MRTI: pre-season testing Day 1 notebook - MotorSportsTalk

Preparations for the 2018 season of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires kicks off this weekend, with all three series – Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda – taking part in pre-season testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Indy Lights was the first to take to the track, doing so on Friday on the 1.5-mile oval. Below are highlights from the first day of testing.

Six Indy Lights drivers turned laps – four from Andretti Autosport (Ryan Norman, Dalton Kellett, Pato O’Ward, and Colton Herta, with Herta in the effort from Andretti Steinbrenner Racing) and two from Juncos Racing (Victor Franzoni and Alfonso Celis Jr.).
Ryan Norman turned the quickest lap of the day, at 187.170 mph.
Victor Franzoni, last year’s Pro Mazda champion, made his debut in the Soul Red livery, signifying he is the reigning champion from the preceding series in the ladder system and a recipient of a Mazda Motorsports scholarship. “It’s a huge honor,” Franzoni said of carrying the Mazda colors. “Representing Mazda will be one of the best things of 2018, for sure. I don’t think the pressure will increase because my pressure is to win the championship in any color, but I’m excited about what I will learn representing a big brand like Mazda and hoping to do a great job inside and outside the track.” Franzoni had the fifth quickest lap, at 183.379 mph.
Juncos Racing confirmed Alfonso Celis Jr. as their second driver earlier on Friday morning, with the Homestead test providing Celis Jr. an immediate chance to get acquainted with the Dallara IL-15 chassis. Celis Jr. contested the World Series Formula V8 championship, where he was a pole winner and race winner in 2017 on his way to third in the championship standings.
Although Pro Mazda and USF2000 did not run on Friday, some news did emerge ahead of testing in the form team confirmations for the remaining “Soul Red” Mazda scholarship drivers. Oliver Askew, last year’s USF2000 champion, will contest the 2018 Pro Mazda season with Cape Motorsports, the same team with whom he won the USF2000 title. In USF2000, Keith Donegan, winner of the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout, joins ArmsUp Motorsports for the 2018 season.

Testing continues on Saturday with Pro Mazda and USF2000 hitting the track on the 2.21-mile road course.

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With three multiple winners now vying for the championship, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series heads to Round 11 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.

Chase Sexton earned his second victory of the season in Detroit when Aaron Plessinger fell on the final lap. Though he was penalized seven points for disobeying a flag, Sexton is third in the championship race. The Honda rider trails leader Cooper Webb (two victories) by 17 points, and defending series champion Eli Tomac (five wins) is three points behind Webb in second with seven races remaining.

Tomac won last year in Seattle on the way to his second season title.

Honda riders have a Supercross-leading 20 victories in the Seattle event but none at Lumen Field since Justin Barcia in 2013. Tomac and Barcia are the only past 450 Seattke winners entered in Saturday’s event.

Here are the pertinent details for watching Round 11 of the 2023 Supercross season in Seattle:

(All times are ET)

BROADCAST/STREAMING SCHEDULE: TV coverage of Round 11 will begin Saturday at 10 p.m. ET streaming on Peacock with a re-air Monday at 1 a.m. ET on CNBC. The Race Day Live show (including qualifying) will begin on Peacock at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

NBC Sports will have exclusive live coverage of races, qualifiers and heats for the record 31 events in SuperMotocross. The main events will be presented on Peacock, NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and NBC Sports digital platforms.

Peacock will become the home of the SuperMotocross World Championship series in 2023 with live coverage of all races, qualifying, and heats from January to October. There will be 23 races livestreamed exclusively on Peacock, including a SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff event. The platform also will provide on-demand replays of every race. Click here for the full schedule.

POINTS STANDINGS: 450 division l 250 division

ENTRY LISTS: 450 division l 250 division

EVENT SCHEDULE (all times ET):

Here are the start times for Saturday’s Supercross Round 11 in Seattle, according to the Monster Energy Supercross schedule from the AMA:

4:50 p.m.: 250SX Group B Qualifying 1
5:05 p.m.: 250SX Group A Qualifying 1
5:20 p.m.: 450SX Group A Qualifying 1
5:35 p.m.: 450SX Group B Qualifying 1
6:25 p.m.: 250SX Group B Qualifying 2
6:40 p.m.: 250SX Group A Qualifying 2
7:55 p.m.: 450SX Group A Qualifying 2
8:10 p.m.: 450SX Group B Qualifying 2
10:06 p.m.: 250SX Heat 1
10:20 p.m.: 250SX Heat 2
10:34 p.m.: 450SX Heat 1
10:48 p.m.: 450SX Heat 2
11:22 p.m.: 250SX Last Chance Qualifier
11:34 p.m.: 450SX Last Chance Qualifier
11:54 p.m.: 250SX Main Event
12:28 a.m.: 450SX Main Event