Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

Success at Laguna Seca last weekend was extra special for Santiago Urrutia.

The Uruguayan crowned a fine first season in the United States with the Pro Mazda title, coming after a tough campaign in GP3 last year.

But more prominent on his mind was the historical significance of his achievement, for him and his country.

The day before Urrutia wrapped up the title with a second-place finish in the penultimate race of the season marked 16 years since Gonzalo Rodriguez lost his life in a Champ Car accident at Laguna Seca.

While his passing came just before I started to follow other areas of racing, it only takes a quick look at Rodriguez’s record – or to watch the new film about his life, Gonchi – to see how good he was and why he was such a hero to those in Uruguay, a country with little previous heritage in the sport.

That weekend at Laguna Seca was to be his second start in Champ Car, for none other than Roger Penske. At the time, he was second in the Formula 3000 standings behind Nick Heidfeld, and had finished third a year earlier, with only Heidfeld and Juan Pablo Montoya ahead. He’d taken convincing wins at the Nurburgring, Spa and Monaco.

From the amount of support he has from his homeland (emotionally, if not financially), it’s clear that Urrutia is seen as the closest Uruguay had to a successor to Rodriguez, in terms of his potential to represent the country at the highest level. He does benefit from the same state-owned oil company backing that Rodriguez had, too.

Urrutia paid his first visit to the Californian circuit last weekend with Rodriguez firmly in his mind, racing with a tribute helmet and determined to win the title in his honour. When he did just that, the emotion was clear to see, picking up a Uruguayan flag from a marshal for his drive back to the pits.

?It is special to win the championship at this track. I?m sure ‘Gonza’ was here today. He is a hero in Uruguay; he’s my hero, too,? he said.

?I am grateful for everything he did for the sport in Uruguay. We are only three million people and he worked hard to get to IndyCar. I am giving the helmet to his foundation in Uruguay and I hope to one day be the second driver from Uruguay to race in IndyCar.?

Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

For Urrutia, his title represented unexpected glory in his first season in the USA, when he’s returned to winning ways after a very challenging GP3 campaign in 2014.

Urrutia’s reputation grew, both to his compatriots and to us at PaddockScout, with his performances in Formula Abarth in Italy in 2012.

With just a few races in the previous season under his belt, he won on three occasions to finish fourth in the standings behind the more experienced trio of champion Nicolas Costa, current GP3 leader Luca Ghiotto and Formula Renault 3.5 racer Bruno Bonifacio.

A switch to the Euroformula Open series followed for 2013, with Urrutia again finishing fourth in the standings with two wins.

After that promise, there were high hopes for his move into GP3, particularly as he had joined a strong team in Koiranen. The season was a nightmare though, with Urrutia failing to score a point, not finishing higher than 11th in 18 races.

Getting the budget together to do GP3 in the first place had been tough, so a season void of results wasn’t going to make doing a second campaign particularly easy. It was little surprise then, despite rumours of a switch to another GP3 team, that he headed to America.

Urrutia was a frontrunner from the off in Pro Mazda, with second in his first race and a win in his third. Two more victories followed and he was particularly consistent, only finishing outside of the top four on three occasions.

Thanks to Mazda’s Road to Indy scheme, Urrutia is poised for Indy Lights next season, and the possibility of emulating his hero Rodriguez by reaching the top level is well within reach.

Jamin dominates in USF2000

Urrutia was not the only former driver from the European single-seater scene celebrating at Laguna Seca, as Frenchman Nico Jamin sealed the USF2000 title with his fifth and sixth straight wins.

Jamin headed Stateside last year after seasons in French F4 and Formula Renault 2.0, and after taking ninth in his rookie USF2000 campaign, he won 10 of the 16 races this year and was off the podium just once.

He joins compatriots Jean-Karl Vernay, Tristan Vautier and Florian Latorre as Road to Indy champions since 2010.

Results Roundup

Formula Renault 3.5 ? Round 7/9 ? Nurburgring, Germany

Oliver Rowland continues to build his points lead over Matthieu Vaxiviere, winning race one from pole position. He was on pole again for race two but finishes 10th in mixed conditions, though that was one place ahead of Vaxiviere, who was fourth in race one. Tio Ellinas leads Gustav Malja in a Strakka 1-2 on Sunday, with Nyck de Vries taking two podiums to go third in the standings.

Race 1: 1 Rowland; 2 de Vries; 3 Jaafar; 4 Vaxiviere; 5 Dillmann; 6 Ellinas
Race 2: 1 Ellinas; 2 Malja; 3 de Vries; 4 Celis; 5 Orudzhev; 6 Stoneman
Standings: Rowland 235; Vaxiviere 185; de Vries 116; Stoneman 106; Jaafar 106; Elinas 96
Next round: Le Mans (26-27 September)

Photo: Gregory Lenormand/DPPI

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 ? Round 5/7 ? Nurburgring, Germany

The title race closes up further, with the top four now split by just 12 points. While Louis Deletraz, Kevin Jorg and Jake Hughes have solid but unspectacular weekends with best finishes of fourth, fifth and fifth, Jack Aitken gets his third win of the year in race one. Ben Barnicoat recovers from Silverstone nightmare to win race two, meaning he’s only 45 points off the lead, with Anthoine Hubert within 29 after?a podium.

Race 1: 1 Aitken; 2 Sasahara; 3 Isaakyan; 4 Barnicoat; 5 Hughes; 6 Deletraz
Race 2: 1 Barnicoat; 2 Kodric; 3 Hubert; 4 Deletraz; 5 Jorg; 6 Aitken
Standings: Deletraz 144; Jorg 139; Aitken 136; Hughes 132; Hubert 115; Barnicoat 99
Next round: Le Mans (26-27 September)

ADAC F4 ? Round 7/8 ? Oschersleben, Germany

Joel Eriksson keeps the heat on Marvin Dienst by winning the two main races, but Dienst still takes a 30-point advantage to the final round by finishing second on both occasions, then fourth in race three. Joey Mawson wins the final race to keep his hopes alive, while there’s podium appearances for Robert Shwartzman, Mick Schumacher, Tim Zimmermann and Marek Bockmann.

Race 1: 1 Eriksson; 2 Dienst; 3 Shwartzman; 4 Schumacher; 5 Waldherr; 6 Zimmermann
Race 2: 1 Eriksson; 2 Dienst; 3 Schumacher; 4 Zimmermann; 5 Beckmann; 6 Ortmann
Race 3: 1 Mawson; 2 Zimmermann; 3 Bockmann; 4 Dienst; 5 Shwartzman; 6 Esmeijer
Standings: Dienst, 310; Eriksson, 280; Mawson, 256; Shwartzman 167; Zimmermann, 134; Esmeijer, 124
Next round: Hockenheim (3-4 October)

BRDC F4 ? Round 7/8 ? Donington Park, United Kingdom

Will Palmer secures the title with his ninth and 10th wins of the season, after finishing second in race one to team-mate Harrison Newey, who scores his maiden car racing win from pole position and ends the weekend by taking second in the standings from Tom Jackson, who struggles.

Race 1: 1 Newey; 2 Palmer; 3 Vaidyanathan; 4 Haggerty; 5 Ismail; 6 Bartholomew
Race 2: 1 Palmer; 2 Bartholomew; 3 Vaidyanathan; 4 Haggerty; 5 Ismail; 6 Jackson
Race 3: 1 Palmer; 2 Fonseca; 3 Newey; 4 Fallas; 5 Haggerty; 6 Ismail
Standings: Palmer 507; Newey 388; Jackson 379; Haggerty 356; Fonseca 344; Albert 307
Next round: Brands Hatch (26-27 September)

Photo: BRDC F4

Indy Lights ? Round 10/10 ? Laguna Seca, United States

Spencer Pigot wins both races at the final round to snatch the title away from Jack Harvey, who can only manage fifth and ninth as his team lacks pace throughout. Kyle Kaiser and Ed Jones make the podium in race one, with Sean Rayhall and double polesitter Max Chilton there in race two.

Race 1: 1 Pigot; 2 Kaiser; 3 Jones; 4 Rayhall; 5 Harvey; 6 Enerson
Race 2: 1 Pigot; 2 Rayhall; 3 Chilton; 4 Jones; 5 Blackstock; 6 Enerson
Standings: Pigot 357; Harvey 330; Jones 324; Enerson 295; Chilton 256; Serralles 237
Season complete

Pro Mazda ? Round 9/9 ? Laguna Seca, United States

Santiago Urrutia takes the title by finishing second in race one, a result he repeats in race two.?Garett Grist is the winner on both occasions. Urrutia’s rival Neil Alberico spins off two laps from the end of race one, ending his title hopes, but recovers with third in race two.

Race 1: 1 Grist; 2 Urrutia; 3 Owen; 4 Gutierrez; 5 Tan; 6 Kellett
Race 2: 1 Grist; 2 Urrutia; 3 Alberico; 4 Owen; 5 Kellett; 6 O’Ward
Standings: Urrutia 354; Alberico 302; Grist 294; Tan 282; Buret 281; O’Ward 250
Season complete

USF2000 ? Round 8/8 ? Laguna Seca, United States

Nico Jamin ends the season with his fifth and sixth consecutive wins, taking the title in style. Anthony Martin finishes second in race one ahead of Jake Eidson and Aaron Telitz, with Telitz heading Eidson and Martin in race two.

Race 1: 1 Jamin; 2 Martin; 3 Eidson; 4 Telitz; 5 Thompson; 6 Soori
Race 2: 1 Jamin; 2 Telitz; 3 Eidson; 4 Martin; 5 Lastochkin; 6 Portante
Standings: Jamin 457; Eidson 385; Telitz 348; Martin 300; Thompson 221; Gabin 194
Season complete

Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

Australian F4 ? Round 4/7 ? Sandown, Australia

Jordan Lloyd records the first ever hat-trick in the series, boosting his points lead. Rival Tom Randle is second in the first two races but fourth in the third. Three other drivers make the podium; Jimmy Vernon (twice), Jordan Love and Luis Leeds.

Race 1: 1 Lloyd; 2 Randle; 3 Vernon; 4 Love; 5 Maiolo; 6 Wood
Race 2: 1 Lloyd; 2 Randle; 3 Love; 4 Grech; 5 Hayek; 6 Leeds
Race 3: 1 Lloyd; 2 Leeds; 3 Vernon; 4 Randle; 5 Brown; 6 Hayek
Standings: Lloyd 264; Randle 194; Rowe 114; Leeds 114; Hayek 113; Brown 106
Next round: Surfers Paradise (24-25 October)

Brazilian F3 ? Round 6/8 ? Campo Grande, Brazil

Pedro Piquet continues his winning streak to wrap up the defence of his title. As usual, it involves coming from sixth on the reverse grid to win race two. Carlos Cunha and Christian Hahn finish on the race one podium, with Rodrigo Baptista and Nicolas Dapero there in race two.

Race 1: 1 Piquet; 2 Cunha; 3 Hahn; 4 Fortunato; 5 Iorio; 6 Fraga
Race 2: 1 Piquet; 2 Baptista; 3 Dapero; 4 Cunha; 5 Iorio; 6 Fortunato
Standings: Piquet, 153; Iorio, 87; Cunha, 81; Baptista, 72; Fortunato, 70; Dapero, 54
Next round: Curitiba (17-18 October)

F4 Sudamericana ? Round 5/8 ? Resistencia, Argentina

Ex-Ginetta Junior racer?Pedro Cardoso continues to lead the standings after winning race one, but his advantage over Juan Manuel Casella is reduced by a race two non-finish after contact with Federico?Iribarne, who was second in race one. Rodrigo Pflucker follows up third to beat Casella to the win in race two.

Race 1: 1 Cardoso; 2 Iribarne; 3 Pflucker; 4 Casella; 5 Caland; 6 Guedes
Race 2: 1 Pflucker; 2 Casella; 3 Caland; 4 Tomaselli; 5 Leguizamon; 6 Mauriziano
Standings: Cardoso, 163; Casella, 156; Pflucker, 132; Caland 97; Guedes, 92; Iribarne, 61
Next round: Rio Hondo (4 October)

Formula Ford Denmark ? Round 7/8 ? Padborg Park, Denmark

Mathias Weinreich Smith secures the title in his third season with one round to spare. Second place in race one behind?Daniel Lundgaard was enough to do it, before Smith won race two. Lundgaard won again in race three.

Race 1: 1 Lundgaard; 2 Smith; 3 Larsen; 4 S. Mortensen; 5 Schandorff; 6 Rytter
Race 2: 1 Smith; 2 Lundgaard; 3 Larsen; 4 Schandorff; 5 Rytter; 6 Jensen
Race 3: 1 Lundgaard; 2 Larsen; 3 Schandorff; 4 Christiansen; 5 Hoe; 6 Jensen
Standings: Smith, 403; Larsen, 310; Schandorff, 274; Lundgaard, 185; Rytter, 148; Christiansen, 141
Next round: Jyllandsringen (26-27 September)

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Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

Max Verstappen enjoyed an impressive first weekend as a Red Bull Junior in the FIA F3 European Championship at the Nurbrgring. After outclassing the field in a wet qualifying session, he claimed his eighth win of the campaign in race one despite twice losing the lead on a drying track. In race two he took the lead off the start and soaked up the pressure of having four drivers behind him, until he suffered an engine failure just laps from the end. Faced with the first of three grid ten-place grid penalties in race three, he dodged first corner carnage on his way from 12th to third.

Antonio Giovinazzi showed his Spielberg form was no fluke, inheriting his second victory in the space of three races in race two of the weekend, after coming third in the first race. His race three ended in turn one contact with Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman improved on his failure to score in Spielberg, but was only sixth in race one and needed Verstappen’s misfortune to make the podium in race two. His championship lead has been cut to 77 points, but he will wrap up the title next time out in Imola if he maintains a lead of over 75.

Lucas Auer scored his first win for 23 races in the final encounter, and after a seventh and a fifth in the earlier races, is still in mathematical title contention. Closer than him is Tom Blomqvist, who after a fifth in race one, started both of Sunday’s races from pole. A poor start left him second to team-mate Giovinazzi in race two, while he was passed at a restart by Auer in race three. Though his haul could have been larger, he has closed to within 87 points of Ocon.

Antonio Fuoco stole the lead from Verstappen at the start of race one despite starting fifth, but a mistake cost him the lead and forced the Ferrari driver to settle for second. He added two fourth places in Sunday’s races. Spike Goddard also led that first race after starting on wets, but he dropped back again once the track had dried out.

Auto GP: Kiss can’t stop Sato sealing title

Photo: Auto GP

Tamas Pal Kiss twice took the chequered flag first in the penultimate round of the Auto GP season at the Nurburgring, but his efforts would not be enough to prevent Kimiya Sato from wrapping up the series title. Kiss initially appeared to have taken victory in race one after the other top drivers had all been handed drive-through penalties for setting personal best sectors under a yellow flag on lap two.

However, the Hungarian was given a similar sanction post-race, dropping him to fourth and handing the win to Sato, who had come from the back of the grid after crashing in qualifying, despite being one of those to be penalised. Kiss did manage to seal a victory for good in race two, but third for Sato and the fastest lap was enough to give the Japanese driver a 51-point lead, therefore putting him out of reach with one weekend remaining and only 49 points available. Sato has only contested six of the seven rounds so far this campaign.

Markus Pommer scored his fourth pole of the season on home soil, but would have to make do with third and second in the two races. Kevin Giovesi was second in race one and sixth in race two.

British F3: Two for Cao, one for Rao

Photo: Sarah Warwick

Martin Cao and Matt Rao continued their scrap for the British F3 title at Thruxton amidst a new-low grid of just five cars, with the Fortec duo locking out the top two positions in each race. Chinese driver Cao took his first two wins in the series the opening races, with Rao settling for second.

Rao got the better of his rival in the final race of the weekend, which was enough for him to leave Thruxton with a four-point lead in the standings with two rounds remaining.

With Sam MacLeod opting to focus on an appearance in Japanese F3 next weekend and Andy Chang switching to the European championship, Peter Li completed the podium in the first two races, while Camren Kaminsky finally grabbed his first rostrum appearance in race three. Formula Ford racer Max Marshall replaced Chang alongside Kaminsky at Double R and took a trio of fourths.

BRDC F4: Fielding is first ever triple winner

Photo: BRDC F4

Sennan Fielding claimed his maiden BRDC F4 Championship win as the series returned to Silverstone for round five, and proceeded to add two more victories as he became the first driver to ever net a treble win in the category. None of his wins came easy, with the winning margin being less than half a second on each occasion as he was forced to defend a late attack from behind. While he led the first and third races from pole, the second saw him charge from eighth on the reverse grid after gambling correctly on slicks on a drying track. He’s moved up to third in the standings, just 29 points off the lead.

George Russell retained the championship lead, despite only managing a fifth and two sixths, complaining of a mysterious handling issue at a circuit where he won twice on his debut in April. In the opening two races he came out on top of battles with chief rival Raoul Hyman, but the South African finished a close second to Fielding in race three, enabling him to close to within 11 points of Russell with three rounds remaining.

Struan Moore twice joined Fielding on the podium, following him across the line for second in race one and taking third in race three. It was Brazilian rookie Gaetano Di Mauro who pushed Fielding home in race two, while Arjun Maini and Will Palmer completed the podium in races one and two respectively, the latter coming from 20th on the grid on slicks after a race one retirement. Euroformula Open star Alex Palou showed pace on his debut for usual team-mate Sean Walkinshaw’s team, claiming a fourth and a fifth from the two main races.

Formula Masters China: Solomon gets two more wins

Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Matt Solomon closed on Formula Masters China Series leader James Munro as he added his third and fourth consecutive wins at Sepang. The Hong Kong driver beat his New Zealand rival in the wet opening race and the dry second encounter. Solomon then finished second in race three, with Munro only fourth. Munro, who began the year with six straight wins, is now 14 points ahead in the standings with two rounds remaining.

Jake Parsons impressed on his debut in the series, having previously won four from four in the AsiaCup opener at the same circuit. He claimed pole for the opening race but spun off, dropping him to fourth. He took third in race two, before overhauling Solomon to win the final race.

Dan Wells completed the podium in races one and three, but was unable to start race two due to a wishbone failure. ADAC Formel Masters regular Philip Hamprecht scored a best result of fifth on his maiden appearance.

F4 Sudamericana: Ponte picks up two wins at El Pinar

Photo: F4 Sudamericana

Experienced Argentinian driver Martin Ponte turned up to F4 Sudamericana’s return to El Pinar for round three and won both races. Points leader Bruno Baptista was third in the opening race and then second in race two, increasing his lead over fellow Brazilian Felipe Ortiz, who had to make do with a fourth and a third.

Uruguayan driver Miguel Wholer finished a close second to fellow debutant Ponte in race one, but finished sixth and last in race two, a lap down after an early incident.

Formula Renault Argentina: Mallo holds off rivals for two Resistencia wins

Manuel Mallo claimed his first two wins in Formula Renault Argentina at the Resistencia round. Starting from pole, he won the first by a narrow margin from Martin Moggia, and won the second also by less than half a second, this time in front of Guillermo Rey.

Championship leader Federico Cavagnero retired from race one, but finished third in race two to give him a 13-point lead over Mallo, who is up to second with Rey a further five back in third. Miguel Calamari and Felipe Schmauk have dropped to fourth and fifth after both failing to finish race two following top five finishes in race one.

F3 Cup: Sowery forced to settle for second at Brands Hatch

F3 Cup leader Toby Sowery had to make do with two second places at Brands Hatch behind experienced campaigner Tristan Cliffe. Car racing rookie Sowery twice took the lead off the start ahead of pole-sitter Cliffe, but lacked the same pace as the 33-year-old, who took his first two wins of the season. Lanan driver Sowery still has a 51-point lead over Cliffe in the standings, with two rounds remaining.

Star Driver: Sennan Fielding

Up to now, Fielding had been a frontrunner in BRDC F4 without being able to get a win, but he finally made that breakthrough in style at Silverstone. His speed wasn’t dominant, but he had to out-race a rival in a last-lap tussle on every occasion, managing to survive under pressure. If he can keep up something close to that form and be a consistent frontrunner, he could be a real threat in the title run-in.

Photo: BRDC F4

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