2015 Indy Lights season

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116450

How many cars??? All they need are drivers

I hope Seralles can produce the results his 2012 season showed he may be able to come up with. As for his rivals? Yet to be confirmed.

But this new car looks like a big hit!

[CJDJ500]

I hope that 2015 is the year that Indy Lights can really be brought back to full swing. The new car looks set to create a spectacle, and plus it would be great to see more drivers to create more intense racing. But it did surprise me when I noticed that the car has exposed rear wheels. Plus it's a bit early to be discussing the driver line-up at this moment in time.

But I do hope that Serralles does well, as it looks like he could be one to watch with his F3 Euroseries experience

[10TENTHS]

Jack Harvey has stated he's working on a return to Indy Lights for 2015: https://twitter.com/jack_harvey42/st...73386024525824

Schedules for all three Mazda Road to Indy series have been confirmed: http://indylights.com/news/mazda-roa...ules-announced

16 races, 6 additional races for Pro Mazda and USF2000 in the February winter series at NOLA and Barber Motorsports Park respectively.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

THEY'RE GOING TO LAGUNA SECA!!!! THEY'RE GOING TO LAGUNA SECA!!!!

I'm not even American and I am unbelievably happy about that news!!!!

Edit: Still only 3 ovals though, as the feeder series this is clearly a sign for the future...

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Edit: Still only 3 ovals though, as the feeder series this is clearly a sign for the future...

They cut them for cost reasons. Crash damage is more expensive on the superspeedways. Maybe when the series has a good car count a couple will be added back. There were 50% ovals before the economic crisis hit in 2008-9. If I recall correctly in the CART era, Lights was about 2/3 road and street courses.

[gomick]

So with a new car & less ovals will the series be cheaper to run than in the past?

Be good if Penske & Ganassi ran a car or 2 in the series aswell...

[10TENTHS]

So far we have:

8Star Motorsports - Sean Rayhall
Belardi Auto Racing - Felix Serralles
Conquest Racing - TBA
Juncos Racing - Spencer Pigot, Kyle Kaiser
McCormack Racing - TBA
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports - Ethan Ringel

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Pigot looks good. Seralles will probably have a season similar to Harvey's this season. The grid is shaping up to be the best for a long, long time. Any chance of Matthew Brabham returning? I know Alex Baron wanted to.

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Pigot looks good. Seralles will probably have a season similar to Harvey's this season. The grid is shaping up to be the best for a long, long time. Any chance of Matthew Brabham returning? I know Alex Baron wanted to.

Baron is penciled in for a Belardi seat, I don't know if he still has visa issues (he was trying to get one renewed last month). Brabham says he's focused on returning to Lights (https://twitter.com/MattyBrabs/statu...20181970825216), but it's unclear which team that would be with.

[10TENTHS]

Andretti Autosport set to return: http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com...azda-programs/

Good news for Matthew Brabham.

[rwintle]

Indy Lights + the rest of Road To Indy is confirmed for 2015 and 2016 at St. Pete, Toronto, and Mid-O.

GREEN SAVOREE RACING PROMOTIONS SIGNS MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH MAZDA ROAD TO INDY
Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 join on-track lineup at Verizon IndyCar Series events
at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and on streets of St. Petersburg and Toronto, 2015-2016

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, November 10, 2014 – Green Savoree Racing Promotions has signed a partnership agreement with Andersen Promotions that will see the complete Mazda Road to Indy series compete at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Honda Indy Toronto and Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for the next two years. Comprised of Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, the ladder system provides an unparalleled training platform for the next generation of Verizon IndyCar Series stars.

“The Mazda Road to Indy is a great developmental series that offers a spectacular glimpse into the future of INDYCAR racing,” said Kim Green, Owner, Chairman and CEO of Green Savoree Racing Promotions. “We’ve been longtime supporters of the program and appreciate all of Dan's hard work and investment in the series. We’re delighted to welcome them to our racing events.”

In 2015, Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will host the season-opener for the Mazda Road to Indy, which takes place March 27-29. The three series will then visit Honda Indy Toronto, the only Canadian stop on the series calendar, June 12-14, and will head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Honda Indy 200 weekend from July 31-August 2.

“We are very excited to partner with Green Savoree to secure these premier events on our schedules,” said Dan Andersen, Owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions. “These are doubleheader races for all three series with Mid-Ohio being a tripleheader for USF2000, so they are key rounds in the championships in addition to being fantastic events with tremendous fan support.”

Indy Lights has a rich history at both Toronto and Mid-Ohio dating back to 1986 and has competed at St. Petersburg each year since 2005. Pro Mazda has contested five races on the streets of Toronto – the first in 2007 – and has been a fixture at St. Petersburg since 2010 and its history at Mid-Ohio dates back to 2002. USF2000 returned to Toronto last year after a pair of races in 2006 and, like Pro Mazda, has been on the St. Petersburg roster since the inception of the Mazda Road to Indy in 2010. USF2000 first competed at Mid-Ohio in 1993 with 41 races in total held to date.

[10TENTHS]

Full schedule: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_In...#Schedule_2015

[bjohnsonsmith]

Carlin, British junior Formula team to race in Indy Lights in 2015, with a view to eventually race in IndyCar.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116996

Great to see someone from outside the US and with such a notable history wanting to race in the series.

[somebodysb2]

Wow. Indy Lights just moved up several tiers in terms of legitimacy. Having a team like Carlin is a boon to any series and will set the precedent for other large foreign teams joining.

They will wipe the field.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by somebodysb2

They will wipe the field.

They'll probably clean the field in the road courses (driver pending, of course) but on the ovals I'm not so sure, but knowing Carlin they'll be the best within a few rounds

Hopefully they can get some quality in their seats though. If not then would it be worth the investment?

[somebodysb2]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

They'll probably clean the field in the road courses (driver pending, of course) but on the ovals I'm not so sure, but knowing Carlin they'll be the best within a few rounds

Hopefully they can get some quality in their seats though. If not then would it be worth the investment?

The thing with elite teams like Carlin is that the drivers on their rosters don't necessarily race with them because they want to race in a particular series, but rather because they want to experience working with the team. The most recent example of this being the Carlin Jagonya Ayam effort. KFC Indonesia shelling out of the cash for 3 cars and title sponsorship because they know that Carlin is where Gelael would develop the most. Heck, even the working relationship between Carlin and Pro Performance UK is evidence of that.

It's not just an immaculately prepared car with the best engineers on offer, it's personal development too. That is why Carlin will never have a shortage of quality to choose from.

[10TENTHS]

I wouldn't underestimate Schmidt and the other existing teams. Keep in mind that Carlin will have zero setup data for North American circuits (aside from pre-season testing at a few of them).

[somebodysb2]

Originally Posted by 10TENTHS

I wouldn't underestimate Schmidt and the other existing teams. Keep in mind that Carlin will have zero setup data for North American circuits (aside from pre-season testing at a few of them).

While setup data is important, I think that we have to keep in mind that the existing reference point is a 13 year old car. The preliminary tests of the 2015 car had drivers saying that it performs in between a GP3 and GP2 car, and we all know how great Carlin prepares their cars for those series.

[Yannick]

It's good to see that the car count is up from this year and that new teams are joining the series.

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by somebodysb2

While setup data is important, I think that we have to keep in mind that the existing reference point is a 13 year old car. The preliminary tests of the 2015 car had drivers saying that it performs in between a GP3 and GP2 car, and we all know how great Carlin prepares their cars for those series.

Performance =! how the car drives. Let them announce their driver lineup before we draw any conclusions.

Andretti Autosport has confirmed a return with the first car being driven by Shelby Blackstock (placed 3rd and 4th in the Pro Mazda championship the last two seasons). http://andrettiautosport.com/news/?p=4714

[10TENTHS]

Ed Jones to Carlin's Lights team: http://www.indycar.com/News/2014/12/...ts-with-Carlin

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by somebodysb2

The thing with elite teams like Carlin is that the drivers on their rosters don't necessarily race with them because they want to race in a particular series, but rather because they want to experience working with the team. The most recent example of this being the Carlin Jagonya Ayam effort. KFC Indonesia shelling out of the cash for 3 cars and title sponsorship because they know that Carlin is where Gelael would develop the most. Heck, even the working relationship between Carlin and Pro Performance UK is evidence of that.

It's not just an immaculately prepared car with the best engineers on offer, it's personal development too. That is why Carlin will never have a shortage of quality to choose from.

Normally I would agree with you, but wasn't it Carlin who pulled out of FR3.5 this year due to not being able to find suitably budgeted drivers?

[somebodysb2]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

Normally I would agree with you, but wasn't it Carlin who pulled out of FR3.5 this year due to not being able to find suitably budgeted drivers?

The economics of motorsport is inescapable. So yes, Carlin was forced out of a FR3.5 programme this year. But looking at every other Carlin linecup this year it would seem that FR3.5 was just an outlier.

[10TENTHS]

Not really. They win or lose based on the quality of their drivers, and only Alex Lynn was notable (even then, Dean Stoneman was easily better in the second half of the year, especially once he got a Korainen seat).

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

It's a fair comment. I didn't see Gelael anywhere near to Giovinazzi and Blomqvist in F3. Any chance Jordan King may jump ship and cross the seas (seems a bit counter intuitive combining those phrases!) to race in the USA?