2017 Pro Mazda Championship

Summary

The 2017 Pro Mazda Championship was the 19th season in series history. A 12-race schedule was announced in September 2016.[1]

This was the final season using the Star chassis and Mazda rotary engine combination. In 2018, the Tatuus-designed PM18 chassis would be the specified car, mated to a Mazda MZR piston engine.

Brazilian Victor Franzoni, who secured his ride in Pro Mazda with Juncos Racing the week before the season started, prevailed in a season-long back-and-forth championship battle with 2016 U.S. F2000 National Championship winner Anthony Martin. Franzoni held a small lead heading into the series' final double-header at Watkins Glen International. Franzoni won both races to clinch the championship. Franzoni finished first or second in every race and finished with seven wins from six poles. Martin won five races from six poles. Carlos Cunha captured podium finishes in the last five races (for six total) to capture third in the championship ahead of TJ Fischer who finished on the podium in the first four races but faded down the stretch. Every race was won by either Franzoni or Martin and every pole but one was captured by them, with Cunha sitting on the pole for the first race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The less-expensive National Class was more hotly contested than usual on an individual race basis, with some races seeing as many as five entries. However, only one driver Brendan Puderbach contested all twelve rounds of the championship and by virtue of that captured the National Class title. Bob Kaminsky captured a class-best five class wins and finished second in the championship.

Drivers and teams edit

Team No. Drivers Rounds
ArmsUp Motorsports 3   Matt Machiko 3–4, 11–12
6   Max Hanratty[2] 1–2, 5–9
Cape Motorsports 8   Anthony Martin[3] All
FatBoy Racing 3   Matt Machiko[2] 1–2
31   Brendan Puderbach[4] (N) All
83   Charles Finelli[4] (N) 1–6, 11–12
JDC MotorSports 12   Kris Wright 5–9, 11–12
Juncos Racing 23   Victor Franzoni[5] All
60   Jeff Green[5] All
Kaminsky Racing 57   Bob Kaminsky (N) 3–9
Kevin Davis Racing 44   Kevin Davis[2] (N) 1–4
Team Pelfrey 80   Nikita Lastochkin[6] All
81   Carlos Cunha[7] All
82   TJ Fischer[8] All
84   Robert Megennis[9] 11–12
Unfair Advantage Motorsports 2   Dave Zavelson (N) 5–9
5   Kevin Bury (N) 5–9
World Speed Motorsports 2   Steven Ford (N) 3–4
13   Bobby Eberle[10] All
14   Sting Ray Robb[11] All
15   Phillippe Denes[12] 1–4
Icon Class
(N) National Class

Race calendar and results edit

Rnd Circuit Location Date Pole position Fastest lap Most laps led Winning driver Winning team
1 Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida March 11   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
2 March 12   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
3 Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Speedway, Indiana May 12   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
4 May 13   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
5 Grand Prix of Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 25   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
6 June 26   Anthony Martin   TJ Fischer   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
7 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio July 28   Carlos Cunha   Victor Franzoni   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
8 July 29   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin   Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
9 July 30   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin   Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
10 Gateway Motorsports Park Madison, Illinois August 25   Anthony Martin   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
11 Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York September 2   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni   Anthony Martin   Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
12 September 3   Victor Franzoni   Carlos Cunha   Victor Franzoni   Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing

Championship standings edit

Drivers' Championship edit

Pos Driver STP IMS ROA MOH GMP WGL Points
Championship class
1   Victor Franzoni 2 2 1* 1* 1* 2 2 1 2 1* 1* 1* 351
2   Anthony Martin 1* 1* 2 4 2 1* 1* 2* 1* 2 2 3 333
3   Carlos Cunha 4 12 4 3 9 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 237
4   TJ Fischer 3 3 3 2 15 12 3 4 4 4 10 5 224
5   Nikita Lastochkin 5 5 6 5 3 3 5 5 6 6 13 4 203
6   Sting Ray Robb 7 4 7 7 4 11 10 6 5 7 4 6 185
7   Bobby Eberle 10 8 8 8 8 6 9 11 7 9 7 9 157
8   Jeff Green 13 9 10 13 6 5 13 13 10 5 11 10 151
9   Max Hanratty 8 6 5 15 6 10 8 97
10   Kris Wright 13 9 7 8 11 5 8 95
11   Matt Machiko 9 13 11 9 6 7 74
12   Phillippe Denes 6 7 5 6 61
13   Robert Megennis 12 DNS 21
National class
1   Brendan Puderbach 12 14 DNS 11 10 14 14 12 13 8 8 DNS 187
2   Bob Kaminsky 9 14 7 13 8 7 9 134
3   Charles Finelli 14 10 14 DNS 12 8 9 DNS 115
4   Dave Zavelson 11 7 11 9 12 91
5   Kevin Davis 11 11 12 10 80
6   Kevin Bury 14 10 12 14 14 64
7   Steven Ford 13 12 30
Pos Driver STP IMS ROA MOH GMP WGL Points
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place
Light Blue 6th–10th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 10)
Purple Did not finish
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
(1 point)
Italics Ran fastest race lap
(1 point)
* Led most race laps
(1 point)
Not awarded if more than
one driver leads most laps
Rookie

Teams' championship edit

Pos Team Points
1 Team Pelfrey 381
2 Juncos Racing 372
3 World Speed Motorsports 267

See also edit

2017 IndyCar Series season
2017 Indy Lights championship

References edit

  1. ^ "2017 Mazda Road to Indy schedules revealed". 14 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Hi-Tide Kids On Track Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Race 1). Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Race 2)" (PDF). ProMazda. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Rising MRTI stars Martin, Askew to race with Cape Motorsports in 2017". www.racer.com. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  4. ^ a b "FatBoy Racing Joins Pro Mazda for 2017".
  5. ^ a b "Franzoni, Green Join Juncos Racing for 2017 Pro Mazda".
  6. ^ "Nikita Lastochkin Secures Team Pelfrey's Final 2017".
  7. ^ "Team Pelfrey Welcomes Rookie Carlos Cunha".
  8. ^ "Fischer signs for full Pro Mazda season with Pelfrey". Archived from the original on 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  9. ^ "Pro Mazda Watkins Glen Grand Prix Presented by Cooper Tires" (PDF). ProMazda. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Eberle Joins World Speed to Contend for Overall Title".
  11. ^ "Sting Ray Robb Joins the 2017 Pro Mazda Championship with World Speed | World Speed Motorsports - Winning, it's what we do!".
  12. ^ "Phillippe Denes Joins Pro Mazda Series for 2017".

External links edit

  • Pro Mazda Championship official website