Juncos Racing’s Kaiser Scores Win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Speedway, Ind. – The third weekend of the 2017 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season proved to be successful for Kyle Kaiser as he delivered Juncos Racing their first win of the season in Round 6 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kaiser also picked up a third place finish in Round 5 of the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix presented by Royal Purple Supporting Lupus Foundation of America.
Kyle Kaiser (Los Gatos, California) set the tone for the weekend, starting in the first practice session where he recorded the fastest time overall on the 2.439 mile, 14-Turn road course. Teammate Nicolas Dapero (Buenos Aires, Argentina) finished 10th overall.
Track conditions drastically changed for qualifying with temperatures rising 30 degrees from the morning session. Kaiser, driving the #18 Juncos Racing car took the fourth starting position and rookie Dapero, driving the #31 American Brokers / Juncos Racing car would start 12th for Round 5.
Round 5 concluded the day where Kaiser would go on to claim his third straight podium, taking third place. Dapero finished 11th.
The following morning Kaiser claimed his second pole position of the season. Dapero qualified 11th for Round 6.
The weekend concluded on a successful note for Juncos Racing, where Kyle Kaiser would go on to lead the entire 35 lap race, delivering the team their first win of the season. Dapero improved his weekend to finish inside the Top-10, in eighth position.
Kaiser now leads the Indy Lights Championship by 13 points over second place.
“This was an amazing weekend for us,” said Kaiser. “We rolled off the trailer with a great set up and were strong the whole weekend. The first race I had a great start from fourth and ended up finishing third. The second day was nearly a perfect day. We got the pole and led every lap to the victory. Now we’re heading to the biggest race of the season with the points lead. I’m extremely excited to get back on the oval and hopefully have the same success as this weekend.”
Dapero said “It was a tough weekend. We were able to finish eighth in the second race which gave us a lot of points for the championship. We also learned a lot throughout the weekend and that’s the most important thing. The first qualifying session was a bit tricky as we were not able to use our second set of tires due to a red flag. We will take the momentum we ended the weekend on and carry it into the next race, the Freedom 100. I want to thank the whole Juncos Racing team for their great job, and the sponsors for the opportunity for me to be here.”
Team Owner Ricardo Juncos was happy to see Kaiser bring home the team’s first win of the season and earn the necessary points to take the lead in the championship. Juncos is confident that Dapero will only continue to improve during his rookie season.
“We ended this weekend the best way we could with Kyle’s (Kaiser) win,” said Juncos. “I am thrilled to see him win here at the most famous track in the world. Nico (Dapero) did not have the weekend he planned for, as he battled the entire second race with a broken wing, which affected his whole race. He finished the best way he could despite the issues he faced with the broken wing. He has learned a lot already in his rookie season and I know he will take this knowledge gained into the next race back here on the oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I want to thank both drivers for all of their continued hard work and dedication. I also need to thank all of the crew for the long hours they put in this weekend and for the work that they do away from the track.”
About Juncos Racing: Juncos Racing is a championship-winning Mazda Road to Indy team currently running in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires.
Juncos Racing was established by Ricardo Juncos in 1997 as a small formula car race program based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After times became financially tough, Juncos relocated to the United States in 2002 where he worked as a mechanic for a small karting team based in Florida. Juncos was then able to open the doors to his own shop and run in karting series throughout the United States.
In 2009, Juncos Racing entered in the former Star Mazda Championship (now the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires), where the team had great success in its maiden season, finishing second in the driver’s championship and third in the team championship. The following year, the team captured its first championship in the series with Indiana native Conor Daly. Fast forward to 2015, where Juncos Racing had its most successful season capturing the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires driver’s championship with current Verizon Indy Car Series driver Spencer Pigot and also claiming the Pro Mazda team championship.
The mission of Juncos Racing is to develop young drivers from around the world into the next level of their racing careers through the Juncos Racing Driver Development Program. Through this program, the team not only works with drivers on track to improve their skills behind the wheel, but also gives them the tools needed to understand the engineering and mechanics of the race car. Drivers who have participated in the program and have gone on to compete in the next level include Peter Dempsey, Conor Daly, Connor De Phillippi, Chase Austin, Kyle Kaiser, Nicolas Dapero and Spencer Pigot.
Source :IndyLights.com
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