Mazda supports budding open-wheel drivers

Mazda North America is bankrolling next year's 'Road to Indy Shootout' and will crown a world champion in 2016 – with the potential for an Aussie Formula Ford driver to be the one to don that crown.

"The Shootout will be an unprecedented event, bringing the champions of North American and international series together in a knockout style format," Mazda declared in a press release issued on Saturday.

Fifteen drivers from around the world – one of those an Australian, possibly two – will be invited to compete in the Shootout.

"We may invite more than 15 drivers," adds Jade Gurss of Mazda Motorsports. "There has already been so much interest that there's been discussion of expanding the field."

A pre-requisite for an invite to take part in the series is competition experience in one of these chosen open-wheeler series nominated by Mazda:

• Australian Formula Ford (Australia) sanctioned by Formula Ford Association Inc.
• BRSCC F1600 (England) sanctioned by BRSCC
• Formula Car Challenge Presented by Goodyear (USA) sanctioned by NASA
• Pacific F2000 (USA) sanctioned by SCCA/NASA
• F2000 Championship Series (USA) sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing
• F1600 Formula F Championship Series (USA) sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing
• ROTAX MAX Challenge (USA) sanctioned by MAXSpeed Group
• Skip Barber Race Series Champion (USA) sanctioned by Skip Barber
• Team USA Scholarship (USA)
• SCCA Runoffs – F1600 and FC (USA) sanctioned by SCCA

Small fields, identical cars, and young drivers brimming with courage should yield great racing. Mazda has created the high-speed, high-pressure format to discover that diamond-in-the-rough driver, and the Shootout seems to have all the entertainment elements to grab the attention of a global audience.

A broadcast deal hasn't been announced but there's at least 12 months to sort that out for the Shootout, scheduled for sometime during the northern hemisphere autumn of 2016. The track will likely be the Mazda-sponsored Laguna Seca facility located in central California about 200km directly south of San Francisco.

It is a fast, flowing circuit with challenging dips and camber changes along with blind-entry corners packed into its 3.6km length. Talented drivers love it, and the less talented are often exposed by the circuit's demand for courage and calmness. Australian drivers have traditionally adapted quickly to Laguna Seca's topography, claiming the circuit combines familiar elements of Mount Panorama and Phillip Island.

The Shootout's winner takes home a trophy, of course. The real prize is a (USD) $200,000 scholarship that will place his/her backside in a well-prepared USF2000 for the following season.

"The idea is to find talented young drivers and that's been the hallmark of our ladder series," says Gurss.

A driver with winning talent can climb the ladder of Mazda North America's scholarship system to a seat in an IndyCar. Mazda in the US has a prominent profile supporting motorsport in different categories through sponsorship and mentoring of drivers, as well as production and sales of competition parts, and grass-roots racing in light hatches.

Picture courtesy of mazdamotorsports.com