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| August 07, 2012 |
| Star Mazda: Team GDT on the Podium at GP3R |
TROIS-RIVIÈRES, QUE. (August 6, 2012) — In one way, driving a Star Mazda race car is like riding a bike. Once you learn how to do it, you never forget. At least Alex Ardoin hasn’t.
Although he hasn’t competed in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear for two years, Ardoin posted a fourth-place finish on Saturday and a third-place finish on Sunday as part of Team GDT’s three-car assault of the Star Mazda doubleheader at the 43rd annual Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières (GP3R).
Two other cars fielded by the Dallas-based team also recorded top-10 finishes on Sunday. Rookie Andres Méndez of Bogotá, Colombia, who is sponsored by DataFile Internacional S.A. and Grupo Kriterion, recorded his best finish ever in the series by placing seventh. Another Team GDT rookie, Ryan Tveter of Oyster Bay, N.Y., finished 10th with support from Rogers TV and Motorola Mobility Canada.
Ardoin, of Lafayette, La., did the event as a “one-off” appearance driving Team GDT’s No. 51. His car carried the colors of Chuck Diesel Performance Systems and General Datatech.
Ardoin only completed six laps in the event’s only practice session on Friday due to a minor crash. A bent pedal box hampered his efforts in qualifying later that afternoon, but he still qualified ninth with a time of 1:01.727. Another competitor’s car was sent to the rear before the race, so he actually started eighth on Saturday.
Tveter took the 13th starting spot and Méndez was 15th on the revised starting line-up for Saturday’s race.
Unfortunately trouble struck Tveter immediately in the form of a broken drive train rod and he was left stranded on the starting grid. That brought out the event’s only full-course yellow.
Ardoin had a fabulous start, as he had vaulted into the fourth position by the end of lap one by passing Petri Suvanto, Zach Veach, Martin Scuncio, and Gabby Chaves.
He stayed in fourth place the rest of the race. With no other full-course yellows the field got strung out, but Ardoin cut the distance between his No. 51 and the third-place car of Connor De Phillippi from over a second on lap three, to only 0.256 of a second by lap 13. Ardoin kept the pressure up and remained about two-tenths of a second behind De Phillippi until lap 23, when the gap got a little bigger again. He was 0.432 of a second behind De Phillippi at the checkered.
Polesitter Jack Hawksworth had a huge, 24.394-second margin of victory over Sage Karam on Saturday, with De Phillippi third, Ardoin fourth, and Chaves fifth.
Méndez dropped back to 17th at the start of Saturday’s race. He moved up to 16th on lap four by passing Jerimy Daniel. He got another spot on lap seven when Diego Ferreira dropped back. He got 14th working lap 10 by passing Zack Meyer. He moved up to 13th late in the race, when Suvanto dropped out with 41 laps complete in the 43-lap event, and he finished in that position with his No. 53.
Ardoin’s fastest race lap on Saturday was a 1:01.827. That was important because the starting line-up for Sunday’s race was established by each driver’s fastest race lap on Saturday, which gave Ardoin the fifth starting spot on Sunday. Méndez’s fastest race lap was a 1:02.588, giving him the 15th starting spot on Sunday. Tveter started 18th on Sunday due to his car’s mechanical issues on Saturday.
The weather played a role in Sunday’s race.
Ardoin passed Suvanto on the first lap to move into fourth place, and then followed Hawksworth, Karam, and Chaves for the first 23 laps. At that point, the race was red-flagged for rain with about 12 minutes remaining in the 45-minute event, and the entire field reported to pit lane for rain tires.
The action resumed on lap 26 with about four minutes remaining, but a great deal was about to change. Hawksworth, who was under attack by Karam, ended up in a tire barrier off turn six on lap 28, giving the lead and the eventual victory to Karam, vaulting Chaves to second and propelling Ardoin to the final podium position. Suvanto and Scuncio rounded out the top-five, while Hawksworth pressed on to place 12th.
While all this was going on Méndez was methodically moving up. He was 13th by lap two and 12th by lap five, and when the red flag waved he was in 10th place. He got one more spot on the restart, and he moved into eighth when Hawksworth went off course. He got around Veach for seventh on the white-flag lap and finished in that position.
Méndez’s previous best finish was 10th in the second half of the Toronto doubleheader last month.
Tveter moved up steadily too. He was 14th by lap five and 13th by lap 12. He was 12th when he made his pit stop for Goodyear rain tires under the red flag, but he got 10th on the restart by passing Juan Piedrahita and Ashley Frieberg. He dropped back to 12th when they repassed him about the same time Hawksworth was sliding into the tire barrier. One lap later he was back to 10th, however, thanks to Hawksworth’s troubles and the fact that Tveter was able to pass Piedrahita yet again, and he took the checkered shortly thereafter for another top-10 result.
“First I have to thank the entire Team GDT squad for all of their hard work and dedication this weekend,” said Ardoin. “They worked hard to help pull us out of a hole after I hit the wall and ended practice prematurely.
“Saturday's race went well, as I was able to move from eighth place quickly up to fourth. But unfortunately I couldn't pass De Phillippi to move into third.
“Sunday's race went better, as we had a better starting position and a better car set-up. I started fifth and moved into fourth quickly. I was just being patient and trying to conserve the car for the end of the race. Then the rain came, and it caused us to go under red-flag conditions and switch to rain tires.
“When the race resumed I was still in fourth. I moved into third when Hawksworth crashed. I was pressuring Chaves really hard but unfortunately I couldn't quite get around him.
“Overall it was a good weekend for Team GDT and myself. We all worked extremely hard for our results. I found it very difficult to come back after a two-year hiatus and try to run at the front. I'm happy with my results and hope to make more appearances in the series in the future.”
“Well it was a difficult weekend for me with only one practice session to set up the car and learn the track,” added Mendez. “We finished both races though, and that’s always good.
“We were getting better and better and started moving forward. In Sunday’s race the car was even better. It was really good both in the dry and in the rain, and we finished seventh. I want to thank everyone at Team GDT and all my partners and the people that support me.”
“I think today [Sunday] went well,” said Tveter. “I got a great start, but an incident in Turn 1 pushed me to the outside and it was difficult to catch the rest of the field after that.
“The rain started to come down mid-race and that made it very difficult because we were all on slicks. Even under caution it was tough. I wish the red would have flown a couple laps earlier for the whole field to switch to rain tires.
“When the race restarted I got a great jump and moved up a position. The car was great in the rain, but a couple big lock-ups dropped me down a few positions.
“Overall I think it was a good race and I definitely learned a lot, which is the most important thing right now. I'm very content with another top-10 finish. It was also great to have all three cars in the top 10 and one on the podium. Thanks to the Team GDT guys for all their efforts this weekend. I'm really looking forward to racing again at Baltimore Labor Day weekend
Sunday’s race concluded the series’ Canadian swing. The next event is September 1-2, when the Star Mazda series appears at the Grand Prix of Baltimore at that city’s Inner Harbor. The rest of the schedule and more information, including the schedule for TV coverage, can be found on the series’ website at StarMazda.com. Rick Benjamin’s coverage of Trois-Rivières is scheduled to be shown on the Mazda Motorsports Hour on the Velocity network in the United States at noon September 1. Before that occurs, however, the Edmonton coverage will air at noon August 25 on the same program.
Fans can learn more about Team GDT on its Facebook page or through Twitter @TeamGDT.
Both Méndez and Tveter also have Facebook and Twitter accounts. Méndez’s website is at agMéndez.com and Tveter’s is at ryantveter.com. |
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