Junior Open Wheel Talent

(photo: FormulaTwo.com)

Dean Stoneman, 21, will be traveling to North America on Monday to test an Indy Lights machine at Las Vegas, according to a report by Autosport.com’s Sam Tremayne.

Stoneman has also been testing a Formula Renault 3.5 machine while evaluating options for next season. For those who don’t know, the talented Briton recently beat testicular cancer. After 12 months away from racing, he’s looking to make a full-time return to the sport he loves.

Prior to his diagnosis, Stoneman won the 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship with six wins and 13 podiums. Last month, he tested a World Series by Renault car with ISR at Aragon. It will be nice to see him return to the cockpit. Regardless of the route he chooses for 2012, he will undoubtedly add tremendous depth to the field.

On Monday, the Indy Lights winter testing ban will be lifted and I should have more information on who’s testing with whom. Stay tuned for updates.

For up-to-date news and views on karting and junior formula racing follow @JOWT on Twitter or follow on Facebook.

Conor Daly
(Photo: Ryan - JuniorOpenWheelTalent.com)

Conor Daly will test an F3 Euro Open car with Team West-Tec at Valencia on Monday, Dec. 12.

It’s likely Daly is simply using the Formula 3 test for additional experience with plans of returning to GP3 next season. He has recently been testing a GP3 car at Valencia as well.

Last season the Indiana native — who turns 20 on Dec. 15 — split time between Indy Lights and GP3. However, a season in an F3 championship hasn’t been ruled out. For that matter, neither has a return to the Indy Lights championship.

Last season, Daly competed in 16 GP3 races with Carlin logging a best-finish of fifth place at Spa-Francorchamps. In Firestone Indy Lights, he ran five events for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, earning a win at Long Beach and a pole position in Baltimore.

For up-to-date news and views on karting and junior formula racing follow @JOWT on Twitter or follow on Facebook.

IndyCar announced the following this afternoon:

Mazda Road to Indy teams will get a jump start on 2012 when INDYCAR hosts a two-day test open to USF2000 National Championship, Star Mazda Championship and Firestone Indy Lights teams at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course on Oct. 28-29. The Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Open Test is dedicated to the memory of Chris Griffis, the team manager of Sam Schmidt Motorsports’ Firestone Indy Lights team, who died unexpectedly on Sept. 12.

Read the full release here.

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[Update] – View the entry list for the Chris Griffis Memorial ‘Road to Indy’ test.

Spencer Pigot had a pretty good final week in February.

The 17-year-old Florida resident spent two days, Feb. 23-24, piloting a Bryan Herta Autosport Indy Lights car around Palm Beach International Raceway. The test was arranged by Skip Barber Racing after Pigot won the 2010 Skip Barber National Championship.

Said Pigot in a release,“Driving the Indy Lights car was an incredible experience! It was great to have someone like Bryan [Herta] there to give me all of the advice and tips I needed…Driving this car is something I didn’t think would happen until much later in my career. I have to thank Skip Barber Racing School and Bryan Herta Autosport for giving me this opportunity.”

This season, Pigot has graduated to the USF2000 National Championship with Andretti Autosport.

It’s good to be king.

The Rock Island Grand Prix and the Mazda Road to Indy have set-up a multi-year partnership that will see the King of the Streets victor receive a USF2000 test day.

For those who don’t know, the RIGP is the world’s largest go-kart street race held every year over Labor Day weekend in Rock Island, Illinois. The event traditionally draws some of the biggest names in karting as well as several key members of the motorsports’ community. The headline event — known as the ‘King of the Streets’ — features shifter kart pilots battling it out for the prestigious RIGP crown.

I’ve attended the RIGP for the last several years to provide live coverage and before that took part in the event as a competitor. It’s arguably the best weekend of the year and certainly one of the most fun racing weekends on the annual calendar. If you’ve never attended, make sure to put it on your bucket list.

Anyway, back to the partnership. This is pretty big news. I know IndyCar has been working to link up to the karting world for some time now. Obviously, with so many sanctions and series competing, this is a tall task; you don’t want to alienate one group of karters by supporting another. I think this new partnership with the RIGP is a positive step because it’s a big race with competitors from all over the world participating — plus it’s a one-off event that draws talent from various forms of karting. If nothing else, it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

Bryan Clauson, who picked up the inaugural ‘Road to Indy’ United States Auto Club scholarship by winning the USAC National Drivers Championship, is testing his Sam Schmidt Motorsports’ Indy Lights car today at Phoenix International Raceway.

As part of the scholarship, Clauson, 21, will drive all the oval events on the 2011 Indy Lights calendar for SSM. His first race is scheduled for May 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Today’s test on PIR’s one-mile oval will be his first in an Indy Lights machine.

Clauson is joined in Phoenix by teammate Victor Carbone — who signed with SSM earlier this month — as well as up-and-comers Rusty Mitchell and Giancarlo Vilarinho.

Mitchell, who tested with Sam Schmidt in early December, is hoping to make his Indy Lights debut in 2011 after spending the past three seasons in a Star Mazda car. Vilarinho made his Lights’ debut last season at Mid-Ohio (13th) with Andersen Racing. He followed that performance up with a top-10 in his second start at Infineon Raceway.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports spent Monday, Dec. 6, testing Star Mazda competitor Rusty Mitchell and F2000 driver Victor Carbone in its Indy Lights car at Sebring International Raceway.

This was the first Indy Lights experience for both Mitchell and Carbone, who took to the track with temperatures hovering just below the 60-degree mark.

Neither driver has committed to a series for 2011, but both hope to get back in an Indy Lights machine following the holiday testing ban.

Carbone, 18, won the 2010 F2000 Championship Series with six wins and eight podiums. Mitchell, 27, finished ninth in the 2010 Star Mazda Championship with two top-five finishes and 10 top-10s.

Stay tuned for future updates.

James Hinchcliffe

Canadian James Hinchcliffe is scheduled to test an IndyCar with Newman-Haas on Dec. 14-15 at Sebring International Raceway, according to Norris McDonald.

Hopefully this will end as more than just a great opportunity, and the talented 23-year-old will land a full-time ride in IndyCar for 2011.

Hinchcliffe concluded his 2010 Indy Lights season ranked second in the drivers’ championship with three wins and 10 top-fives in 13 starts, driving for Team Moore Racing. In early October, the Toronto native was awarded the prestigious Greg Moore Legacy Award.

[Update] – According to inside sources, this news was prematurely released and details are still being finalized. Stay tuned for an official PR announcement.

[Update II]- It’s confirmed.

Spencer Pigot, who won the 2010 Skip Barber National Championship, is scheduled to test a USF2000 car with Cape Motorsports/Wayne Taylor Racing at Sebring on Thursday, Nov. 25 (Happy Thanksgiving).

Pigot, who was awarded the Team USA Scholarship this fall, recently returned from Europe where he finished fourth in the Formula Ford Festival and seventh in the Walter Hayes Trophy. The talented 17-year-old plans to evaluate his options by testing with several USF2000 teams before making a commitment for the 2011 season.

Stay tuned for updates.

Several drivers are evaluating options for 2011 and with that being the case, it’s time for another Indy Lights testing update.

Conor Daly, who was recently awarded the Gorsline Scholarship, is in the process of wrapping up his third Indy Lights test. While Daly hopes to race in Europe for 2011, he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of continuing his climb up the “Road to Indy” ladder.  The 2010 Star Mazda Champion spent today piloting the No. 26 Andretti Autosport car around Mount Meridian’s 1.78 mile, 10-turn Putnam Park Road Course. Daly previously tested a Lights car with Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Andersen Racing.

Following today’s test, Daly tweeted:

Great day today with Andretti Autosport! Awesome opportunity to learn from a great team. Good experience!

Philip Major — who spent the 2010 Indy Lights season with SSM — was also in attendance at today’s Andretti Autosport test. It was reported that Daly and Major will return to the cockpit again tomorrow for a second day of testing.

Michael Ramies is scheduled to complete his first oval test with PDM Racing on Nov. 11-12 at Nashville Speedway. The 19-year-old completed his first Indy Lights test with PDM at Putnam Park in late October. He’s hoping to run a full campaign in 2011.

It was rumored that Sam Schmidt Motorsports was planning to test American GP3 pilot Josef Newgarden and Brazilian Duarte Ferreira on Monday, Nov. 8. I was unable to reach Sam Schmidt for confirmation prior to publishing this piece. So, for now, this test is strictly a rumor.  But if it hasn’t already taken place, it’s likely that it will sometime soon.

Newgarden spent the 2010 season in Europe driving for Carlin in the inaugural GP3 Series. It was a learning year for the 19-year-old Tennessee native, but one where growth was evident. He earned a pole position at Hockenheim in July and posted his best finish of the year during the season finale at Monza.

Ferreira, who is reportedly a protégé of IndyCar’s Bruno Junqueira, spent the 2010 season in South American F3. He finished runner-up in the 2010 championship with five wins and 11 podiums. He seemed to really hit his stride at Velopark where he won three straight events.

Stay tuned for more testing updates right here at JuniorOpenWheelTalent.com