The 2011 Star Mazda Championship was the 13th Star Mazda Championship season, the second under the Mazda Road to Indy program, and the first under IndyCar sanctioning, after 12 years under the International Motor Sports Association umbrella. As part of the program's expansion, the series champion will be provided a scholarship to advance into Firestone Indy Lights for the 2012 season.[ 1] The season will feature 11 races over 10 weekends, with four road courses, three street circuits and three ovals on the schedule.[ 2]
The series consisted of a main championship as well as an Expert championship for drivers over 30 years of age, combining previous years' Expert and Masters championships.
JDC MotorSports ' Tristan Vautier won four races on his way to the championship by a 25-point margin over Connor De Phillippi , who also won four races. Vautier finished in the top five in every race.[ 3] Andretti Autosport rookie Sage Karam also won two oval races and captured Rookie of The Year honors. J. W. Roberts won the Expert Championship when closest rival Walt Bowlin did not enter the final race of the season. The team championship went to Team Pelfrey which fielded cars for De Phllippi and Nick Andries , who finished third in points.[ 3]
Race calendar and results [ edit ] The race schedule was announced on December 20, 2010.[ 2]
Rnd Circuit Location Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Supporting 1 Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida March 26 Martin Scuncio Connor De Phillippi Connor De Phillippi Team Pelfrey IndyCar Series 2 Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama April 10 Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier JDC MotorSports IndyCar Series 3 Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis Brownsburg, Indiana May 28 Connor De Phillippi Nick Andries Connor De Phillippi Team Pelfrey USAC Midgets 4 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin June 19 Nick Andries Sage Karam Sage Karam Andretti Autosport IndyCar Series 5 Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa June 25 Sage Karam Sage Karam Sage Karam Andretti Autosport IndyCar Series 6 Mosport International Raceway Bowmanville, Ontario July 24 Sage Karam Nick Andries João Victor Horto Juncos Racing American Le Mans Series 7 Circuit Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières , Quebec August 6 Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier JDC MotorSports Firestone Indy Lights 8 August 7 Tristan Vautier Connor De Phillippi Connor De Phillippi Team Pelfrey 9 Infineon Raceway Sonoma, California August 27 Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier JDC MotorSports IndyCar Series 10 Streets of Baltimore Baltimore , Maryland September 4 Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier JDC MotorSports IndyCar Series 11 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California September 18 Connor De Phillippi Connor De Phillippi Connor De Phillippi Team Pelfrey American Le Mans Series
Championship standings [ edit ] 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 (DNP) Not competing
In-line notation Bold Pole position (1 point) Italics Ran fastest race lap (1 point)
1 Larry Pegram was not registered for the championship at St. Pete and not eligible for points.
Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Points 44 40 37 34 32 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
^ "Mazda helps pave the Road to Indy" . Firestone Indy Lights . Indy Racing League . December 9, 2010. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2010 . ^ a b "The Star Mazda Championship completes the series' 2011 schedule with the addition of the IndyCar weekend at Barber Motorsports Park April 9 – 10" (PDF) . Star Mazda Championship . International Motor Sports Association . December 19, 2010. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2010 . ^ a b De Phillippi Wins Season-Finale as Vautier Captures Series Title Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine , eFormulaCarNews , September 18, 2011, Retrieved 2011-09-18 ^ "JDC MotorSports Signs Race Winner Vautier for 2011 Star Mazda Title Run" (PDF) . Star Mazda Championship . JDC Motorsports. February 15, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2011 . ^ a b c 2011 Star Mazda Championship Driver List / Infineon Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine , Star Mazda Championship , Retrieved 2011-08-25 ^ Mancuso Joins JDC MotorSports Driver Line-Up Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine , eFormulaCarNews , February 17, 2011, Retrieved 2011-02-17 ^ "2011 Star Mazda Championship Driver List / Night Before the 500" (PDF) . starmazda.com . Star Mazda Championship . May 26, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 17, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011 . ^ "Miller rejoins JDC Motorsports for Star Mazda season-opener" (PDF) . Star Mazda Championship . JDC Motorsports. February 7, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011 . ^ a b c d "Juncos Racing Announces Driver Lineup for 2011 Star Mazda Championship" (PDF) . juncosracing.com . Juncos Racing. December 22, 2010. pp. 1–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2010 . ^ a b c d e f "2011 Star Mazda Championship Driver List / Grand Prix of St. Petersburg" (PDF) . starmazda.com . Star Mazda Championship . March 22, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2011 . ^ Sepulveda, Jose Luis. Martín Scuncio se retira de la Star Mazda Series Archived 2011-08-31 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish) , Racing5 , 2 August 2011, Retrieved 2011-08-04 ^ Team Pelfrey Signs De Phillippi for 2011 Championship Charge Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine , eFormulaCarNews , February 9, 2011, Retrieved 2011-02-09 ^ "Pelfrey Indy Racing re-creates a famed launch pad for rising IndyCar stars" (PDF) . pelfreyindyracing.com . Pelfrey Indy Racing. January 7, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 24, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011 . ^ a b 2011 Star Mazda Championship Driver List / Mazda Raceway Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine , Star Mazda Championship , Retrieved 2011-09-15 ^ "An Irish hotshoe accelerates down the Road to Indy – Team GDT signs USF2000 Star Patrick McKenna for the 2011 Star Mazda Championship" (PDF) . Star Mazda Championship . Team GDT. February 8, 2011. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2011 . ^ "Championship-winning Star Mazda team ramps up an expanded effort for 2011" (PDF) . Star Mazda Championship . Team GDT. January 26, 2011. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2011 . ^ Zach Veach Added to Andretti Autosport’s Star Mazda Lineup at Sonoma, Laguna Seca , Andretti Autosport PR , August 18, 2011, Retrieved 2011-08-18 ^ "Andretti Autosport signs Sage Karam as driver for 2011 Star Mazda Championship" . andrettiautosport.com . Andretti Autosport . November 15, 2010. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2010 .