Three coronation ceremonies are slated to take place for the three series that comprise the Mazda Road to Indy at Sonoma Raceway this weekend. Each championship is still up for grasp and three doubleheaders promote one final test to decide who will be a worthy champion and make the next step up the ladder.
We will start with the bottom of the ladder and work our way up.
U.S. F2000
Of the three series, U.S. F2000 features the largest gap between first and second in the championship. Frenchman Florian Latorre leads Jake Eidson by 30 points heading into the season finale, despite not winning until race two at Toronto two rounds ago. Despite leading the series with four victories, R.C. Enerson trails Latorre by 33 points entering Sonoma.
Enerson started the season on fire, winning three of the first four races and finishing second in the other. The Floridian Enerson struggled at the two weekends in Indianapolis. First on the IMS road course where he finished seventh and tenth and then at Indianapolis Raceway Park where he finished a lap down in sixteenth. Enerson appeared to be retake control of the championship at Toronto where he finished second in race one and was on his way to victory in race two before having a drivetrain failure while leading.
Latorre has finished on the podium seven times in twelve races and has finished in the top five in ten of twelve. Eidson meanwhile has six podiums but only eight top fives. Like Latorre, Enerson also has seven podiums but has failed to finish in the top five outside of his podium finishes. Latorre, Eidson and Enerson split the triple header at Mid-Ohio two weeks ago.
Outside of the championship battle, Aaron Telitz looking to cement himself as fourth in the championship. The Wisconsin-native won at Indianapolis Raceway Park and has finished on the podium in five consecutive rounds. Brazilian Victor Franzoni is in fifth as he looks for his first victory since the season opener at St. Petersburg.
Twenty points cover the back half of the top ten. Peter Portante is sixth, four points ahead of Canadian Daniel Burkett. Portante picked up his first podiums of the season at Mid-Ohio where he finished third and second in races one and three. Ohio-native Clark Toppe is eighth, two points ahead of Adrian Starrantino who won race two on the IMS road course. Toppe and Burkett are still looking for their first podiums of the season. France rounds out the top ten with Nico Jamin. He finished third in the season opener at St. Petersburg. Norwegian Henrik Furuseth is eleventh with winner of the first IMS road course race Will Owen in twelfth.
Latorre is looking to become the first Frenchman to win the U.S. F2000 title while Eidson and Enerson are looking to become the third American champion in the last five seasons.
Pro Mazda
Second year in Pro Mazda might the charm for Spencer Pigot. The California-native looks to make his homecoming a glorious one as he leads Canadian and defending U.S. F2000 champion Scott Hargrove by 18 points.
Pigot won the first four rounds of 2014 with Hargrove sweeping the weekend at the IMS road course while Pigot finished eighth in both races. Pigot and Hargrove split the Mid-Ohio weekend and Pigot beat Hargrove to the line last Saturday evening at Milwaukee for his sixth victory of 2014. Outside of Houston 2 where Hargrove retired after a lap two accident, the top two in the championship have driven flawlessly all season. Hargrove has nine podiums to Pigot's seven but Pigot has five pole positions to Hargrove's one.
Hargrove's Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Neil Alberico is third in the championship. He is still looking for his first victory in Pro Mazda as he heads home to California. Alberico finished second twice, first at IMS 2 and then in Houston 2. Shelby Blackstock is fourth in the championship, nine back of Alberico. Blackstock finished tied for third last year in Pro Mazda with Pigot. Garett Grist won at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Mid-Ohio to put him fifth in the championship. The Canadian struggled at the beginning of the year with two seventeenth place finishes at St. Petersburg.
Brazilian Nicolas Costa and Kyle Kaiser are tied for sixth in the championship, both a point behind Grist. Costa won Mid-Ohio 1 and has three podiums while Kaiser has three podiums and is still looking for his first victory. Jose Gutierrez sits eighth in the championship with one podium and one pole to his name. Ryan Booth is ninth and his best finish is second in Mid-Ohio 1. Dalton Kellett rounds out the top ten with the Canadian's best finish being third in Houston 1.
Pigot's Juncos Racing is looking for their first title since Conor Daly won in 2010. Should Hargrove comeback and defeat Pigot, he would become the first Canadian to win the Pro Mazda title.
Indy Lights
Gabby Chaves enters with a seven points lead over Zach Veach after the Ohioan closed the gap with a win at Milwaukee. It was Veach's third victory of 2014, one behind Chaves. The other driver eligible for the championship is Jack Harvey. The Brit's two victory came from sweeping the weekend at Mid-Ohio and he find himself trailing Chaves by 23 points. Chaves has nine podiums in twelve races, including six consecutive podiums while Veach has eight podiums. Harvey has eight podiums as well but unlike Veach, Harvey has finished in the top five in every race this season.
Matthew Brabham is 100 points behind Chaves as he is coming off his fourth podium of the season at Milwaukee. Brabham has one victory to his name, coming back at IMS 1. Thirty points behind Brabham is Luiz Razia who's lone victory was the second race on the IMS road course. He has finished eighth or worse in four of the last five races.
Juan Pablo García is sixth with his lone top five coming at Pocono where he finished fourth. Juan Piedrahita also has one top five, which came in Mid-Ohio 2. Scott Anderson is coming off his best finish of the year at Milwaukee where he finished fourth. Alexandre Baron is ninth in the championship and won at Toronto. The Frenchman has missed four of the last five races after visa issues have prevented the Frenchman from participating in most of the second half of 2014.
This weekend marks the first Indy Lights race at Sonoma since 2010 when Frenchman J.K. Vernay won on his way to the Indy Lights championship.
Chaves is looking to become the first South American Indy Lights champion since Raphael Matos in 2008. Veach is looking to make it back-to-back Americans champions after Sage Karam won in 2013 while Jack Harvey could be the first Brit to win the title since Alex Lloyd in 2007. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports is looking for their five consecutive Indy Lights title. SPM has won seven of the last ten Indy Lights titles. Andretti Autosport is looking for their first title since going back-to-back with Matos and JR Hildebrand in 2008 and 2009. Belardi Auto Racing is going for their first title and would become the first team not named Schmidt or Andretti to win the Indy Lights championship since 2005 when Wade Cunningham won for Brian Stewart Racing.
Schedule
The weekend starts Thursday which each series getting two, 45-minute test sessions.
Friday will feature a 30-minute practice session for U.S. F2000 and Pro Mazda with a 45-minute session for Indy Lights. U.S. F2000 qualifying will commence at 2:45 p.m. ET followed by Pro Mazda qualifying at 3:30 p.m. ET and Indy Lights qualifying at 4:15 p.m. ET. The first race for the U.S. F2000 will be at 6:20 p.m. ET with Pro Mazda at 7:20 p.m. ET Friday evening.
On Saturday, U.S. F2000 and Pro Mazda will each get a 20-minute morning warm-up. The season finale for the U.S. F2000 season will go green at 2:05 p.m. ET. The first Indy Lights race will follow at 3:15 pm. ET with Pro Mazda closing out their season at 6:40 p.m. ET.
Indy Lights will get a 10-minute morning warm-up on Sunday with their final race scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET.
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