Tag: MRTI

USF2000 – Winterfest Sebring Wrap-up

Doug Patterson

The racing season is upon us! The Cooper Tires USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda ran the first three races of it’s six-race Winterfest series at Sebring International Raceway this past Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, twenty-two new and returning drivers to USF2000 took to the famously bumpy Sebring circuit for a morning practice, an early afternoon qualifying, and a late afternoon race. Races 2 and 3 were held on Wednesday following an early morning warm-up session USF2000 Winterfest – Tuesday Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing looked strong right…

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Episode 171 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe are happy to have on this week’s show, Dan Andersen. Mr. Andersen talks with us about his journey in motorsports from drag racer, to series owner of USF2000, to team owner and back to running the USF2000 series again. We also talk about how he came to take over the Star Mazda series now renamed the Pro Mazda Championship. In addition to our conversation with Dan, Mr. Shaw gives us the run-down on Dakar and a preview of Monte Carlo, Doug goes over…

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Pro Mazda – Spencer Pigot Formalizes His Position With Team Pelfrey

Doug Patterson

Team Pelfrey entered the Star Mazda Championship in 2011 and immediately found success, winning the team championship in their rookie year and narrowly missing the driver championship. This season, they brought three drivers to the fight including Petri Suvanto, the 2011 USF2000 Champion, and hot shoe Jack Hawksworth. Jack and Team Pelfrey walked away with both the 2012 Team and Driver Championship titles. In two short years, Team Pelfrey has established itself as the team beat in Star Mazda, now the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Headed into…

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IndyLights – Juan Pablo Garcia Find a Home at Team Moore Racing

Doug Patterson

Juan Pablo Garcia has been around the Firestone Indy Lights series for four years now, although his only full-time season was the 2012 season with Jeffery Mark Motorsport. Garcia started racing karts over a decade ago, and moved up to cars in 2004 in the Formula Renault 2000 de America. He won his first race in the series in 2006, although he was unable to contest the full championship season. In the A1GP 2006-2007 season, he drove for Team Mexico in the final two events after which he continued racing…

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Episode 170 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download Mr. Whitesell has the plague, so the show this week was left in the hands of Kevin Neely, Doug Patterson, and Mike Shaw. Without adult supervision, we run amuck and start talking about all kinds of motorsport including Grand Am, ALMS, SCCA, Formula 1, IndyCar, Rally, and the AMA Supercross opener! Hell, we even talk a little NASCAR!! Kevin leads us through the results of the Roar Before the 24, and the new classification for the American Grand Le Mans American Series League…

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Episode 169 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week on the OpenPaddock.net Podcast Kevin, Mike, & Mike dissect new CEO of Hulman & Co. Mark Miles’ comments on the future direction IndyCar should take, recap the testing action at Sebring, and reexamine the prospect of Hoosier or Continental replacing Firestone. They also spend some time looking at developments in the Pro Mazda Championship as Andersen Promotions is already beginning to evolve the series, and they weigh in on Doug’s comments on the potential future direction of the series. Lastly, the trio…

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Pro Mazda – Brabham Signs With Andretti Autosport for 2013

Doug Patterson

The 2012 Copper Tires Presents the USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Championship Class champion (that’s a lot of championing!), Matthew “Matty Brabs” Brabham, has signed with Andretti Autosport to drive the #27 machine in the 2013 Cooper Tires Presents the Pro Mazda Championship. In 2012, Brabham raced Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing’s #83 Van Diemen in the USF2000 Championship Class, narrowly beating out his teammate, Spencer Pigot, by only seven points. 2012 was Brabham’s first season of racing in the United States after starting his career back in 2001…

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Op-Ed – A Pro Mazda Carol: Part 3, The Future of Pro Mazda

Doug Patterson

Finally, we come to last in our trio of articles on the new Pro Mazda Series which will succeed the Star Mazda Series as the second stage of the Mazda Road to Indy. We’ve seen the story behind the rise and fall of Star Mazda, and the phoenixal story of USF2000, now let’s put all the pieces together and see where Andersen Promotion may steer Pro Mazda in the coming seasons. Let me start with the caveat that the following speculations are solely my own based on the observations delineated…

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Op-Ed – A Pro Mazda Carol: Part 2, The Present USF2000

Doug Patterson

Part Two of my three-part series looking at the future of the new Pro Mazda Series focuses on the success the new owners of Pro Mazda, Andersen Promotions, has had with the revived Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. I feel safe in assuming that the leadership philosophy that has lead to a strong first step on the Mazda Road to Indy, the USF2000 series, will also be applied to the Pro Mazda Series in the coming seasons. The Evolution of USF2000 My thoughts on where the…

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Op-Ed – A Pro Mazda Carol: Part I, History of Star Mazda

Doug Patterson
Star Mazda at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course -- Photo by Eric McCombs, Star Mazda

Ok, I know the new Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is barely a week old, but given who has taken over the old Star Mazda series, I’m willing to offer some speculation on how the new series will evolve over the next few seasons. All of my speculation hinges upon observations of how Dan Andersen and his company Andersen Promotions have managed the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda over the past few seasons. This is a long article, so bear with me as I…

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