Brabham Seizes Pro Mazda Championship

With only the doubleheader on the streets of Houston to go, Matthew Brabham has destroyed Pro Mazda Championship records on his way to winning the title and claiming the scholarship package from Mazda to race in the Indy Lights series. He clinched the championship with a commanding double win on the streets of Trois-Rivieres in Quebec, Canada. He also helped Andretti Autosport lock up the team championship,

Brabham, the reigning Cooper Tires U.S. F2000 Powered by Mazda champion, has set records for number of wins (11) and the number of podiums (13), with two races still to run. Jack Hawksworth, the 2011 Pro Mazda champion currently competing in Indy Lights, held both records, the latter in a tie with 2010 titlist Conor Daly.

“I am absolutely speechless,” said the 19-year old Brabham. “To get two wins and the championship makes this just an unbelievable weekend, and I couldn’t think of a better place to win the championship. It has been so much fun here in Trois-Rivieres. I can’t thank everyone who supported me enough – Mazda, for giving me the opportunity to have this wonderful year, Cooper Tires and AFS Racing for coming in at the end. Andretti Autosport has been fantastic all year, so a big thanks to them. At the start of the season, I couldn’t have predicted that I would have a year like this. I am just so, so happy.”

Brabham is a third-generation racer, the grandson of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Sir Jack Brabham and the son of 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and two-time IMSA champion Geoff Brabham. Next year he intends to use the scholarship money provided by Mazda for winning the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires to compete in the Indy Lights series. The running of that series is being taken over by Andersen Promotions, which owns the US F2000 and Pro Mazda Championships.

“I am definitely looking forward to the future,” said Brabham, whose family comes from Australia but was born and lives in Florida. “The United States has been wonderful for me. It was the perfect move for me at this point in my career and I am really looking forward to moving up to Indy Lights next year. I remember when I first went to St. Petersburg and I saw the Lights cars on track and I thought these cars are really cool and I want to get in one of those. I am really looking forward to being a part of Dan Andersen’s series again next year. Last year and this year were run smoothly and perfectly. I have never been in a series this organized and well-run before.”

The final two races of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires take place on the streets around Houston’s Reliant Park on Oct. 5-6 as part of the IZOD IndyCar Series weekend.