Road America could not have come at a better time for Rinus VeeKay as he aims to kick his Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires campaign into high gear this weekend.
VeeKay, who swept the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda races at the 4.014-mile road course last season, believes strong Pro Mazda results at this year’s doubleheader can propel him into the thick of the championship run.
“I know I am strong at Road America and in all the coming races,” he said. “The team doesn’t want to get down, and they want to keep going.
“I think we can get back on the top step of the podium at Road America.”
After seven races, the 17-year-old from Hoofddorp, Netherlands, lies third in the standings, one point behind Juncos Racing teammate Carlos Cunha and 41 in back of leader Parker Thompson of Exclusive Autosport. VeeKay’s highlights include a double victory in the season opener at St. Petersburg and a podium at the first race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
The only downside was a crash on the opening lap of at the second IMS race. Despite the unfortunate result, the 2017 USF2000 championship runner-up found solace in having pace the entire weekend.
“Indianapolis actually was really good,” said VeeKay, who drives the No. 2 Mazda/Tatuus PM-18 with sponsorship from Jumbo Supermarkets, La Place Restaurants and KNAF Talent First. “I was leading in Race 1 but something broke in the gearbox and lost a lot of top speed. Unfortunately, I got passed because of that, but still a podium result. In the second race, before the green was out, I was already out of the race because of starting position."
While confident, VeeKay remains realistic about the task at hand: closing the gap on Thompson by establishing a pattern of consistently strong results. It served him well last year in USF2000 – the first rung of the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder for aspiring Verizon IndyCar Series drivers – as he reduced eventual champion Oliver Askew’s lead from more than 60 points to seven at season’s end by finishing no worse than third in the final eight races.
“Last year in USF2000, we were coming to Road America and I was more than 60 points behind Oliver Askew,” VeeKay said. “After the last race (of the season), I was only seven points behind. If I can do the same thing (this year), there won’t be any trouble.”
The three-time USF2000 race winner took part in Pro Mazda’s open test at Road America last week, where he clocked the second-fastest time overall (2 minutes, 0.5057 second; 119.915 mph). He was pleased with the progress made.
“We got a lot of data out of the test, for sure,” he said. “Especially at Road America, where you need to manage downforce and top speed. It’s pretty hard to get a good configuration for the race and in qualifying.
“The team and I did a pretty good job getting the car ready and the baseline setup was really great.”
Pro Mazda is scheduled to hold a practice session and qualifying today for the first of its two weekend races on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn permanent road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Qualifying for Race 2 takes place Friday morning. Both weekend races – Race 1 at 3:20 p.m. ET Friday and Race 2 at 3:05 p.m. Saturday – will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.