Andretti Autosport, Road to Indy St. Pete report

Matthew Brabham

MATT BRABHAM
NO. 83 ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

– Came away P5 in the IL15's first official practice session of the 2015 Indy Lights Championship
– Ran 17 laps in the morning session with a best time of 01:07:9134

"It was a day of ups and downs really. This morning was okay – it was only my second day in the car, so to get out there and come away P5 was okay. Obviously I want to be P1, and we're still working towards that. We made quite a lot of setup changes from the first session to the second session, it's just unfortunate that the second session got rained off and canceled. We didn't get to try those changes but we'll go into qualifying and see how it goes tomorrow. Having a lot of fun so far – it's good to be back in St. Pete."

Shelby Blackstock with his mother Reba McEntire

SHELBY BLACKSTOCK
NO. 51 STARSTRUCK MAZDA

– Nashville native finished Practice One in P10, officially marking the start of his Indy Lights rookie campaign
– Today completed 18 laps with a best time of 01:08.5328

"Today wasn't the day we really wanted. The first session, we needed a couple of setup changes and we weren't exactly where we thought we would be. We did make some setup changes for Practice Two, but unfortunately there was some precipitation coming out of the upper atmosphere (haha). The session ended up getting called, but we still have a lot to look forward to tomorrow. I want to thank the Starstruck Andretti Autosport guys for giving me a good car that I think has a great chance to get us a nice qualifying position tomorrow."

WEIRON TAN
NO. 22 WEIRON TAN ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

– Pro Mazda Championship rookie ran a total of 23 laps today coming away third quickest overall
– The Malaysian racer set a fastest lap of 01:12:9013

"It's great to be in St. Pete today; it was my first time driving on a street course. Everything here is great – the fans are really cool, it's a really good atmosphere… I'm sure it will be even better on Sunday. So far so good. Practice Two was a bit wet, so we didn't really get to run much. Practice One was good – just getting my head around the track. We're really looking forward to qualifying tomorrow so it's all been good."

DALTON KELLETT
NO. 28 K-LINE INSULATORS USA, INC. ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT MAZDA

– The 21-year-old finished today's rainy afternoon practice session third quickest and 11th over the two sessions
– Series sophomore's best time over 28 laps was 01:13.8046

"It was good to get on track at St. Pete for the season opener here. The track is great as always. Sadly there was a little bit of rain this afternoon, but we still managed to get a little bit of time on track before the rain came down too hard. We ended up P3 in the session, so we're really looking forward to tomorrow's qualifying."

Andretti Autosport