BALTIMORE, Aug. 29 — As summer traditionally draws to a close on Labor Day weekend, students all over America are wishing for just a little more vacation time. Young people who have spent the summer training to be professional race car drivers want more time too, whether they’re going back to school or not. They want to earn as many points as possible in the 2012 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear before the season ends in October. Drivers in this Mazda Road to Indy series, including Team GDT’s two rookies, Andres Méndez and Ryan Tveter, need good showings this weekend in the Star Mazda doubleheader at the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT, as only two more events remain after this weekend. They face a jam-packed schedule in Baltimore. They’ll have just 30 minutes of track time at 8:40 a.m. Friday morning before qualifications are held at 1:55 p.m. that afternoon.
Méndez, of Bogotá, Colombia, and Tveter, of Oyster Bay, N.Y., will try to use those 30 minutes of practice wisely.
Getting acclimated to the 2.02-mile, 12-turn track quickly and arriving at a comfortable set-up for their cars will be crucial as they prepare for their races at 2:35 p.m. Saturday and 11:35 a.m. on Sunday. Saturday’s race is slated for 30 minutes and Sunday’s is scheduled to last 40 minutes. The starting grid for Sunday’s race will be determined by each driver’s fastest race lap on Saturday. The series features standing starts.
Méndez, who drives the No. 53 sponsored by DataFile Internacional S.A. and Grupo Kriterion, has never been to Baltimore before this week. He’s coming off his best finish ever in the series with a seventh-place finish at Trois-Rivières, Quebec, earlier this month.
Tveter, of Oyster Bay, N.Y., had his best finish of the season to date during the Canadian swing too when he placed fifth at Edmonton, Alberta in July. He drives the No. 33. He’s welcoming a new marketing partner for the balance of the season in the Swiss watchmaker CIMIER. He’s also sponsored by Motorola Mobility, LLC.
Both of Team GDT’s rookies are trying their best to learn as much as possible this season. They both finished in the top 10 at the most recent race. They also both advanced eight positions from where they started on the grid in that race, which was more than any other driver.
Méndez has been forced to learn how to size up a track quickly this year. He’s never competed in any event at any of the tracks he’s raced on during his 2012 Star Mazda campaign.
“It’s my first time in Baltimore, like all my races this season,”he confirmed. “Since the Canadian swing I’ve been working really hard at home on sponsor acquisition, training in go-karts and the simulator for our upcoming race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and on my fitness program, which includes a regular workout, mixed martial arts training and other sports that I compete in. It was a lot of fun as well as work, but now it’s time to go back to the office — my race car. I can’t wait to be on the track. I want to keep moving forward and get two good results in Baltimore.”
Tveter, who started his freshman year at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., on Monday, competed in two USF2000 races at last year’s Baltimore Grand Prix and he had good results in both of them. He started 19th in the first one and finished tenth. He started 14th in the second race and placed eighth.
“The Baltimore street circuit is one of the few places I’m racing at in Star Mazda this year that I’ve seen before,” Tveter said. “That will help, because there isn’t much track time. We only have one practice session, so getting up to speed quickly will be very important.
One chicane has been removed from the course this year.
“I think the track is cool,” Tveter added. “It’s a challenging circuit and it’s a really cool event to be racing at the Inner Harbor and seeing all the fans who come out to this race.”
More than 100,000 fans attended this event last year, according to the event’s Website at 2012BaltimoreGrand Prix.com. The temporary street circuit runs from the Inner Harbor to Camden Yards and also passes the Baltimore Convention Center. ESPN proclaimed last year’s event was the best inaugural street race in America in the last 30 years.
The Baltimore Star Mazda races will be broadcast on the Mazda Motorsports Hour on the Velocity network at noon on Saturday, Sept. 29. The teams will try to find a cable TV set before Saturday’s race too, as the Trois-Rivières coverage is scheduled to air on the same network at noon this Saturday.
Fans can learn more about Team GDT on its Facebook page or through Twitter @TeamGDT.
Both Méndez and Tveter also have Facebook and Twitter accounts. Méndez’s Website is at agMéndez.com and Tveter’s is at RyanTveter.com. The series’ Website is at StarMazda.com. A link to live timing and scoring is included on the latter site.