The 2017 Pro Mazda Championship was the 19th season in series history. A 12-race schedule was announced in September 2016.
This was the final season using the Star chassis and Mazda rotary engine combination. In 2018, the Tatuus-designed PM18 chassis would be the specified car, mated to a Mazda MZR piston engine.
Brazilian Victor Franzoni, who secured his ride in Pro Mazda with Juncos Racing the week before the season started, prevailed in a season-long back-and-forth championship battle with 2016 U.S. F2000 National Championship winner Anthony Martin. Franzoni held a small lead heading into the series' final double-header at Watkins Glen International. Franzoni won both races to clinch the championship. Franzoni finished first or second in every race and finished with seven wins from six poles. Martin won five races from six poles. Carlos Cunha captured podium finishes in the last five races (for six total) to capture third in the championship ahead of TJ Fischer who finished on the podium in the first four races but faded down the stretch. Every race was won by either Franzoni or Martin and every pole but one was captured by them, with Cunha sitting on the pole for the first race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The less-expensive National Class was more hotly contested than usual on an individual race basis, with some races seeing as many as five entries. However, only one driver Brendan Puderbach contested all twelve rounds of the championship and by virtue of that captured the National Class title. Bob Kaminsky captured a class-best five class wins and finished second in the championship.
Drivers and teams Team Drivers Rounds ArmsUp Motorsports 3 Matt Machiko 3–4, 11–12 6 Max Hanratty 1–2, 5–9 Cape Motorsports 8 Anthony Martin All FatBoy Racing 3 Matt Machiko 1–2 31 Brendan Puderbach (N) All 83 Charles Finelli (N) 1–6, 11–12 JDC MotorSports 12 Kris Wright 5–9, 11–12 Juncos Racing 23 Victor Franzoni All 60 Jeff Green All Kaminsky Racing 57 Bob Kaminsky (N) 3–9 Kevin Davis Racing 44 Kevin Davis (N) 1–4 Team Pelfrey 80 Nikita Lastochkin All 81 Carlos Cunha All 82 TJ Fischer All 84 Robert Megennis 11–12 Unfair Advantage Motorsports 2 Dave Zavelson (N) 5–9 5 Kevin Bury (N) 5–9 World Speed Motorsports 2 Steven Ford (N) 3–4 13 Bobby Eberle All 14 Sting Ray Robb All 15 Phillippe Denes 1–4 Icon Class (N) National Class
Race calendar and results
Rnd Circuit Location Date Pole position Fastest lap Most laps led Winning driver Winning team 1 Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida March 11 Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports 2 March 12 Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports 3 Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Speedway, Indiana May 12 Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing 4 May 13 Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing 5 Grand Prix of Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 25 Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing 6 June 26 Anthony Martin TJ Fischer Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports 7 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio July 28 Carlos Cunha Victor Franzoni Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports 8 July 29 Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing 9 July 30 Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports 10 Gateway Motorsports Park Madison, Illinois August 25 Anthony Martin Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing 11 Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York September 2 Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Anthony Martin Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing 12 September 3 Victor Franzoni Carlos Cunha Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni Juncos Racing
Championship standings
Drivers' Championship Pos Driver STP IMS ROA MOH GMP WGL Points Championship class 1 Victor Franzoni 2 2 1* 1* 1* 2 2 1 2 1* 1* 1*351 2 Anthony Martin 1* 1* 2 4 2 1* 1* 2* 1* 2 2 3333 3 Carlos Cunha 4 12 4 3 9 4 4 3 3 3 3 2237 4 TJ Fischer 3 3 3 2 15 12 3 4 4 4 10 5224 5 Nikita Lastochkin 5 5 6 5 3 3 5 5 6 6 13 4203 6 Sting Ray Robb 7 4 7 7 4 11 10 6 5 7 4 6185 7 Bobby Eberle 10 8 8 8 8 6 9 11 7 9 7 9157 8 Jeff Green 13 9 10 13 6 5 13 13 10 5 11 10151 9 Max Hanratty 8 6 5 15 6 10 897 10 Kris Wright 13 9 7 8 11 5 895 11 Matt Machiko 9 13 11 9 6 774 12 Phillippe Denes 6 7 5 661 13 Robert Megennis 12 DNS21 National class 1 Brendan Puderbach 12 14 DNS 11 10 14 14 12 13 8 8 DNS187 2 Bob Kaminsky 9 14 7 13 8 7 9134 3 Charles Finelli 14 10 14 DNS 12 8 9 DNS115 4 Dave Zavelson 11 7 11 9 1291 5 Kevin Davis 11 11 12 1080 6 Kevin Bury 14 10 12 14 1464 7 Steven Ford 13 1230 Pos Driver STP IMS ROA MOH GMP WGL Points 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 notparticipateIn-line notationBoldPole position(1 point)ItalicsRan fastest race lap(1 point)*Led most race laps(1 point)Not awarded if more thanone driver leads most lapsRookie
Teams' championship PosTeamPoints 1Team Pelfrey381 2Juncos Racing372 3World Speed Motorsports267
See also 2017 IndyCar Series season 2017 Indy Lights championship
References
External links