USF Pro Championships
The Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires is a driver development program, providing a scholarship-funded path to reach the Verizon IndyCar Series.[1] and Indianapolis 500. Sanctioned by IndyCar, the Mazda Road to Indy is owned and managed by Andersen Promotions. On December 9, 2010 it was announced that Mazda would become the title sponsor of the program and provide scholarships for series champions to advance to the next rung of the ladder[2] with all three series running on Cooper Tires.
Since its launch in 2010, the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system has attracted competitors from around the globe. Drivers from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, France, Guyana, India, Ireland, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, Venezuela and Zimbabwe have been part of the grids, showcasing their talents at premier venues on a mix of road courses, temporary street circuits and ovals.
Participating series (in order from lowest to highest "rung"):
- The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda
- The Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires (known as "Star Mazda" until the end of the 2012 season)
- Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
- Verizon IndyCar Series
One of the season highlights was the Indy 500 weekend, with Indy Lights competing in the Freedom 100 on Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and USF2000 and Pro Mazda racing at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis later that evening. However, the Lucas Oil Raceway round was discontinued after 2016, leaving just the Freedom 100 at the Speedway that weekend.
No driver has won the championship and thus scholarship at every rung of the ladder on their way to Indycar. However, both Sage Karam and Matthew Brabham won scholarships from U.S. F2000 and made it to IndyCar. Karam, Brabham, Tristan Vautier, and Spencer Pigot have all won two scholarships on their way to IndyCar. In 2017, Josef Newgarden became the first MRTI graduate and scholarship winner to win the IndyCar Series championship.
Mazda Road to Indy Shootout
For 2017 a shootout race for up and coming talents was announced. The Road to Indy has several partnerships with other development series. In a knock-out format the drivers will compete for a $ 200,000.00 scholarship to race in the USF2000 series.
Drivers from the following series can qualify to compete in the shootout:[3][4]
Atlantic Championship Series (2016)
Australian Formula Ford (2016–present)
BRSCC Formula Ford 1600 (2016–present)- MSVR Formula Ford Super Series (2016–present)
- F1600 Formula F Championship (2016–present)
- F2000 Championship Series (2016)
- Formula Car Challenge Presented by Goodyear (2016–present)
- Formula Ford Festival (2017–present)
Formula Panam (2016–present)
Formula Tour 1600 (2016–present)
MMSC 1600 Indian Championship (2016–present)- NACAM Formula 4 Championship[5] (starting in 2018)
New Zealand Formula Ford Championship (2016–present)
Northern Ireland Formula Ford 1600 Championship (2017–present)- Pacific F2000 (2016–present)
- Rotax Max Challenge (USA)(2016)
- SCCA Runoffs – F1600 (2016–present)
- SCCA Runoffs – FC (2016–present)
Scottish Motor Racing Club Formula Ford 1600 Championship (2016–present)
Selectiva de Kart Petrobras (2017–present)- Skip Barber Race Series (2016)
- Team USA Scholarship (2016–present)
- Walter Hayes Trophy (2017–present)
- Mazda Road to Indy Brazil (2016)
Shootout winners
| Year | Track | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca |  Oliver Askew
|
| 2017 | Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park |  Keith Donegan
|
Champions
References
- ^ "Mazda Road to Indy". Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- ^ Mazda to sponsor Road to Indy program Archived 2010-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, IndyCar, December 9, 2010, Retrieved 2010-12-09
- ^ "Official Feeder Series of the Mazda Road to Indy". USF2000. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ "MRTI USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout Dates/Venue Announced". usf2000.com. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
- ^ "La FIA F4 Nacam participará en el MRTI Scholarship Shootout". Chicas Racing. Retrieved 2017-09-13.