Many of you probably watched the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona this past weekend, or as much of it as SpeedTV was able to broadcast. What you may not know is how well the Star Mazda alums did in the endurance race. As we mentioned earlier in the week, there were twenty four alumni of the Star Mazda Championship competing in both DP and the GT classes at the epic 24 hour race. As it turns out, two of the four drivers in the race-winning #01 Telmex Chip Ganassi With…
Read MoreAuthor: Doug Patterson
Motorsports enthusiast since ...well... always. Grew up watching Mario and AJ, took my first lap around IMS in the tour bus in 1977, fell in love with anything that went fast.
Currently, I work as a professor of astronomy and physics at a college in the suburbs of Kansas City, http://staff.jccc.edu/dpatter/, and own a photography business, Patterson Prints, with my wife. http://www.pattersonprints.com/
Star Mazda – Juncos Racing’s Grueling Pre-Season Testing
The Juncos Racing quartet of Tatiana Calderon, Joao Horto, Gustavo Menezes, and Martin Scuncio completed a program of pre-season testing sessions in their 2011 Star Mazda machines at three very diverse tracks: Sebring International Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Roebling Road. The testing session was done “boot camp” style where the team went from one track to the next in rapid succession without respite for the four young drivers. This forced the four drivers not only to become more focused on their own race craft, but also gave them the opportunity…
Read MoreRally – Last Ditch Racing and TRX.
Rally – Surprise Ending at Sno*Drift
Here’s the press release from the RallyCar Series summarizing the final results of the first round of the Rally America National Championship, the Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan. It was quite an epic story for Super Production driver Travis Hanson as he became the first SP competitor to claim an overall victory. Shaun will have more commentary and insight into this phenomenal achievement later today in his Sunday Service Park column. Travis Who? Hanson Wins Sno*Drift 2011, Makes American Rallying History Atlanta, MI (January 30, 2011) — Travis and Terry…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy Wrapup: 1/15 – 1/28
Not a lot has happened since my last update. Not much until this week, that is. A lot of things have started coming together for a variety of teams and drivers, and I’m expecting February to be extremely busy for US F2000, Star Mazda, and Firestone Indy Lights news. Also, in the coming weeks, we plan on having some chats with a variety of drivers and teams about their 2011 plans beginning early next week with Anders Krohn of Belardi Auto Racing. Anders has a very remarkable story, and I…
Read MoreIndyCar – Andretti Autosport’s Off-Season Preparations
IndyLights – Belardi Adds Liberty Engineering as Primary Sponor
Things are continuing to look upbeat for the Belardi team and their driver Anders Krohn. Today, Belardi Auto Racing announced that they have added Liberty Engineering as their primary sponsor for the entire 2011 Firestone Indy Lights season. In recent years, the Firestone Indy Lights series has been a hard sell, especially without having a television contract until a couple weeks ago. Hearing that a smaller team to the series was able to secure a solid sponsor such as Liberty Engineering is very good news. “Certainly the brand attributes of…
Read MoreStar Mazda – 24 for the 24
Its not just the IZOD IndyCar Drivers going down to Daytona to represent. As if you needed any more reason to watch the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 drivers who have previously competed in the Star Mazda Championship are down at Daytona now to compete in both the DP and GT classes. Here’s the full release from the Star Mazda Championship: Two dozen alumni of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear – including seven past champions and two defending Rolex 24 winners – will be competing in this…
Read MoreStar Mazda – Team GDT Adds Eric Purcell as Top Engineer
As it continues to prepare for the coming 2011 Star Mazda Championship season, Team GDT added a big gun to its engineering arsenal when they hired Eric Purcell as their new Chief Engineer. Purcell has been involved in motorsports engineering for the past 30 years and was Johnathan Edwards’ engineer during their 2008 championship winning season in Star Mazda with AIM Autosport. “Team GDT has really stepped up their game for 2011 and I’m excited to be a part of it,” says Purcell. “J.W. Roberts, who is both the owner…
Read MoreIndyCar – Exclusive Photos From Today’s HVM Racing Announcement
Our IZOD IndyCar Series beat reporter and op-ed columnist, Spike Rogan, was on the scene today for the much anticipates sponsorship announcement by HVM Racing and Simona De Silvestro. You can read his article on the event here: Big news from HVM and Entergy for 2011. In addition to being one of the few to be present for the event, he also was able to grab some fantastic exclusive photos of the announcement and of the car demonstration on the streets of Baltimore. Enjoy!
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