2017 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout

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United States 2017 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout
Race details
DateDecember 9 & 10, 2017
Official nameMazda Road to Indy Shootout
LocationWild Horse Pass Motorsports Park
CourseRoad course
1.600 mi / 2.575 km
Podium

The 2017 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout was the second edition of the Road to Indy Shootout. The event was held at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park on December 9 and 10. The winner, Irishman Keith Donegan, received a $200,000 scholarship to compete in the 2018 U.S. F2000 National Championship.[1]

Entry list[edit]

Driver Age 2017 result
New Zealand Liam Lawson[1] 15 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship champion
Republic of Ireland Niall Murray[1] 22 Northern Ireland Formula Ford 1600 champion
Brazil Olin Galli[1] 21 Seletiva de Kart Petrobras
United Kingdom Ross Martin[1] 16 Scottish Motor Racing Club Formula Ford 1600 Championship champion
United States Jake Craig 19 eKartingnews.com selected driver1
United States Elliot Finlayson[2] 21 SCCA Runoffs - Formula Enterprises winner
United Kingdom Luke Williams[3] 25 BRSCC F1600 national champion
Canada Mitch Egner 25 Pacific F2000 representative
Mexico Manuel Cabrera 17 Formula Panam representative
United Kingdom Jamie Thorburn 19 Formula Ford Super Series Shootout winner3
Australia Max Vidau[4] 16 Australian Formula Ford Championship Champion
United States Carter Williams 19 Formula Car Challenge representative2
United Kingdom Matthew Cowley[5] 20 F1600 Championship Series representative
United States Aaron Jeansonne 19 Team USA Scholarship representative 5
United States Jonathan Kotyk 23
Republic of Ireland Keith Donegan[5] 20 Formula Ford Festival representative
United Kingdom Oliver White 24 Walter Hayes Trophy representative4
United States Spencer Brockman 17 Mazda Motorsports selected driver

Notes[edit]

^1 Karting news website eKartingnews.com chief editor Rob Howden and managing editor David Cole selected Jake Craig as up and coming talent. He was selected to compete in the 2017 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout. Craig was selected out of a short list of finalists, namely Jake French, Brandon Jarsocrak, Braden Eves, Ryan Norberg and Billy Musgrave.[2]

^2 Williams won the FormulaSPEED championship, the fastest of the three Formula Car Challenge West Coast and Triple Crown championships.[6]

^3 iZone Driver Performance hosted a sim racing shootout. Drivers who were nominated for Quantum Racing Suspension Driver of the Race in Formula Ford 1600 races organised by James Beckett Motorsport or MSVR were selected. These drivers were Jack Kemp, Ross Martin, Seb Melrose, James Roe Jr. and Jamie Thorburn. Oliver White also qualified for the shootout but he chose not to compete as he already qualified for the 2017 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout. Irish driver Niall Murray also opted not to participate.[7]

^4 Michael Moyers won the 2017 Walter Hayes Trophy but did not qualify for the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout due to his age (33). As 24-year old Oliver White led most of the race but spun off with 2 laps to go, he was awarded a wildcard entry into the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout.[8][7]

^5 Jonathan Kotyk and Aaron Jeansonne were selected to represent Team USA Scholarship at the Formula Ford Festival, Walter Hayes Trophy and 2017 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout.[9] The duo was chosen out of ten candidates, Sabré Cook, Konrad Czaczyk, Elliot Finlayson, Kyle Kirkwood, Jacob Loomis, David Osborne, Simon Sikes and Carter Williams did not advance into the final selection.[10]

Format[edit]

The Formula Mazda car similar to the ones used in the 2017 shootout.
Judges
United States Tom Long Mazda Motorsports factory driver
United States Jonathan Bomarito
United States Andrew Carbonell
Canada Scott Goodyear former IndyCar Series driver
Brazil Victor Franzoni 2017 Pro Mazda Championship champion
United States Oliver Askew 2017 U.S. F2000 National Championship champion

The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving supplied the drivers with first generation Formula Mazda chassis. The tube chassis cars are powered by 180hp rotary engines. The shootout location, Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park is also the location of the racing school founded by Bob Bondurant.[1]

Competition[edit]

All participants participated in a vehicle orientation and then multiple practice sessions over two days, culminating in a pre-qualification session where five finalists would be chosen. Those finalists would then participate in a 30 minute qualifying session and a 30 minute race. After the race, it took a further two hours of deliberation before the judges, including 2016 victor Oliver Askew, decided a victor [11]

Driver Finale
Republic of Ireland Keith Donegan 1
New Zealand Liam Lawson
United States Aaron Jeansonne
United States Jake Craig
Brazil Olin Galli

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "MRTI USF2000 $200K SCHOLARSHIP SHOOTOUT DATES/VENUE ANNOUNCED". USF2000. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b "JAKE CRAIG AWARDED EKARTINGNEWS.COM KARTING ENTRY TICKET". USF2000. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  3. ^ "LUKE'S BIG TICKET". BRSCC FF1600. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Vidau Victorious After Thrilling Formula Ford Finale". Formula Ford.org.au. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Spotlight: December 1, 2017". USF2000. 1 December 2017.
  6. ^ "FCC Champions Crowned At Auto Club Speedway Finale". USF2000. 5 November 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Thorburn Wins Scholarship Shootout Entry". USF2000. 14 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Michael Moyers Finally on Top at Walter Hayes Trophy". The Checkered Flag. 5 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Jeansonne, Kotyk Earn Team USA Scholarship Opportunities". USF2000. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Ten Candidates Identified for 2017 Team USA Scholarship Selection Process". Team USA Scholarship. 26 July 2017.
  11. ^ https://formulascout.com/keith-donegan-wins-mazda-road-to-indy-shootout/39311 Keith Donegan wins Mazda Road to Indy Shootout for USF2000 scholarship. Formula Scout - 11 December 2017