2017 Indy Lights
Matheus Leist, winner of the 2017 Freedom 100
The 2017 Indy Lights season was the 32nd season of the Indy Lights open wheel motor racing series and the 16th sanctioned by IndyCar , acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series . A 16-race schedule was announced on September 14, 2016.[ 1] The schedule included a stop at Gateway Motorsports Park for the first time since 2003. This replaced the race at Phoenix International Raceway after it returned to the schedule for only a single season. The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round to end the season was omitted, as it was for the other Road to Indy series.
American Kyle Kaiser driving for Juncos Racing led a steady campaign where he finished every lap of the season in a season where no particular team or driver was dominant and in doing so essentially clinched the championship with one round remaining (he only had to start the final round). Kaiser won three races with an additional three podium finishes. Santiago Urrutia struggled during the first half of the season but logged six podium finishes in the last seven races, including two wins, to vault his way to second in the championship. Colton Herta won six poles, but was only able to convert that to two wins and he finished third in the championship. Brazilian rookie Matheus Leist had a brilliant stretch of races in the middle of the season, capturing three wins, but was otherwise unremarkable and wound up fourth. Zachary Claman DeMelo won a single race and finished fifth in points while 2016 Pro Mazda Championship winner Aaron Telitz bookended the season with his only two wins and finished sixth. Nico Jamin won three races but also suffered four DNFs and fell to seventh in points. Juan Piedrahita captured his first Indy Lights pole at Gateway Motorsports Park, his 57th Indy Lights start.
Team and driver chart
Schedule
Rd.
Date
Race name
Track
Location
1
March 11
St. Petersburg 100
Streets of St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg, Florida
2
March 12
3
April 22
Legacy Indy Lights 100
Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama
4
April 23
5
May 12
Grand Prix of Indianapolis
Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
Speedway, Indiana
6
May 13
7
May 26
Freedom 100
Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval
Speedway, Indiana
8
June 24
Grand Prix of Road America
Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
9
June 25
10
July 9
Mazda Iowa 100
Iowa Speedway
Newton, Iowa
11
July 15
Grand Prix of Toronto
Exhibition Place
Toronto , Ontario , Canada
12
July 16
13
July 29
Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
14
July 30
15
August 26
Illinois 100
Gateway Motorsports Park
Madison, Illinois
16
September 3
Grand Prix of Watkins Glen
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, New York
Race results
1 Qualifying canceled due to weather and grid was set on points
Championship standings
Drivers' championship
Scoring system
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
Points
30
25
22
19
17
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
The driver who qualified on pole was awarded one additional point.
An additional point was awarded to the driver who led the most laps in a race.
The driver who obtained the fastest lap in a race was awarded one additional point.
Color
Result
Gold
Winner
Silver
2nd place
Bronze
3rd place
Green
4th & 5th place
Light Blue
6th–10th place
Dark Blue
Finished (Outside Top 10)
Purple
Did not finish
Red
Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown
Withdrawn (Wth)
Black
Disqualified (DSQ)
White
Did not start (DNS)
Blank
Did not participate (DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold
Pole position (1 point)
Italics
Ran fastest race lap (1 point)
*
Led most race laps (1 point)
1
Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded
Rookie
Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.
Teams' championship
References
^ "2017 Mazda Road to Indy schedules revealed" . September 14, 2016.
^ "Andretti Autosport | JAMIN TO JOIN ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT 2017 INDY LIGHTS LINE UP" . November 29, 2016.
^ "Kellett Returns to Andretti Autosport for 2017" . Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2016 .
^ "Andretti Autosport | RYAN NORMAN NAMED THIRD DRIVER TO ANDRETTI INDY LIGHTS ROSTER" . December 5, 2016.
^ "Colton Herta quits Europe to race Indy Lights in 2017" .
^ a b c d "Mazda Road to Indy Teams, Drivers to Gain Head Start on 2017 Season" . Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2016 .
^ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop" .
^ "Belardi signs Pro Mazda champ Telitz for 2017" . Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016 .
^ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop" .
^ "Rickards moves up to Indy Lights with Carlin - Carlin" . Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2017 .
^ "Claman DeMelo ready for Indy Lights assault" . February 6, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2017 .
^ "Alberico returns with Carlin for 2017 season" . February 14, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2017 .
^ "Leist joins Carlin for Indy Lights" . February 3, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2017 .
^ "American Kyle Kaiser Looks to Lead Juncos Racing in 2017 Indy Lights Championship" . December 10, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016 .
^ "Dapero graduates with Juncos to Indy Lights" . www.motorsport.com .
^ "Piedrahita to Rejoin Team Pelfrey IL in 2017" . Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2017 .
^ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop" .
External links
USAC Mini-Indy SeriesCART American Racing SeriesCART Firestone/Dayton Indy LightsIRL Infiniti/Indy Pro SeriesFirestone Indy Lights Series Indy Lights Series presented by Cooper Tire Firestone Indy NXT Series