904
18
1.090
0.006
8
22
Conor Daly
1:12.915
88.871
20
1.117
0.027
9
27
Court Vernon
1:13.011
88.754
21
1.213
0.096
10
18
Joao Horto
1:13.083
88.666
27
1.285
0.072
11
81
Nick Andries
1:13.574
88.075
26
1.776
0.491
12
66
Rusty Mitchell
1:13.583
88.064
17
1.785
0.009
13
28
Juan Piedrahita
1:13.841
87.756
18
2.043
0.258
14
13
Michael Furfari
1:13.851
87.744
27
2.053
0.010
15
85
Chris Miller
1:13.944
87.634
28
2.146
0.093
16
16
David Ostella
1:13.944
87.634
26
2.146
17
64
Patrick O'Neill
1:14.596
86.868
27
2.798
0.652
18
25
Tatiana Calderon
1:14.963
86.443
20
3.165
0.367
19
94
Hayden Duerson
1:15.211
86.158
27
3.413
0.248
20
20
Carlos Linares
1:15.280
86.079
22
3.482
0.069
21
65
JW Roberts
1:15.777
85.514
26
3.979
0.497
22
31
Carlos Conde
1:16.611
84.583
25
4.813
0.834
23
23
Walt Bowlin
1:17.504
83.609
22
5.706
0.893
After a final practice session this afternoon, Star Mazda Championship qualifying takes place from 8:50 – 9:35 am Saturday, March 27, with the 45-minute race scheduled to take the green light at 11:50 am Sunday, March 28.
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