2017 sees Team Velarde begin their third year in the championship. Pilot Juan Velarde is looking to build upon his impressive 2016 record where he took the top spot in qualifying in one round and proved he could be competitive against the other more experienced pilots. It is often said in racing that to stand still is to go backwards. With this in mind, Team Velarde continued working hard through the off-season to make their goal a reality.

"Regarding the race plane, we are aiming to have a new set of wing lets and a few other aerodynamic improvements ready by the second race of the season," explained Velarde. "We are working with a team of engineers to optimize the performance of the plane," he added.