MRTI: Pigot, Enerson take Winterfest titles; Brabham leads Lights testing - MotorSportsTalk

The 2014 Cooper Tires Winterfest for the Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 series is in the books. After New Orleans got the party started last week, the series concluded after two days at Barber Motorsports Park on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Spencer Pigot (Juncos Racing) and 2013 USF2000 champion Scott Hargrove (Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing) won the pair of Pro Mazda class races, with Pigot’s fourth top-two finish in as many races enough to secure him his second career Winterfest title. He also took the 2012 USF2000 Winterfest crown, winning five of six races that year driving for Cape.

“The Cooper Tires Winterfest has been great,” Pigot said. “I worked really well with the team and they did an awesome job all week. We won two races, were fastest every session on track and took every pole position so we can’t be disappointed with that. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going and keep the car up at the front in the main season. We will still be working hard to improve as we head into St. Petersburg, but I can’t thank them enough for all of their hard work this week.”

In USF2000, Englishman Michael Epps won Tuesday’s pair of races for Belardi Auto Racing while RC Enerson of Team E took the Wednesday win, and the young 16-year-old from New Port Richey, Fla. had enough to secure the USF2000 Winterfest title.

“It was a great race today. I made a good start and just held my own in the race,” Enerson said after the race win. “To win the championship is just amazing. I want to carry this with me into the season and, hopefully, use this momentum to good effect in St. Pete and try to go for the regular season championship.”

Matthew Brabham, who has won the Pro Mazda and USF2000 regular season championships the last two years, ended on top in the two days of Indy Lights testing in his Andretti Autosport entry. Over two cold days on the 2.3-mile road course in Birmingham, Ala., the series rookie ended with a flier of 1:15.160.

Belardi’s Gabby Chaves ended second at 1:15.461 with Schmidt Peterson’s Luiz Razia third at 1:15.522. Neither is yet confirmed for the full season, but both have enjoyed multiple tests with these same teams this winter.

Meanwhile the second Andretti car (Zach Veach) and second SPM car (Jack Harvey) rounded out the top five.

All three series will kick off their regular seasons in St. Petersburg on the undercard to IndyCar, March 28-30. Indy Lights will have a single race while both Pro Mazda and USF2000 will have double-headers.

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The NTT IndyCar Series will return to the Motor City for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix but with start times in a new location for 2023.

After a 30-year run on Belle Isle, the Detroit GP has moved a few miles south to the streets of downtown on a new nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit that runs along the Detroit River.

It’s the first time single-seater open-cockpit cars have raced on the streets of Detroit since a CART event on a 2.5-mile downtown layout from 1989-91. Formula One also raced in Detroit from 1982-88.

The reimagined Detroit Grand Prix also will play host to nightly concerts and bring in venders from across the region. Roger Penske predicts the new downtown locale will be bigger for Detroit than when the city played host to the 2006 Super Bowl.

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend (all times are ET):

CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX INDYCAR START TIMES

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying.

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:23 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 3:30 p.m. ET

PRACTICE: Friday, 3 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9:05 a.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 10 a.m. (Peacock Premium)

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Warmup l Combined

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 1:20 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Alex Palou captured the first street course pole of his IndyCar career; click here for where everyone will begin Sunday’s race

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (170 miles) on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street course in downtown Detroit.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for the first practice.

PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation (Indy NXT: 150 seconds total, 15 seconds per). The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 0% chance of rain.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 27 drivers racing Sunday at Detroit

INDY NXT RACES: Saturday, 12:05 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 12:50 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium)

INDY NXT ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 19 drivers racing at Detroit