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The 2017 Pro Mazda Championship was the 19th season in series history. A 12-race schedule was announced in September 2016. [1]

This was the final season using the Star chassis and Mazda rotary engine combination. In 2018, the Tatuus-designed PM18 chassis would be the specified car, mated to a Mazda MZR piston engine.

Brazilian Victor Franzoni, who secured his ride in Pro Mazda with Juncos Racing the week before the season started, prevailed in a season-long back-and-forth championship battle with 2016 U.S. F2000 National Championship winner Anthony Martin. Franzoni held a small lead heading into the series' final double-header at Watkins Glen International. Franzoni won both races to clinch the championship. Franzoni finished first or second in every race and finished with seven wins from six poles. Martin won five races from six poles. Carlos Cunha captured podium finishes in the last five races (for six total) to capture third in the championship ahead of TJ Fischer who finished on the podium in the first four races but faded down the stretch. Every race was won by either Franzoni or Martin and every pole but one was captured by them, with Cunha sitting on the pole for the first race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The less-expensive National Class was more hotly contested than usual on an individual race basis, with some races seeing as many as five entries. However, only one driver Brendan Puderbach contested all twelve rounds of the championship and by virtue of that captured the National Class title. Bob Kaminsky captured a class-best five class wins and finished second in the championship.

Drivers and teams

Team No. Drivers Rounds
ArmsUp Motorsports 3 United States Matt Machiko 3–4, 11–12
6 United States Max Hanratty [2] 1–2, 5–9
Cape Motorsports 8 Australia Anthony Martin [3] All
FatBoy Racing 3 United States Matt Machiko [2] 1–2
31 United States Brendan Puderbach [4] (N) All
83 United States Charles Finelli [4] (N) 1–6, 11–12
JDC MotorSports 12 United States Kris Wright 5–9, 11–12
Juncos Racing 23 Brazil Victor Franzoni [5] All
60 United States Jeff Green [5] All
Kaminsky Racing 57 United States Bob Kaminsky (N) 3–9
Kevin Davis Racing 44 United States Kevin Davis [2] (N) 1–4
Team Pelfrey 80 Russia Nikita Lastochkin [6] All
81 Brazil Carlos Cunha [7] All
82 United States TJ Fischer [8] All
84 United States Robert Megennis [9] 11–12
Unfair Advantage Motorsports 2 United States Dave Zavelson (N) 5–9
5 United States Kevin Bury (N) 5–9
World Speed Motorsports 2 Australia Steven Ford (N) 3–4
13 United States Bobby Eberle [10] All
14 United States Sting Ray Robb [11] All
15 United States Phillippe Denes [12] 1–4
Icon Class
(N) National Class

Race calendar and results

Rnd Circuit Location Date Pole position Fastest lap Most laps led Winning driver Winning team
1 Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida March 11 Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
2 March 12 Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
3 Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Speedway, Indiana May 12 Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
4 May 13 Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
5 Grand Prix of Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 25 Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
6 June 26 Australia Anthony Martin United States TJ Fischer Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
7 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio July 28 Brazil Carlos Cunha Brazil Victor Franzoni Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
8 July 29 Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Brazil Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
9 July 30 Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Australia Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
10 Gateway Motorsports Park Madison, Illinois August 25 Australia Anthony Martin Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
11 Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York September 2 Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Australia Anthony Martin Brazil Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
12 September 3 Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Carlos Cunha Brazil Victor Franzoni Brazil Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Pos Driver STP IMS ROA MOH GMP WGL Points
Championship class
1 Brazil Victor Franzoni 2 2 1* 1* 1* 2 2 1 2 1* 1* 1* 351
2 Australia Anthony Martin 1* 1* 2 4 2 1* 1* 2* 1* 2 2 3 333
3 Brazil Carlos Cunha 4 12 4 3 9 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 237
4 United States TJ Fischer 3 3 3 2 15 12 3 4 4 4 10 5 224
5 Russia Nikita Lastochkin 5 5 6 5 3 3 5 5 6 6 13 4 203
6 United States Sting Ray Robb 7 4 7 7 4 11 10 6 5 7 4 6 185
7 United States Bobby Eberle 10 8 8 8 8 6 9 11 7 9 7 9 157
8 United States Jeff Green 13 9 10 13 6 5 13 13 10 5 11 10 151
9 United States Max Hanratty 8 6 5 15 6 10 8 97
10 United States Kris Wright 13 9 7 8 11 5 8 95
11 United States Matt Machiko 9 13 11 9 6 7 74
12 United States Phillippe Denes 6 7 5 6 61
13 United States Robert Megennis 12 DNS 21
National class
1 United States Brendan Puderbach 12 14 DNS 11 10 14 14 12 13 8 8 DNS 187
2 United States Bob Kaminsky 9 14 7 13 8 7 9 134
3 United States Charles Finelli 14 10 14 DNS 12 8 9 DNS 115
4 United States Dave Zavelson 11 7 11 9 12 91
5 United States Kevin Davis 11 11 12 10 80
6 United States Kevin Bury 14 10 12 14 14 64
7 Australia Steven Ford 13 12 30
Pos Driver STP IMS ROA MOH GMP WGL Points
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
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
(1 point)
Italics Ran fastest race lap
(1 point)
* Led most race laps
(1 point)
Not awarded if more than
one driver leads most laps
Rookie

Teams' championship

Pos Team Points
1 Team Pelfrey 381
2 Juncos Racing 372
3 World Speed Motorsports 267

See also

2017 IndyCar Series season
2017 Indy Lights championship

References

  1. ^ "2017 Mazda Road to Indy schedules revealed". 14 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Hi-Tide Kids On Track Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Race 1). Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Race 2)" (PDF). ProMazda. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Rising MRTI stars Martin, Askew to race with Cape Motorsports in 2017". www.racer.com. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  4. ^ a b "FatBoy Racing Joins Pro Mazda for 2017".
  5. ^ a b "Franzoni, Green Join Juncos Racing for 2017 Pro Mazda".
  6. ^ "Nikita Lastochkin Secures Team Pelfrey's Final 2017".
  7. ^ "Team Pelfrey Welcomes Rookie Carlos Cunha".
  8. ^ "Fischer signs for full Pro Mazda season with Pelfrey". Archived from the original on 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  9. ^ "Pro Mazda Watkins Glen Grand Prix Presented by Cooper Tires" (PDF). ProMazda. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Eberle Joins World Speed to Contend for Overall Title".
  11. ^ "Sting Ray Robb Joins the 2017 Pro Mazda Championship with World Speed | World Speed Motorsports - Winning, it's what we do!".
  12. ^ "Phillippe Denes Joins Pro Mazda Series for 2017".

External links