K-Rex at the Mazda Road
Oct 08
kaylen frederick | pilot one racing | racing into turn

K-Rex at the Mazda Road

After a shakedown of the new car at Putnam Park Raceway on the Thursday before the official MRTI test, Kaylen and Team Pelfrey rolled into the Indianapolis Speedway and dug in for the weekend schedule. Team Pelfrey was one of twelve Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda teams to participate in the two-day, sixth Annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team was eager to debut the two brand-new Tatuus USF-17 cars around the Grand Prix circuit in preparation for the 2017 season with Team Pelfrey regulars Kaylen Frederick, USF 2000 2016 Rookie of the Year Robert Megennis, and Calvin Ming piloting the current spec Van Diemen machine.

A total of 1,116 laps (2,721.924 miles) were completed during the day by 20 different drivers on the 2.439-mile road course. Kaylen Frederick & Rob Megennis worked along tightly scheduled test plans with Team Pelfrey’s Technical Director Tom Knapp and USF 2000 Driver Coach Tom Dyer for these two flying days at Indy.

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Mazda Road to Indy Chris Griffis Memorial Test: Day 1 Pilot ONE Racing driver K-Rex Rolling out to session 2

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Day 2: Mazda Road to Indy Chris Griffis Memorial Test

K-Rex tops the charts in session 6 – one of only 3 drivers at the Test to break into 1:24 second laps!

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Belting In the new Tatuus USF-17 @ Indy

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K-Rex: Top of the charts in a 20 car field – Throughout the 8 sessions

Day 1: P6, P3, P5, P5

Day 2: P3, P1, P2, P5

“Driving around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a special treat for all racers, and certainly was for me during my first on-track experience,” said 14-year-old Frederick who tested the USF-17. Finishing in the top-five in seven out of the eight practice session was an incredible feat for the youngest open wheel Pro Racing Driver in the United States. He claimed first place in session six with a 0.196-second lead over his teammate Megennis. “I want to thank Team Pelfrey for putting together an amazing package for this test,” said Frederick. “All in all, this Indy weekend was a great introduction ahead of my first full year in the MRTI series.”

Pilot ONE Racing: Big Shout-Out to Team Pelfrey for AMAZING days at the MRTI Indy Test: Thank you for an excellent test at the Brickyard – and for preparing a fast and mean Tatuus USF-17!

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Background: MRTI

USF2000 represents the first rung of the three-step Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires. The two higher levels, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, also were in action with nearly 40 drivers from 13 nations taking part during the two-day test October 8 & 9, 2016

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