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De Phillippi Wins Season Finale |
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De Phillippi Wins Big and Team Pelfrey Captures the series Team Championship Title
Coming into the last race of the season and 2nd overall for the Championship De Phillippi knew it would be difficult to capture the title due to some unforeseen bad luck early on in the season. Setting the stage for what would ultimately be a championship-winning event, the Team Pelfrey name moved to the top of the speedcharts on Friday. De Phillippi turned the fastest lap of the day in the afternoon session.
On Sunday mornings qualify De Phllippi set his mind on the pole position and ending the season with a huge win and win he did! With a 0.471 second lead over his team mate Nick Andries in qualifying Team Pelfrey started 1 and 2 on the grid for the race. Taking full advantage of his pole position De Phillippi jumped out in the lead and never looked back stretching his lead over his team mate and the rest of the field well over a second even after a yellow flag caution which bunched the entire field up. De Phillippi getting another great start again stretched out his lead again, by the end of the race he was 1.671 seconds over his team mate Nick Andries who finished second and 7+ seconds over the rest of the field. With the 1,2 finish De Phillippi and Andries clinch the Team Championship Title in their inaugural season.
“I feel we had the best team in the series this year,” stated De Phillippi. “We started 1-2 three times and finished 1-2 three times, and I won four races, so that's the great part that we're all happy about. It was the bad luck, the things that were out of our control that kept us from winning the championship, but we brought our A game to the track every weekend, fighting to win every race, and I think we had a good chance every weekend. We'll be back next year even stronger and more focused and going for the championship again.” |
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De Phillippi gets his 3rd win of the Season |
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De Phillippi wins his 3rd race and Team Pelfrey get another 1,2 finish
August 7th in Trois- Rivieres, Canada, De Phillippi clenches his 3rd victory in the Star Mazda Series gaining valuable points for the Championship while Team Pelfrey gets another 1, 2 finish for the season. With a disapointing finish in the day before, De Phillippi had his work cut out starting 5th on the grid for race two of the doubleheader weekend. De Phillippi and his crew went back to the orginial setup they rolled off the transporter with on day one of practice, which proved to be the winning setup.
Despite the processional affair in race one of the doubleheader weekend, Team Pelfrey's crew and drivers were confident they had cars to contend for the win. That belief was well justified, as De Phillippi and his teammate Nick Andres promtly did just that. De Phillippi starting 5th on Sundays race, was the driver on the move right from the start making the most of any mistakes or openings left by the drivers ahead to rapidly shoot into second place. With his teammate Andries right behind, De Phillippi held onto second postion until just past the two thirds mark, when traffic gave him the chance to pass for the lead in turn eight. Teammate Andries also making the most of the situation also makes the pass, the duo never relinquished their positions with De Phillippi stretching his lead of 3.4 seconds over his teammate. De Phillippi, still 2nd over all for the Championship as they come into the last three races of the season. The two Team Pelfrey drivers extend their lead as the points leader for the searies team Championship title.
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De Phillippi Wins the Night Before Indy |
DE PHILLIPPI SETS A NEW TRACK RECORD AND WINS FLAG-TO-FLAG SCORING HIS SECOND WIN OF THE 2011 STAR MAZDA SEASON IN THE 'NIGHT BEFORE THE INDY 500’
Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis (May 28, 2011) – Connor De Phillippi proved unbeatable after setting a new track record in his qualifying session with a fast lap of 19.999 seconds and 123.486 mph on the 5/8-mile oval track. Staring from the pole and leading from flag-to-flag, De Phillippi won Round 3 of the 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. The 85-lap 'Night Before the Indy 500' at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, was the California driver's second victory of the season driving the #11 Team Pelfrey / Justice Brothers Products / Trademark Garage Floors Mazda; he won the season-opener at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
De Phillippi crossed the finish line two hours late due to a rain delay, but still with 2.4 seconds in hand over his Team Pelfrey teammate Nick Andries of St. Petersburg, Fl, who started from the outside of the front row in the #81 car.
With his win this puts Connor one point behind the points leader going into round 4 for the Championship. The Champion of the series will win a scholarship to race in the Indy Light Series for 2012 provided by MazdaSpeed Motorsports Driver Development Program.
The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear action resumes on June 19, with Round 4 at the Milwaukee Mile, a mile long oval track. The Star Mazda Series is officially labeled “The Road to Indy” which is a support series for the IZOD IndyCar Series.
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