MONTEREY, Calif. – Everybody pitched in to pack up the John Cummiskey Racing transporter following the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda doubleheader at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca that marked the completion of a successful first season for the team.
Anthony Martin earned Rookie of the Year honors with a trio of second-place finishes among 13 top fives in 16 races, and he’ll return this week to Australia energized to locate funding to return for a run at the 2016 series championship.
Cummiskey, a former Indy car chief mechanic with Team Penske and Team Green and Dragon Racing team manager, said he's "learned a lot" and overall satisfied.
“(Martin’s) performance has exceeded the expectation although we had high expectations coming in, especially me for the team and for the cars,” Cummiskey said. “We’ve tried to focus on good preparation and being really open with the drivers.
“I was in Indy cars for 25 years and I can pass on experience to these young people – drivers and on the crew side – and I feel that is my responsibility because I had people do that to me when I was starting out. It’s kind of paying it forward.
“If he goes off and succeeds down the road that is satisfying for me because that’s what we’re here to do.”
Martin, 20, working with engineer Louis D’Agostino, made the decision in December 2014 to race in North America on the first rung of the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder.
“John’s car preparation is second to none. When you go out on the racetrack you know you’re going out with a car that will be very strong and nothing mechanical is going to go wrong,” he said. “A single-car team as well is difficult because you’re working off your data and what you think you should do. But to be where we are is a great feeling.
“The whole Road to Indy is just so well-defined. The move to America I never saw in the cards. It was difficult at first from living at home. It’s helped me mature, I suppose.”
De Silvestro to join Bourdais at Bathurst
Simona de Silvestro, who drove in three Verizon IndyCar Series races this past season for Andretti Autosport, will co-drive a V8 Supercars entry with Renee Gracie in the Bathurst 1000 next month in Australia.
The car No. 200 will be in recognition of the City of Bathurst's bicentennial.
Four-time Indy car champion Sebastien Bourdais, who won two Verizon IndyCar Series races this past season with KVSH Racing, also will compete at Bathurst. He co-drove with Lee Holdsworth to a seventh-place finish Sept. 13 in the Sandown 500 – the first leg of the Pirtek Enduro Cup that also include Bathurst and Surfers Paradise.
Meanwhile, Vautier headed to Europe
Tristan Vautier, who drove in 11 Verizon IndyCar Series races this past season for Dale Coyne Racing, will compete in the final round of the Blancpain Endurance Series this weekend at the Nurburgring track in Germany.
He’ll co-drive a Ferrari 458 Italia for AKKA ASP in the GT3 class. Vautier, the 2013 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, 2012 Indy Lights champion and 2011 Pro Mazda champion, said at the Mazda Road to Indy championship weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca that he’s hopeful of continuing with Dale Coyne Racing in 2016.
Of note
Mazda, Andersen Promotions and Cooper Tires – partners in the Mazda Road to Indy – combined to donate more than $10,000 to the Wilson Children’s Fund. … Carlin racing director Trevor Carlin said the team’s first year in Indy Lights, which included four wins and five poles between Max Chilton and Ed Jones, was “successful” and he plans to add at least one car to the grid for 2016. … Will Owen, 20, of Plano, Texas, who posted five top-five finishes with Juncos Racing in Pro Mazda, is a Texas Christian University sophomore who recently earned his private pilot’s license. … Weiron Tan notched all four of his Pro Mazda victories from the pole in an Andretti Autosport car. He and Neil Alberico of Los Gatos, Calif., tied for the series lead in wins. … At 16, Patricio O’Ward was the youngest full-season competitor in the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder this season. He competed in Pro Mazda with Team Pelfrey.