The 2015 season of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires continued in New Orleans this past weekend, and although the venue was ready for racing, the weather didn’t cooperate. In fact, it basically rained all weekend, causing havoc to the drivers and forcing several races to be postponed or shortened.
After the success of St. Pete, I was eager to get back in the race car. NOLA has its challenges, and this track brought to light some new techniques that I need to work on. This was exciting and frustrating at the same time. It was exciting to learn new strategies for going faster, but it was frustrating because I was inconsistent with the new skill set. There is so much to learn in racing.
On Thursday, we knew we’d have dry conditions, so we made the most of them. The weather just got worse with each passing day. On Saturday, qualifying was run in damp conditions, and Race 1 was completely rained out. It was moved to Saturday at 8:00 am. We raced in a downpour, but that race helped solidify the new techniques I was learned and it opened up a whole new aspect to my driving. Unfortunately, Race 2 was completely cancelled, and we’ll be making it up on another day.
All in all the weekend was very productive. I picked up another Expert Class win, and I now lead the championship by 22 points. I also kept pace with some of the other drivers and learned some valuable techniques to add to my racing “tool box.” As a series, the Pro Mazda guys did outstanding. We raced hard in a total downpour and got through it without a single lap under yellow flag condidtions. For me, as my coach said, it was a good weekend, but not great. And we are going to keep pushing for great.
As part of my ongoing program with Texas A&M’s Formula SAE team, three Aggie engineering students attended the race and were treated to passes, hospitality, and race briefings. Not only are these guys sharp, but they are true statesman as well. Before they arrived at the track, they paid a visit to LSU’s team. (What’s the world coming to???) When they arrived, we briefed them on the changes being made to the car. They also were able to see everything that was done to the car in order to get it ready to race in the rain. I had a great time with the students, and hopefully, they will be able to attend more races.
“Thank you so much for hosting us at the race this weekend! Getting to talk to your team never fails to give invaluable insight into the world of professional race engineering. Talking with you about data interpretation also showed Andrew, Ricky, and I how to glean more information from each track session. These techniques will definitely help us test and develop Texas A&M’s 2015 Formula SAE car, and we’re looking forward to seeing the fruits of this trip very soon!”
— Gill Lipton, Texas A&M, Class of ’17
A special thanks goes out to Mazda and Cooper Tires for their continued support of the Mazda Road to Indy. These folks do so much to keep us racing, and their efforts are both welcomed and appreciated.