Millville II: Series qualifying report

DALY WINS POLE, VAUTIER ON FRONT ROW FOR ROUND 3 OF THE STAR MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP VISITFLORIDA CUP AT NEW JERSEY MOTORSPORTS PARK
This afternoon is Race 2 / Round 7 of the 2010 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear with less than a second separating the top-12 qualifiers in the 22-car field

New Jersey Motorsports Park (June 27, 2010) -- Call it a 'rotary rematch.' The front row for the start of this afternoon's Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Round 3 of the VISITFLORIDA Cup, is the same as yesterday -- American Conor Daly on the pole in the #22 Juncos Racing / INDECK / The College Network / Merchant Services Ltd. Mazda with a lap of 1:15.840 (103.006 mph) and Frenchman Tristan Vautier alongside in the #38 Andersen Racing / Moulin TP / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda with a lap of 1:16.096 (102.660 mph). After serving a stop-and-go penalty for jumping the start, Daly raced his way back up through the field to finish 3rd while Vautier finished 6th.

Caio Lara, winner of Saturday's Race 1 / Round 6 will start from 5th in the #19 JDC Motorsports / MLD / ATW Mazda, turning a lap of 1:16.522 (102.088 mph). Quebec racer Mikael Grenier, who finished 5th yesterday in his #17 Andersen Racing / Slow Cow / April Super Flow / NAPA Auto Parts / HS Telecom / Desharnais Mazda starts third with a lap of 1:16.122 (102.625 mph), and Norwegian driver Anders 'The Viking' Krohn, runner-up in yesterday's race, is on the outside of the second row in 4th after turning a lap of 1:16.207 (102.510 mph) in his #47 Andersen Racing / Norse Cutting & Abandonment / Trallfa / Colosseum Mazda.

Also of note, starting from 7th on the grid with a lap of 1:16.681 (1012.830 mph), is a hungry young driver named Connor De Phillippi, driving the #11 JDC Motorsports / MAZDASPEED Motorsports / Skip Barber Mazda. He won the 2009 Skip Barber Pro Series and is driving in the 2010 Star Mazda championship with backing from the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder, the unique and prestigious automaker-backed program that helps champions at each level of open-wheel racing move up the ladder. He finished 4th in yesterday's race, has four top-5s and two top-7s this year and is currently 6th in the championship.

The quickest Master Series (45 and older) driver Gerry Kraut of North Oaks, Minnesota. Currently leading the Master Series championship battle in his #55 JDC Motorsports / Dougherty & Co. / Dougherty Funding LLC Mazda, Kraut is both a company CEO and co-owner of the championship-winning JDC Motorsports team. He starts 14th on the 22-car grid with a lap of 1:17.659 (100.594 mph). The quickest Expert Series (ages 30-44) driver was Californian Patrick O'Neill, who turned a 1:17.989 (100.168 mph) lap in his #64 JDC Motorsports / O'Neill Construction Mazda, good for 15th on the starting grid. Starting next to him, with a time less than 1/10th of a second slower (1:17.629 / 100.632 mph) The other driver proviking widespread interest is Larry Pegram, driving the #72 AIM Autosport / Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery / Foremost Insurance Mazda. Pegram, one of the stars of the AMA SuperBike championship, is making his 4-wheeld racing debut at New Jersey Motorsports Park, competing in the Expert Class for drivers aged 30 -- 44. His time of 1:19.076 (98.791 mph) places him 21st on the 22-car starting grid.

All the racing action this weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park, including the Star Mazda Championship, the USF2000 National Championship powered by Mazda and Mazda MX-5 Cup will be broadcast live on HDnet. The pre-race show takes place 12:30 pm -- 1:00 pm, and 1:00pm -- 4:00 pm will be live coverage of the Playboy Mazda MX 5 Cup, USF2000, and The Star Mazda/Visit Florida Cup. All times are Eastern. Rick Benjamin will call the play-by-play, and a pair of well-known racers, Johnny O'Connell (USF2000 and Star Mazda) and Elliott Forbes-Robinson (Mazda MX-5 Cup) will be the on-air analysts. Todd Lewis will be the pit reporter. In addition to the live broadcast, both Playboy Mazda MX 5 Cup races and one of the two Star Mazda Championship races will be cable syndicated across the USA, Canada and worldwide.

Drivers in the Star Mazda Championship are contending two championships at stake this season, the overall Series championship and the VISITFLORIDA Cup, which will go to the driver scoring the most points in the seven televised races during the 2010 season. VISITFLORIDA races include the season-opener at Sebring, the double-headers at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Autobahn Country Club (broadcast live on HDnet) as well as Mosport and the season finale at Road Atlanta.

Daly leads the Series championship with four wins, five poles and 255 points, followed by Anders Krohn with a pole, two podiums and six top-5 finishes for 211 points. From there, however it gets tight; Grenier in 3rd has 195 points, Joao Victor Horto in 4th and 194, Caio Lara is in 5th with 193 and MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder scholarship winner Connor De Phillippi is in 6th with 192. The VISITFLORIDA battle is even tighter; counting the points earned at Sebring, Race 1 at NJMP and this morning's qualifying, Conor Daly leads with 76 points, followed by Vautier (who won at Sebring) with 74, Krohn with 73 and Lara with 70.

This afternoon's Star Mazda Championship Race 2 / Round 7 gets the green light at 3:05 pm.

-source: star mazda