The Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires started their season off this morning on the streets of St. Petersburg, under delightful morning conditions. Team Pelfrey’s Pato O’Ward and Aaron Telitz were immediately quick, setting themselves up with a 0.3s gap to third place in the first ten minutes of practice. The session was run incident-free, although Pato O’Ward of Team Pelfrey did spend a fair amount of time on pit lane with a mechanical issue. Juncos Racing’s Will Owen also did not make a trek out onto the race track, leaving him last in the session.

Once Telitz established himself in P1, he was reluctant to give it up, remaining on top for the remainder of the session and ultimately setting a quick lap of 1:11.944, the only driver to dip below the 1:12 bracket. After an early transponder mix-up, O’Ward was confirmed as the driver in second place for Team Pelfrey, after initial timing and scoring showed Tan as second quick. The session came to a slightly premature end when Tan stopped on course in Turn 10, allowing his teammates to claim a 1-2 finish. USF2000 champ Nico Jamin put his soul red Mazda car into third for Cape Motorsports, while Jake Parsons led the Juncos Racing contingent ahead of the other Cape entry for Jake Eidson.

The clear blue skies and ever-present sunshine resulted in a warm, breezy afternoon here in St. Petersburg, ideal conditions as the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires field took to the streets for their second practice session of the day. After Team Pelfrey went 1-2 in the morning session, the team in yellow was looking to re-assert their dominance before heading into tomorrow’s qualifying session. With Aaron Telitz, Weiron Tan, and Pato O’Ward on the team, Team Pelfrey is looking to repeat as champions following Santi Urrutia’s championship run last season. Telitz is starting the season off on the right foot, placing himself in P1 in both of the day’s practice sessions.

USF2000 champ Nico Jamin jumped to the top of the charts at the onset of the session, but it wasn’t long before Team Pelfrey’s charge began. After just ten minutes, Telitz vaulted into P1 by turning a lap of 1:12.586. That lap would stand as the quickest of the session as the climbing temperatures and worn tires kept the drivers from improving their times. Jamin would finish the session in second, followed by O’Ward. Juncos Racing’s Will Owen, who missed the opening practice session due to an engine change, showed how important experience is by going fourth quickest in the session, just ahead of rookie Jake Eidson of Cape Motorsports.

Pro Mazda will qualify tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. ET.