MAZDA Powers More Than 80 Racers at NOLA

Ongoing multi-million dollar investment by Mazda to grow the sport

IRVINE, Calif. (April 8, 2015) –Mazda will have its race cars in four unique series on the schedule this weekend at the inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana, including two each from the Mazda SportsCar Racing Academy and the Mazda Road to Indy. Mazda engines will power more than 60 percent of all of the race cars in the New Orleans paddock.

The Mazda SportsCar Racing Academy will feature 27 entries in the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich® Tires and 21 entries in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda. The Mazda Road to Indy will feature 34 entries across the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. All of Mazda’s sports car efforts can be searched and followed via Twitter with the hashtag #MRT24, while the open wheel categories feature the hashtag #MRTI.

Mazda developed a bold initiative in which racers who win championships with Mazda power are promoted to the next level with Mazda funding –a multi-million dollar commitment to the sport. The program was launched in 2007 as the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Ladder and has since evolved into the Mazda Road to Indy and the parallel Mazda SportsCar Racing Academy.

Since 2007, 42 Mazda racers have earned a total of 53 scholarships of nearly $10 million in direct driver development support. Mazda has financially supported key series including the MX-5 Cup, IMSA Lites, Pro Mazda and USF2000, in addition to the company’s technical partnerships with sanctioning bodies and teams. Mazda also has paid millions of dollars in contingency prize money to thousands of SCCA and NASA club racers. This year, Mazda continues to offer the richest and deepest payouts in amateur racing of any company in the world.

The 2015 Mazda SportsCar Racing Academy Scholarship Racers are:
• Drake Kemper, from Toluca Lake, California. Drake won the 2014 Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Pro Challenge to earn his scholarship for the 2015 Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich® Tires. Drake will be racing in a Sick Sideways-prepared Mazda MX-5. Drake kicked off his season with a win in the first race at Sebring.

Koch-SebLites

• Kenton Koch,
from Glendale, California. Kenton won the 2014 Mazda MX-5 Cup title and will be racing with JDC Motorsports in the 2015 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda. Kenton kicked of his 2015 season with a win and second place at Sebring.

• Kyle Loustaunau, from Vacaville, California. Kyle went from NASA Spec Miata racer to become the 2014 NASA Western States Spec Miata Champion. From there Kyle was entered into, and won, the Mazda Club Racer Shootout. Kyle is racing an Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5 in the 2015 MX-5 Cup.

• Christian Szymczak, from Torrance, California. Christian won the 2013 Mazda MX-5 Cup, but delayed his scholarship by one year such that he could move up to the Continental Tires SportsCar Challenge with his ALARA Racing team with a Mazda MX-5.

The 2015 Mazda Motorsports Scholarship Racers in the Mazda Road to Indy are:

• Luke Gabin, from Perth, Australia. Luke won the Skip Barber Racing School Shootout to earn his 2015 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda ride. Luke is racing with Team Pelfrey.

• Florian Latorre, from Liourne, France.  Florian won the 2014 USF2000 Championship to earn a ride in the 2015 Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Championship. Latorre is racing with Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.

• Spencer Pigot, from Orlando, Florida.  Spencer became the first every three-time Mazda scholarship winner when he won the 2014 Pro Mazda Championship. Spencer is racing with Juncos Racing in the 2015 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires. This is the all-new Mazda-powered Dallara IL-15. Spencer scored a pair of podium finishes in St. Pete and is third in points.