Victor Franzoni may be anticipating getting on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course more than any Mazda Road to Indy driver this weekend.
A year ago, the Brazilian turned the 2.489-mile, 14-turn road course into his personal playground. He captured his first career win in the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires en route to the doubleheader weekend sweep. It elevated Franzoni toward the 2017 series title and allowed him to advance to the top rung of the INDYCAR-sanctioned development ladder: Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, which will contest a pair of IMS road course races this weekend as part of the INDYCAR Grand Prix.
Much of the Indy Lights attention is rightfully on Andretti Autosport’s Patricio O’Ward, the points leader who has won three of the opening four races to start the year, Franzoni is coming off an Indy Lights-best runner-up finish in Race 2 of the doubleheader weekend at Barber Motorsports Park three weeks ago.
The 22-year-old Juncos Racing pilot sits fourth in the championship standings, 28 points behind O’Ward, but believes that things are starting to come together.
“I think we’ve figured out a good way to work together, me and Juncos Racing, and I think from now it’s just improve our work,” said Franzoni, driver of the No. 23 Mazda/Dallara IL-15. “Do what we have to do to start being all the time in the top three and start to win races, that’s our goal.
“Pato now has a good lead in the championship, so we cannot let him go too far (ahead). So we have to do a really good job in Indy. There, we were fast in the test (last October). I already drove there, so this is good and I’m excited. I’ve always done good there, I like the track.”
With still 13 races remaining, Franzoni is keeping everything in perspective with no reason to panic just yet. He said the opening four races have been a learning curve in getting adjusted to the Indy Lights car. Each practice, qualifying and race session has allowed him that much more comfort.
“The power, it’s a big difference (from the Pro Mazda car), but there’s not a huge difference,” Franzoni said. “After you get used to the car, and I think I’m used to it already, it’s your normal stuff, it’s your normal office.
“It’s like any other car, it’s just a little bit stronger. You have to brake later, but after you figure it out, it’s almost the same thing. It’s just the speed that changes a little bit, but it’s not a huge difference and I think I feel good in the car.
“I don’t feel like a rookie now anymore. I feel like I’m ready to win races in Indy Lights, so this is important and it’s what I will try to do.”
One element that could assist Franzoni is something he didn’t have last season: a teammate. Juncos’ addition of former Formula 1 test driver Alfonso Celis Jr. provides Franzoni with another driver to lean on for feedback. It could be vital as the 2018 Indy Lights championship begins to heat up in the summer months.
“It always helps to have a good teammate,” said Franzoni, a 12-time race winner in the MRTI ladder.
“Like Colton (Herta) and Pato (at Andretti Autosport), they are pushing each other a lot so they have good cooperation, they have good videos. One tests one thing, the other one tests another thing, so they can get to the perfect point faster.
“Now with Alfonso in the team, we can do the same. We can try different stuff and then we see which one is bad and then we get to the perfect point earlier in the weekend.”
All three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy will have testing and practice sessions Thursday on the IMS road course. Qualifying for the first Indy Lights race starts at 10:20 a.m. ET Friday, with the race starting at 1:30 p.m. Second-race qualifying is set for 8:30 a.m. Saturday, with the race to follow at 1:15 p.m.
All sessions on Friday and Saturday will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.