Tight Indy Lights title chase heads to Milwaukee

By Mazda Road to Indy | Published: Jul 8, 2015

Jack Harvey

The newest specification of car on the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder heads to the oldest racetrack in North America, The Milwaukee Mile, this weekend for the Grand Prix of Milwaukee.

The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires 16-race schedule has reached a critical juncture with three drivers – Jack Harvey, Spencer Pigot and Ed Jones – separated by 23 points as they chase a top prize of a guaranteed entry in three rounds of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series, including the historic 100th Indianapolis 500. All entries will be driving the Dallara IL-15 chassis matched to the turbocharged 2.0-liter Mazda MZR-R engine. Track records have fallen at every venue, and the quality of competition has been intense.

Harvey, from Lincoln, England, leads the championship chase by 11 points over Pigot of Orlando, Fla. Dubai-based Brit Jones lies is 12 points further back.

Harvey, 22, has been a model of consistency this year for seven-time championship-winning team Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian, winning two races and failing only twice to finish among the top two. Harvey posted the fastest time, an average speed of 147.791 mph, during an Indy Lights test session at Milwaukee on May 28.

Juncos Racing’s Pigot, 21, has won more races, four, than any other driver this season. He has momentum on his side, too, after sweeping both races last month on the streets of Toronto. He won the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race at Milwaukee in 2014 on the way to the series crown.

Jones, 20, faces a steeper learning curve with his Carlin team. Both are newcomers to the American racing scene, although they began on a tear by winning the first three races of the season.

Other drivers to watch include RC Enerson (Schmidt Peterson), who holds fourth place in the points chase after stepping up directly from the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda; Pro Mazda graduate Kyle Kaiser (Juncos Racing), who snagged a third-place finish last time out in Toronto and was second-quickest at the Milwaukee test; Scott Anderson (Schmidt Peterson), who made his first appearance on the podium following the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; teammate Ethan Ringel, who qualified on the pole at Indy with a record average speed in excess of 197 mph; and Belardi Auto Racing’s Felix Serralles, who posted the fastest race lap at Indianapolis.