Fast Facts – Rounds 4 and 5 of the 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear in the Mazda Formula X at New Jersey Motorsports Park, June 12 – 14
Ø Mazda Formula X returns to New Jersey Motorsports Park, with the Mazda ladder series highlighting the weekend’s racing activities on Thunderbolt Raceway, including Star Mazda, Atlantic, Skip Barber, MX-5 and IMSA Lites; also featured, Time Attack and Drifting exhibitions, tuner car and audio show.
Ø All the weekend's races will be broadcast live on HDnet. There will be a live three hour broadcast each day from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm EDT. The broadcast team will be led by veteran commentator Rick Benjamin and legendary race-driver Elliott Forbes Robinson.
Ø The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is the college baseball of Indy-style auto racing, a high-speed training ground for future stars of the sport. Graduates of the series include Indy-car stars Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal and Raphael Matos, as well as hot NASCAR newcomer Michael McDowell. The prize fund is $1.5 million.
Ø It’s a double-header weekend for the Star Mazda Championship with races on both Saturday and Sunday. Last year's Saturday winner, American John Edwards, went on to win the championship and is racing in the Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda at NJMP this weekend with sponsorship from the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder.
Ø Hot drivers to watch include current points leader Adam Christodoulou who has won two of the three races so far this year; Conor Daly, son of F1/Indy Car/Sports Car legend Derek Daly; Peter 'The Irish Steamroller' Dempsey who won on Sunday here last year and is back to try again; and the unique brother/sister team of Kristy and J.C. Kester.
Ø The Star Mazda Championship features a race-within-a-race for Expert (ages 30 -44) and Master (45 and older) Series drivers; company presidents and entrepreneurs in high-speed, wheel-to-wheel battles with top young drivers from around the world. Chris Cumming of Vancouver, B.C. is leads the Experts while California Mike Guasch is the top-scoring Master.
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New Jersey Motorsports Park (June 8, 2009) -- The tight battle for the 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear heats up this weekend with a double-header during the Mazda Formula X event at Miller Motorsports Park. Leading the pack, with two wins in the first three races and a total of 119 points is English racer Adam Christodoulou. The 2008 U.K. Formula Renault champion won from the season-opener at Sebring and scored from the pole in Round 3 at Miller Motorsports Park; he has topped the time sheets in most pre-race testing sessions, including the most recent series test on the Iowa Speedway Oval. He drives the #11 JDC Motorsports / Molecule Mazda.
In hot pursuit is Peter 'The Irish Steamroller' Dempsey (left), who won Round 2 at Virginia International Raceway with a last-lap Hail Mary pass that had the fans on their fee. Dempsey, a second-year competitor in the Star Mazda Championship, earned his nickname with four wins during the 2008 season, including the Sunday race at New Jersey Motorsports Park. He has 114 points in the 2009 championship and is a true by-your-bootstraps story, raising money one event at a time to fund his ride in the #3 AIM Autosport / Motorsport Ireland / Queyside.ie Mazda.
And bump-drafting Dempsey in the championship points with 106 is American Joel Miller, driver of the #2 JDC Motorsports / Fader Higher Productions / eSoles / Doug Mockett & Co. Mazda. Miller was the 2007 Skip Barber champion and won his 2008 Star Mazda drive courtesy of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder. As his car number indicates, he finished second in the championship and is funding his effort this year by selling off 2-inch sponsorship squares on his car. He has scored two podium finishes so far, and in this event last year won the pole and finished on the podium.
Other hotshoes with previous experience at this event include Alex Ardoin, a third-year driver currently running fourth in the championship with 98 points and a podium finish in Round 2 at VIR; in the 2008 NJMP event he had a disastrous first race, finishing 20th, but rebounded to finish 2nd in Round 2 on Sunday. Californian Billy Goshen returns this year at the wheel of the #82 Goshen Motorsports / Baker Commodities / GPSTrackit / OTTO Mazda after finishing 10th and 6th in 2008; Taylor Hacquard, a second-year driver from Vancouver B.C. finished 8th and 10th in 2008, changed teams between seasons and now drives the #15 Kester Racing Team 3G / Wolfe Auto Group / Texas World Speedway Mazda.
Also returning for a second go at the highly-rated New Jersey Motorsports Park Thunderbolt road course is Brazilian racer Caio Lara at the wheel of the #19 JDC Motorsports / MLD / ATW/ Molecule Mazda and the unique brother/sister team of J.C. and Kristy Kester. J.C. finished 7th and 8th last year driving the #24 Kester Racing Team 3G / Texas World Speedway / Motul Oil Mazda while his sister scored a pair of 11th-place finishes in the #48 Kester Racing Team 3G / Texas World Speedway / Motul Oil Mazda.
There will also be some highly competitive racing in the Star Mazda Championship's unique race-within-a-race format for Expert (drivers aged 30 – 44) and Master (drivers 45 and older) Series. Vancouver B.C.'s Chris Cumming, the reigning 2008 Star Mazda Expert Series champion, is currently leading the 2009 Expert battle with one class win and two class podiums in the #16 Kester Racing Team 3G / Texas World Speedway / Motul Oil Mazda; at NJMP last year he finished on the class podium on Saturday and won his class on Sunday. In the Master Series, the current leader is California Mike Guasch (right) with two class wins and one class podium driving the #91 JDC Motorsports / Molecule Mazda. He finished on the podium in both races here last year.
Star Mazda Championship on-track action begins with a 'promoter test day' on Thursday, June 11; there will be three sessions – 9:40 -10:20 am, 1:35 – 2:20 pm and 5:00 – 5:40 pm. Official practice begins on Friday, June 12 with a session at 8:00 – 8:45 am and another at 1:00 – 1:45 am. Qualifying for Saturday's Race 1 takes place 5:30 pm – 6:15 pm. The standing start for Race 1 on Saturday, June 13 will get the green light at 2:00 pm. Qualifying for Race 2 takes place Sunday morning 9:20 – 10:00 am, followed by the race at 2:00 pm.
This weekend will mark the second annual Mazda Formula X weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park, with five different Mazda ladder series highlighting the weekend’s racing activities on Thunderbolt Raceway, including the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, the Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda, the Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda, the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup and the Mazda-powered IMSA Lights, as well as Time Attack, drifting exhibitions and a tuner car and audio show.
MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder
The MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder is unique in being the only automaker-funded scholarship program that provides funding for champions at each level to move up from karting to the top ranks of the sport. Mazda will provide a next-level, fully-funded ride in a Mazda powered car to the 2009 champions of selected Mazda series.
Open-wheel racers are competing for these awards in 2009:
· One successful kart racer will participate in a full season of the BFGoodrich Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda in 2010.
· The 2009 Skip Barber National Champion will be racing in the 2010 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear.
· The 2009 Star Mazda Champion will be racing in the 2010 Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Series Powered by Mazda.
Mazda is the brand of choice for road-racers across North America. More than 9,000 grassroots racers compete in various classes with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). Racers who are years away from earning a driver’s license can now begin their professional motorsports careers in the Mazda family. A driver can begin in karts and progress through the Skip Barber series, Club Racing Formula Mazda, professional Star Mazda and finally to Formula Atlantic, all with Mazda. No other car company has ever connected the dots this way.
The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear
For 2009, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear (http://www.starmazda.com/) will feature an 11-weekend, 13-race schedule on major race weekends with American Le Mans, Grand-Am, the Atlantic Championship, NASCAR Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series. Prize money is $1.5 million, including a fully-funded drive in the 2010 Atlantic Championship. Drivers 16 and older are welcome to compete and the Star Mazda Championship also features Expert (30 to 44) and Master (45 and older) classes for more mature racers. The Star Mazda Championship features standing starts, wheel-to-wheel racing at 150 mph and budgets a fraction of other top open-wheel ladder series. iRacing.com is the official racing simulation of the Star Mazda Championship, and one-month free 'virtual test drive' of the Star Mazda open-wheel car is available by going to www.starmazda.com/newdriver.
Star Mazda Championship Live On HDnet
Each of the four broadcasts will be live for three hours (1:00 pm to 4:00 pm EDT). The broadcast team will be led by veteran commentator Rick Benjamin and legendary race-driver Elliott Forbes Robinson. HDNet (http://www.hd.net/, www.twitter.com/hdnet) is a network that is original, thinks independently and delivers unique content and provocative, authentic programming that appeals to men of all ages, delivered in true high definition. HDNet is the exclusive, high definition home for popular, original programming, including television's only HD news feature programs "HDNet World Report," and the Emmy Award winning "Dan Rather Reports," featuring legendary journalist Dan Rather. HDNet presents championship sports coverage featuring the best of Mixed Martial Arts through HDNet Fights (www.hdnetfights.com, twitter.com/hdnetfights). HDNet produces more live Mixed Martial Arts events than any other network and HDNet’s “Inside MMA” is the hottest Mixed Martial Arts program on television, giving MMA fans their weekly fix for everything MMA. HDNet also delivers the world’s largest and most diverse concert line-up through the HDNet Concert Series. The HDNet Concert Series features leading artists and bands including Coldplay, Gwen Stefani, John Mayer and more. “NASA on HDNet” presents all live shuttle launches through 2010. Launched in 2001 by Mark Cuban and General Manager Philip Garvin, the HDNet networks are available on AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Verizon and more than 40 NCTC cable affiliate companies. To receive HDNet information via email simply go to www.hd.net/listpage.
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For more information on the Star Mazda Championship and its drivers, as well as the Mazda Motorsports ladder system, please visit http://www.starmazda.com/ and http://www.mazdausa.com/. For information, interviews and photos, contact Star Mazda Communications Director Peter Frey at (818) 398-5733 or StarMazdaPR@aol.com.
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On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. At the track, you’ll see MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has the Soul of a Sports Car.
For more information on the various Mazda spec series, visit:
http://www.atlanticchampionship.com/ http://www.starmazda.com/
http://www.skipbarber.com/ http://www.mx-5cup.com/
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