新闻 - Zaggro Enjoys Career Season as Indy Rookie

Zaggro Enjoys Career Season as Indy Rookie

It was a 50/50 decision to jump up to Indy for Mack Zaggro at the end of season 32, but spurred on by his Indy Jr title fight with American Bo Darville - from whom only 1pt decided the Indy Jr Championship - the decision was made to carry the rivalry and accept a new challenge at the sharp end of Motorsport.

But what followed is arguably a season that none would have expected from the Brit.

Mack put his name firmly on the radar from Round 1 at St Petersburg, taking a shock pole position and narrowly missing the overall lap record by mere thousandths, a feat he would not repeat for the duration of the season. However, after an up and down, inconsistent first half of the season, Zaggro - renowned for his circuit driving opposed to oval skills - found form in a big way as the season drew on, registering no less than five podium finishes in seven races before the final round at Laguna Seca, where traffic trouble and a tyre strategy that didn't pay off saw the (now) 30 year old finish a lowly 10th, but somehow secure sufficient points to elevate himself to the top of the battle behind the big three, and finish a remarkable 4th in the standings.

Zaggro however was not the highest placed Rookie in the field, as series newcomer and Super GT graduate Kamil Speedowski Jr took silverware in his own Rookie Indy campaign, finishing 26 points clear of Mack in P3, a battle that may likely continue on into Season 34.

Despite being the only driver in the Top 10 to not register a win, Zaggro proved that consistency can pay dividends in a remarkably diversified field, where strategy and tyre choice can top even the fastest of opponents.

Season 33 of Indy boasted no less than ten different race winners across all rounds! No more so than eventual series Champion Dexter Morgan, who took 6 victories and won convincingly despite not taking a win for any of the first 5 rounds, reclaiming his Season 31 Indy series title.
Morgan and Speedowski Jr were joined by series runner up Osmolovskiy, who had also failed to register a victory until the final few rounds of the season. However, the final round at Laguna Seca was an outright mark of intent for a potential title challenge next season, as Osmolovskiy comfortably lapped most of the field on his way to a very convincing win, over 40 seconds clear of P2!

Having registered two previous P7 finishes in the standings, jumping to finish runner up is a major step!

The same level of progression can be said for Spaniard Marc Montane, who finished P5 overall, just 11 points behind Zaggro. Two previous runs in Indy saw Montane finish P17 as a Rookie, followed by a P9 the following season... The (nearly) 30 year old will likely be looking to push for silverware next season if he decides to remain in the series.

All in all, Indy has proven to be one of the most entertaining and diverse series I've entered. Where a full course caution at the right time can propell any driver into real contention, or take a result clean from under you. Coupled with options of between 2 and 6+ stop races and two tyre compounds, It panders to the adventurous manager!

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Looking forward to S34!

on 2019-08-26 22:31:06 by JordiMontané - 点赞: 4 | 分数： 7.667

Great review of the year mate! I can confirm Montané will take part in next season's Indy championship, looking to improve on that P5. I was delighted that he won a race! It's curious that after fighting sometimes in F3 Masters and in Bradley's s...

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