Kenton Koch is one on a short list of individuals who lay claim to the MX-5 Cup title; but what’s he been up to since? By Jason Isley
This feature is part of a special series running on racer.com about the SCCA Pro Racing Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich® Tires as Mazda Motorsports, racers and fans anticipate the 2016 MX-5 and the MX-5 Cup. MazdaMotorsports.com will keep you up to date with all the latest news and milestones as Mazda and its partners develop the 2016 MX-5 race car, currently underway.
Kenton Koch wrapped up an amazing 2014 season in the SCCA Pro Racing Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires winning six of the 12 races, claiming the pole an outstanding nine times. Like the previous MX-5 Cup champions, Koch moves another rung up the Mazdaspeed Ladder and takes with him a scholarship fund worth some $200,000, enough to give his racing career an incredible boost.
Shortly after claiming the title, Koch already knew the direction he was headed. “I am running IMSA Prototype Lites next year,” Koch says. “I’m not allowed to release what team I’m racing with yet, but I will tell you I have chosen a team – I’m just waiting for things to be finalized.”
Not one to sit idle, Koch has been keeping his schedule full and his skills sharp as he awaits the start of the 2015 IMSA Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda season. “Since winning the MX-5 Cup I won the FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy Americas Selection, which was great fun,” says Koch. “I went to Puebla, Mexico, to compete against one driver from each country in North and South America. Mexico was something I’ve never experienced. I’m really looking forward to going to the workshops in the upcoming months.”
As one of only six young American drivers selected, Koch competed for the Team USA Scholarship, which then sees a pair of winners competing in the traditional Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch and the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone, England. Koch did not win that scholarship, but left with valuable open-wheel racing knowledge.
Koch has also been busy testing, turning laps at Blackhawk Farms in the JDC Motorsports Lites car familiarizing himself with the chassis, as well as testing with his MX-5 Cup championship winning team, Alara Racing, as they prepared a Mazda MX-5 for the 2015 Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge.
“I was testing with them at the Roar,” he says, “but there were no plans past the Roar to do anything for the rest of the season. If there is a race that didn’t land on the same weekend as an IMSA Lites race, I would love to drive Alara’s ST car.”
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