SUPPORT SERIES GLANCE
Here are the divisions racing at Road America in addition to IndyCar during the Kohler Grand Prix weekend:
PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE
Races: 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 9:55 a.m. Sunday for the premier GT/GTA/GT Cup divisions and 5:45 p.m. Saturday and 2:45 p.m. Sunday for GTS/TC. Need to know: The series is the ultimate collection of machinery with 28 makes and 37 models represented in the various classes, from Acura through Bentley and Lamborghini to Porsche. An 11-weekend schedule includes five in support of IndyCar and six as the headliner. What’s happening: Cadillac’s Michael Cooper leads the GT overall standings, with 145 points to the 135 of Porsche’s Patrick Long and McLaren’s Alvaro Parente. Cooper, 27, got his start at 18 when he beat then-GM executive Bob Lutz and nearly beat fourtime Le Mans winner and PWC champion Johnny O’Connell in a special event. Now Cooper and O’Connell are teammates. … Saukville-based RealTime Racing swept last year with Ryan Eversley. This year the Acurabacked team is developing the new NSX and collected its first top-five finish with the car on Memorial Day weekend.
INDY LIGHTS
Races: Noon Saturday and 8:45 a.m. Sunday. Need to know: This is the final step on the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder. The champion earns a million-dollar scholarship to IndyCar that guarantees three races next season, including the Indianapolis 500. What’s happening: Five drivers have won in the seven races so far, and only Colton Herta and Nico Jamin have more than one victory. The division has a serious Wisconsin rooting interest in Aaron Telitz of Birchwood driving for Brian Belardi of Grafton. Of the top six drivers in the standings, four are rookies.
PRO MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP
Races: 1:35 p.m. Friday and 2:05 p.m. Saturday. Need to know: The second step on the Road to Indy provides its champion a Lights scholarship and promises the top three finishers a Lights test. This is a transition year for the series, which will debut a new car next season. What’s happening: Twenty-one-year-old Brazilian Victor Franzoni, who finished third last year in USF2000 with three victories, leads the standings. Driving for the powerful Juncos Racing team, Franzoni finished second in both rounds in St. Petersburg, Fla., and first twice on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Australian rookie Anthony Martin, the USF2000 champ, swept St. Pete and was second and fourth at Indy.
USF2000
Races: 11:45 a.m. Friday and 1:10 p.m. Saturday. Need to know: The first step on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder, this division is a common step up from karting for young drivers hoping to make a career racing cars. What’s happening: Oliver Askew, a 21year-old from Jupiter, Fla., finished second in the opener and has won the five races since. Dutchman Rinus VeeKay is second in the standings driving for Pabst Racing of Oconomowoc.
MAZDA GLOBAL MX-5
Races: 12:40 p.m. Friday and 10:05 a.m. Saturday. Need to know: MX-5 is somewhat of a sports-car counterpart to the Road to Indy divisions but as such tends to attract more later-in-life racers than upwardly mobile teens. The series features identical cars that begin on the production line in Japan before being converted in North Carolina to fullfledged racers. What’s happening: Patrick Gallagher leads the championship with three victories in the first four races and his teammate Robert Stout won the other. Gallagher is a 24-yearold Ohioan who has won twice at the SCCA Runoffs.