Pro Mazda Championship Tag

By Road to Indy Victor Franzoni ensured a banner weekend for himself and the Juncos Racing team by sweeping both races that comprised the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting Lupus Foundation of America on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Grand Prix road course. Franzoni, from Sao Palo, Brazil, was never seriously threatened this morning in cool and sunny conditions, finishing a full 1.0798 seconds clear of Team Pelfrey’s TJ Fischer. Fischer’s teammate, Carlos Cunha, from Campinas, Brazil, finished a comfortable third ahead of Australian’s Anthony MartinRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer SPEEDWAY, Indiana — At the track where he made his Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires debut two years ago, Victor Franzoni earned his first Pro Mazda win in dramatic fashion by out-dueling series points leader Anthony Martin. The Juncos Racing driver started on the pole but lost the lead at the start to Martin. The Cape Motorsports driver held the lead for the next few laps while Franzoni gradually closed the gap. On Lap 5, Franzoni got alongside Martin andRead More

By Road to Indy Following a shakedown test on Monday at the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill., the brand new Mazda-powered Tatuus PM-18 wrapped up two days of development testing yesterday evening at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Mazda factory sports car driver and USF2000 driver coach/steward Joel Miller handled driving duties for the state-of-the-art next-generation chassis that will make its competition debut in the 2018 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Miller, who holds a Mechanical Engineering degree, also conducted prototype development of theRead More

With a distinctive name like Sting Ray Robb, perhaps there could be no better profession than that of a race car driver. The 15-year-old Idaho native has already garnered an impressive list of accomplishments, and the future continues to look bright as he joins the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Robb has won numerous national and international karting events and earned trips with Team USA to the Rotax World Finals in both Spain and Portugal. The resulting notoriety led to a test with California-based World Speed Motorsports andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Victor Franzoni was set to drive in the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, but a last minute deal with Juncos Racing has allowed him to join the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires. Franzoni tested with the Juncos team during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in October and dominated every session. This announcement helps bolster the Juncos lineup that was thought to have disappeared for 2017. Team owner Ricardo Juncos had announced that the team would not beRead More

PALMETTO, Fla. (March 8) – Cooper Tire and Mazda today announced the renewal of the MRTI Hashtag Program that encourages drivers and teams to utilize the #MRTI and #TeamCooperTire hashtags through their social messaging on Twitter and Instagram. The social media program originated in 2014 as an initiative by Cooper Tire in cooperation with the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, and was designed to encourage drivers and teams to give their fans an inside look at the life of an up-and-coming race car driver, bringing out theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer As the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires wrapped up their spring testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, several drivers emerged as contenders and other announcements were made that would help shape the different series for 2017. Let’s take a look at each series. Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires Colton Herta will be a driver to watch.  The second generation driver was in the top three in every practice session on both the oval and road course in his first drive inRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Cape Motorsports will be running two Soul Red Mazda liveries in the 2017 Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires as Anthony Martin and Oliver Askew have signed with the team to run the livery in their respective championships. For Martin, he’ll be racing the No.8 Burgess/BLA/Mazda entry in the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires while Askew will be piloting the No. 3 Mazda Racing entry in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda. Both drivers earned theRead More

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Emerging stars Anthony Martin and Oliver Askew confirmed their promise today at Homestead-Miami Speedway, posting the fastest laps respectively in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, both of which wrapped up two days of testing on the 2.21-mile South Florida road course. Askew, 20, from Jupiter, Fla., who was quickest in all three USF2000 sessions yesterday, headed the timing charts in two of today’s three sessions aboard the No. 3 Cape Motorsports Tatuus-Mazda USF-17. He took advantageRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer After running the 2015 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda season for Team Pelfrey, the only Russian on the Mazda Road to Indy went to Cape Motorsports for the 2016 season before stepping up and coming home for 2017. Nikita Lastochkin has signed with Team Pelfrey to drive their No. 80 car in the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires to complete the team’s assault for their third consecutive Pro Mazda championship trophy. Tuesday’s announcement marks the eighth driver confirmationRead More