CONOR DALY QUICKEST IN STAR MAZDA SECOND PRACTICE AT ST. PETE – MOVES UP FROM 8TH IN THE MORNING TO LEAD A 5-CAR PARADE INTO T


By Star Mazda

March 27, 2010

CONOR DALY QUICKEST IN STAR MAZDA SECOND PRACTICE AT ST. PETE – MOVES UP

FROM 8TH IN THE MORNING TO LEAD A 5-CAR PARADE INTO THE 1:10S

Grand Prix of St. Petersburg/Friday, March 26 – Bringing to mind the old saying about cream always rising to the top, American Conor Daly jumped to the top of the time sheets in the Friday afternoon Conor Daly 3-25-10practice session for the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.  He wasn't the first driver to break into the 1:10s – that honor went to French racer Tristan Vautier, winner of last weekend's season-opener at Sebring – but Daly, the son of racing legend Derek Daly, laid down a best-of-session lap of 1:10.656 (91.712 mph) in his #22 Juncos Racing / INDECK / College Network / Merchant Services Ltd. / Tom Lange Co. Mazda.   Daly won from the pole at New Jersey last season, and finished 3rd in the championship.  Vautier, also second-quick in the morning session on a damp track, was just .120-sec behind with a lap of 1:10.776 (91.556 mph) in the #38 Andersen Racing / Moulin TP / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda.

It's worth noting that the 5th-fast time in the afternoon session was still a second quicker than the fast time of the morning session; Anders Krohn's 1:11.798.

"We were just a little off in the morning session; the setup wasn't quite right, we were in the wrong place in traffic and put on the new tires at the wrong time," said Daly.  "But the Juncos team focused on the afternoon and we got it all right.  We made some major changes in mid-session and they worked really well and I'm starting to really like this track and figure out the fast way around.  We're all pushing pretty hard, but there might be a 1:09 on the table for qualifying tomorrow.  And for sure, with so many fast guys so close together, the race itself is going to be something to see."

Third in the 10-crowd was Quebec racer Mikael Grenier, 7th-fast in the morning session, with a lap of 1:10.869 (91.436 mph) in the #17 Andersen Racing / NAPA Auto Parts / CAA-Quebec/HS Telecom Mazda.  Rounding out the top-5 were Englishman Richard Kent with a 1:10.904 (91.391 mph) in the #33 Team GDT / Traka Mazda and Venezuelan Jorge Goncalvez, fresh off a strong 2nd-place finish at Sebring, with a 1:10.976 (91.298 mph) in his #9 Team Apex / Wabash Capital Investments Mazda.  Scandinavian racer Anders Krohn, the pole-sitter at Sebring and quickest in the morning, slipped to 6th with a 1:11.377 (90.786 mph) in the #47 Andersen Racing / Norse Cutting & Abandonment / Trallfa / Colosseum Mazda.

MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder scholarship winner Connor De Phillippi slipped from 6th fast in morning to 9th in the afternoon with a lap of 1:11.595 (90.509 mph) in the #11 JDC Motorsports / MAZDASPEED Motorsports / Skip Barber Mazda and the quickest of the trio of local drivers was again St. Petersburg College student Nick Andries.  He was 11th-fast in the morning and 11-fast again in the afternoon with a lap of 1:11.852 (90.185 mph) in the #81 Andersen Racing / Team Pelfrey / Andersen RacePark Mazda.  Sounds like little progress until you consider his morning time was a 1:13.574, almost two seconds slower… and this from a driver making his first-ever Star Mazda start.

With a 16th-fast lap of 1:12.660 (89.182 mph), the quickest Expert Series (drivers 30-44 years old) racer was Irishman/Californian Patrick O'Neill, making his first start of the season in the #64 / JDC Motorsports / O'Neill Construction Mazda…. also about two seconds faster than his morning time.  The fastest Master Series (drivers 45 and older) driver, dropping two seconds from his morning time with a 22nd-fast lap of 1:14.887 (86.530 mph) was Puerto Rico racer Carlos Conde in the #31 Team GDT / Pronto-GMT / Olympus Securities Mazda.

Pos

No.

Name

Best Tm

Best Speed

In Lap

Diff

Gap

Sponsor

1

22

Conor Daly

1:10.656

91.712

21

INDECK, The College Network, Merchant Services Ltd., Tom Lang Co.

2

38

Tristan Vautier

1:10.776

91.556

21

0.120

0.120

Moulin TP, Cecibon, Circuit du Laquais, Fontanel

3

17

Mikael Grenier

1:10.869

91.436

23

0.213

0.093

NAPA Auto Parts, CAA-Quebec, HS Telecom

4

33

Richard Kent

1:10.904

91.391

20

0.248

0.035

Traka

5

9

Jorge Goncalvez

1:10.976

91.298

19

0.320

0.072

Wabash Capital Investments

6

47

Anders Krohn

1:11.377

90.786

18

0.721

0.401

Norse Cutting and Abandonment, Trallfa Industries, Colosseum

7

18

Joao Horto

1:11.383

90.778

24

0.727

0.006

Wabash Capital Investments

8

19

Caio Lara

1:11.426

90.723

19

0.770

0.043

MLD, ATW

9

11

Connor De Phillippi

1:11.595

90.509

16

0.939

0.169

Mazdaspeed Motorsports, Skip Barber

10

27

Court Vernon

1:11.730

90.339

5

1.074

0.135

Mangroove Boats,Capt. Harry's

11

81

Nick Andries

1:11.852

90.185

25

1.196

0.122

Team Pelfrey/Anderson Racepark/ Allied

12

16

David Ostella

1:11.890

90.138

22

1.234

0.038

GP Global Precast

13

13

Michael Furfari

1:11.971

90.036

23

1.315

0.081

Furfari Paving

14

85

Chris Miller

1:12.060

89.925

20

1.404

0.089

Miller Milling, Red Line Oil

15

28

Juan Piedrahita

1:12.569

89.294

28

1.913

0.509

Petro Sur, GFK Motors

16

64

Patrick O'Neill

1:12.660

89.182

25

2.004

0.091

O'Neill Construction

17

66

Rusty Mitchell

1:12.740

89.084

22

2.084

0.080

Motorola, Petro Comm.

18

25

Tatiana Calderon

1:13.166

88.566

17

2.510

0.426

Kia Motors

19

94

Hayden Duerson

1:13.263

88.448

25

2.607

0.097

Tampa Bay Endodontics

20

20

Carlos Linares

1:13.345

88.350

6

2.689

0.082

IND

21

65
Keywords: star mazda

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