2007 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear- Toronto

The back-to-back Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear races at Road America and Trois Rivières took place in different countries and on completely different kinds of tracks – a natural terrain road course vs. an urban street circuit – and while the details of the two races were different, the results were exactly the same.

Ron White, who started 6th, won his second in a row; points leader Dane Cameron, starting 4th, kept his championship hopes healthy with a 2nd-place finish; and newly-emerging talent Nick Haye scored his second-straight podium finish after starting 7th.

Russell Walker, driver of the #29 Pavecon/John Walko Racing Mazda, turned only one lap in qualifying, started last and moved up through the field to finish 4th. Quebec newcomer Yannick Hofman, driving his first-ever Star Mazda race after two seasons in Formula BMW, showed he will be a force to be reckoned with when he joins the series full-time next season after moving up from 8th on the starting grid to finish 5th in his #00 Jig-A-Loo/Andersen Racing Mazda.

“I took the outside line into the first turn and was fortunate to get through the carnage with no damage,” said White, driver of the #69 Maxwell Paper Products/Maxwell Racing Mazda. “After everything got sorted out I was in 5th, and just kept focused and drove the wheels off the car like I did at Road America. I was able to move up during the re-starts after full-course yellows, and when I took the lead, I went from third to first in a matter of about two hundred feet. This is my second year in Star Mazda, my second win of the season and I’m second in the championship… now I just need to convert all that into Number One.”

The race started predictably enough with the 24-car field attempting to enter the first turn all at the same time, with the result that three cars were immediately knocked out of the race, several more were severely damaged, including front-row starter Marco Di Leo’ #21 Maxwell Racing/Nugget Mazda who ultimately retired with mechanical failure.

And still more subtle damage conspired to influence the outcome of the race in the form of a damaged front wing on Dane Cameron’s #19 JDC Motorsports/ Finlay Motorsports car and bent suspension on Nick Haye’s #37 JDC Racing/ Quantum Sphere Mazda.

“We struggled a bit during practice but were right on the pace in qualifying and I thought we had the car to win the race but with the damage to my front wing during the first turn accident, we’ll never know just how good a car was,” said Cameron, the series points leader and winner of three races and four pole positions so far this season. “After the contact, I thought the car was OK, but then the shock cover flew off down the back straight, so I was a bit concerned but just stayed out there and drove as hard as I could to get as many points as possible.”

Cameron’s JDC Motorsports teammate Nick Haye, of Huntington Beach, California, put together a string of four top-10 finishes in the first four races of the season, then hit a patch of bad luck and finally bounced back with his first podium of the season in the last race at Road America.

“I’m so happy to be on the podium here because it finally feels like my luck has turned around, though I was worried at the start,” said the native of Huntington Beach, California. “I had some contact in the first-turn incident, and it felt like my suspension was just a little bent during the race, but not enough for me to take it to the pits. I just stayed out and tried to keep my championship hopes alive.”

Other events of note in the race include pole-sitter Alex Ardoin, driver of the #51 Mundill / Oral & Facial Surgery Center Mazda, who was apparently channeling Gilles Villeneuve for most of the race with broad, opposite-lock, tail-out powerslides through the corners. He led the early stages, slipping back to second when a too-wide line through a turn let Toronto native Lorenzo Mandarino slip by in his #15 Team G.FRO/Newway Forming Mazda.

Mandarino led several laps until tangling wheels with Ardoin and getting pitched into the Turn Six tire wall on lap 20. Ardoin, muscling his way back toward the front, tried a ‘hail Mary’ pass in the closing stages of the race that nearly took out himself, Dane Cameron and Nick Haye. Contact with Haye caused a suspension failure and Arodin, after a drive that had the crowd on its feet, was finally credited with a 18th-place finish.

Finishing first in the Expert class for drivers aged 30 to 44 was Dan Tomlin III, who finished 10th overall in his #56 Team Tomlin Mazda. Steve Hickham drove his #17 HB Turbo/Hickham Motorsports Mazda to an 11th-place finish overall and first in the Master class for drivers 45 and older. Interestingly, Chuck Hulse, a 54 year-old Californian who joined the series at Road America, while not technically entered in the Master class championship battle, has scored back-to-back top-10 finishes (10th at Road America and 9th at Trois Rivières) in the #68 Silicon Salvage/Team G.FRO Mazda.

The GP3R was Round 9 of the 12-race 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear and is scheduled to air on the SPEED Channel on Monday, August 27 at 3:00 pm. To confirm the time and find out when future Star Mazda races will air, log on to www.speedtv.com/programs.

The next event on the schedule is Round Ten, the Mobil 1 Presents Grand Prix of Mosport, August 24 – 27. On-track action at Mosport begins with a pair of practice sessions on Thursday, August 24, followed by one more practice session on Friday the 25th. Qualifying to set the starting grid takes place from 9:15 am to 10:00 am, Saturday, August 26. The 45-hour Star Mazda Championship race is scheduled to take the green flag at 3:50 pm Saturday afternoon.

For more information on the Star Mazda Championship and its drivers, as well as the Mazda Motorsports ladder system that reaches all the way from karting to Champ Car, please visit www.starmazda.com and www.mazdausa.com.

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On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. At the track, you’ll see MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3 and MAZDA6 as well as RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has the Soul of a Sports Car.

For more information on the various Mazda spec series, visit:

www.champcaratlantic.com www.starmazda.com
www.skipbarber.com www.mx-5cup.com

Dean Case / Communications Officer / MAZDASPEED Motorsports

Office - (310) 755-7403 / Cell - (310) 318-4582 / E-mail: dean@RWB-LLC.com

THE UNITED NATIONS OF RACING WILL LEAD THE FIELD IN SUNDAY’S STAR MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP RACE AT THE GP3R

The front of Sunday’s Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear race at the GP3R will be a virtual United Nations of racing; on the pole, a newlyemerging talent from Lafayette, Louisiana in the U.S. Next to him, a Toronto native who has started on the front row of all but one race in the 2007 season. In third, a fast and furious Australian racer who led the field across the finish line in the previous race at Road America, only to be moved back to 4th by an official penalty.

So, there will be drama aplenty as Alex Ardoin, who just turned 18, lines up his #51 Oral & Facial Surgery Center / Mundill Mazda on the pole position with a lap of 102.306. His season was nothing to brag about with finishes hovering around the top-10 until Round Seven in Toronto when he found something in his driving that unlocked the promise of a brighter second half of the season. He is currently 8th in the championship with 215 points, plus one point for his pole here today.

Asked what made the difference in his driving, he replied, “I looked over the tapes of the races early in the season and saw that my problem was I was being too nice a guy, letting everybody go by. At Toronto I decided that I would give them racing room, but not one inch more, and that decision transformed how I race. As for qualifying here at Trois Rivieres, the track was a lot looser than we thought going into the session, but that proved to be faster for us. I expected some red flags in the session, and there were two, so I put in a couple of fast laps early and that got us the pole. My car and tires are still in good shape, so I’m optimistic for the race tomorrow.”

Starting next to Ardoin on the 25-car Star Mazda Championship grid will be the #21 Maxwell Racing / Nugget Mazda of Toronto native Marco Di Leo, who rewarded his new sponsor Nugget, with a pole position at Road America and a front-row start in Trois Rivieres with a lap of 1:02.341. Di Leo has qualified in the front row in every race but one this season, won the season opener at Sebring and currently stands 4th in the championship battle with 242 points.

“We’ve been kind of quite so far this weeknd, running 7th in practice on Friday, but we knew the car was good and we were just working on setups so we weren’t worried,” says the 20 year-old Canadian who was the 2005 Skip Barber scholarship winner and was runner up in the Skip Barber Pro Series in 2006.“We had some brake issues in qualifying, but got them sorted out in time to put in a couple of quick laps. Hopefully Lady Luck will be on the side of the Maxwell Nugget car in the race.”

Starting behind Ardoin, third on the grid, will be Melbourne, Australia native James Davison, driver of the #7 Velocity Motorsports / Easternats Mazda. Davison has shown flashes of brilliance from the start of the season, leading across the finish line twice – at the season opener in Sebring and again at the last race at Road America – only to have both victories taken away by penalties imposed by series officials for on-track driving infractions. Still, he has a record of two pole positions, two podium finishes, three top-5 finishes and is tied for second in the championship battle with 250 points.

“I definitely feel like I’ve got something to prove here, and I feel that the team has given me that car to do it,” says Davison, who competing in the Champ Car Atlantic series in 2006. “The top three are only 2/10ths apart, and that’s pretty close racing on a circuit like this. I only did two fast laps, so my tires are in good shape for the race and I’m expecting to do well.”

Other qualifiers of note include Californian Dane Cameron, the Star Mazda Championship points leader with three wins and four poles. He qualified on the outside of the second row with a lap of 1:02.513 in his JDC Motorsports/Finlay Motorsports Mazda. Qualifying 5th was Vancouver, B.C. native Lorenzo Mandarino with a lap of 1:02.564 in the #15 Team G.FRO/Newway Forming Mazda. Quebec native Yannick Hofman, in his first Star Mazda drive for top team Andersen Racing after two years in the Formula BMW series, qualified 8th in the #00 Jig-A-Loo/Andersen Racing Mazda with a lap of 1:03.168. Devin Cunningham, also from Quebec, qualified his #33 AIM Autosport/Discovery Channel Mazda 13th on the grid with a lap of 1:03.637.

The Star Mazda Championship is the Junior A hockey of open-wheel racing, an exciting, competitive and well-established training ground for future stars of the sport. The cream of the crop will graduate to the Champ Car Atlantic series (racing’s equivalent of the American Hockey League), and from there to racing’s
NHL, the Champ Car World Series.

Graduates of the Star Mazda Championship include such top open-wheel racers as Champ Car star Graham Rahal and IRL standout Marco Andretti, as well as Canadian Atlantic series racers James Hinchcliffe and Kevin Lacroix. All the drivers in the 12-race 2007 Star Mazda Championship are racing identical high-tech open-wheel cars. The Star Mazda race car features a carbon fiber chassis, fully-adjustable suspension and paddle shifters on the steering wheel, just like both Champ Car and Formula One. Powering all of the Star Mazda race cars is Mazda’s legendary rotary engine that produces 240 horsepower, top speeds of 150 mph and 0 to 60 mph acceleration of 2.4 seconds. And the engine is so reliable that it can last an entire racing season, or longer, between re-builds. This helps keep the cost of racing in Star Mazda down to a fraction of the budget required to compete in any other open wheel series in the U.S. or Europe.

And here’s the story on what the young lions are all fighting for; forty years ago, on May 31, 1967, Mazda introduced the first street car with a rotary engine, the Cosmo Sport. Since then, they’ve built two million rotary-engined vehicles and the company has built its very identity on the idea of Zoom-Zoom and every vehicle they produce having the soul of a sports car.

In pursuit of that ideal, Mazda has created a unique, company-sponsored‘motorsports ladder’ that reaches all the way from karting to Champ Car. The winner of a shootout among 2007 karting champions will get a scholarship in the 2008 Skip Barber series, while the Skip Barber champion moves up to Star Mazda, the Star Mazda champion moves up to the Champ Car Atlantic Series Powered by Mazda and the Atlantic champion gets $2 million, provided by Champ Car, toward a Champ Car drive. So they’re all racing for a dream, and the opportunity of a lifetime.

The GP3R is Round 9 of the 12-race 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. The 36-lap/60-minute Star Mazda race scheduled to take the green flag at 1:30 pm, Sunday, August 19. Star Mazda races are broadcast on the SPEED Channel, with the GP3R event scheduled to air on Monday, August 27 at 3:00 pm. To find out when future Star Mazda races will air, log on to www.speedtv.com/programs.

For more information on the Star Mazda Championship and its drivers, as well as the Mazda Motorsports ladder system, please visit www.starmazda.com and
www.mazdausa.com.
_________________________________
On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. At the track, you’ll see MX-5 Miata, RX- 8, MAZDA3 and MAZDA6 as well as RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has the Soul of a Sports Car. For more information on the various Mazda spec series, visit: www.champcaratlantic.com www.starmazda.com
www.skipbarber.com www.mx-5cup.com

STAR MAZDA AT THE GP3R
CANADA’S RACING STARS TO ZOOM-ZOOM
ON THE OLDEST URBAN TRACK IN AMERICA

FAST FACTS – The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at
the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, August 17 - 19

The rising Canadian stars of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will be battling for their shot at the big time at Quebec’s fourth big auto race in 2007, the GP3R at Trois Rivières, August 17 - 19.

The Star Mazda Championship is the Junior Major hockey league of open-wheel racing, an exciting, competitive and well-established training ground for future stars of the sport. The cream of the crop will graduate to the Champ Car Atlantic series (racing’s equivalent of the American Hockey League), and from there to racing’s NHL, the Champ Car World Series.

Graduates of the Star Mazda Championship include such top open-wheel racers as Champ Car star Graham Rahal and IRL standout Marco Andretti, as well as Canadian Atlantic series racer James Hinchcliffe. Proving its versatility as a training ground, other Star Mazda standouts have also gone on to high profile careers in various areas of racing; 2002 Mosport winner Guy Cosmo is now a top sports car racer while 2004 Mosport winner and series champion Michael McDowell has raced both prototypes and Champ Cars and is now making a name for himself as a front-runner in the ARCA stock car series with recent back-to-back victories.

This year’s crop of young lions clawing their way to the top of the Star Mazda Championship includes three Canadians – Toronto’s Marco Di Leo, Vancouver racer Lorenzo Mandarino and Quebec’s Devin Cunningham. All three Canadians competing in the 2007 Star Mazda Championship are accomplished racers; all have one win, all are in the Top-10 in the championship battle and all are a threat to repeat that victory on any given weekend.

Toronto’s Marco Di Leo, driver of the #21 Maxwell Paper Racing/Nugget Mazda, won the season-opener in Sebring. He was the 2006 Skip Barber National Championship runner-up and in 2005 was the 2005 Skip Barber Scholarship winner, Team Sunoco Ultra 94 member and F2000 Bridgestone Series champion. Di Leo qualified on the pole at Road America but fuel pressure problems dropped him down the finishing order to 8th. He is currently fourth in the championship with 242 points.

Quebec racer Devin Cunningham won the Discovery Channel’s ‘Star Racer’ competition in 2006, and is racing his prize – the #33 AIM Autosport/Discovery Channel Mazda. A top kart racer, Cunningham won Round Five of the Star Mazda Championship at Portland. Cunningham finished 2nd in Toronto but had a difficult weekend at Road America, finishing 6th. He is currently fifth in the standings with 233 points.

“This will be my first time racing at the Trois Rivieres track, but I’m really looking forward to being back in front of a home town crowd,” says the 19 year-old native of St. Bruno, Quebec. “It should be an interesting race, but we have a really good street circuit setup and the AIM Autosport team gives me a great car every weekend. We just have to do what we did in Toronto, keep it all together and run at the front.”

Lorenzo Mandarino, driver of the #23 Newway Forming/Team G.Fro Mazda, won Round Four at Salt Lake City. Like Cunningham, he has an extensive karting background with eleven karting championships since 1996 and winner of the Super Pro class in the 2005 SKUSA Supernational. Mandarino had difficult weekends at both Toronto, finishing 18th, and Road America, where he finished one lap down in 20th. He is currently ninth in the championship with 203 points.

Making his debut at GP3R driving for Andersen Racing, one of the top teams in the Star Mazda Championship, is 18 year-old Montreal native Yannick Hoffman who has raced the past two seasons in the Formula BMW USA Series.

Dominating the Star Mazda Championship battle so far is 18 year-old Dane Cameron, the young Californian who has scored three wins, four poles and three 2nd-place finishes, including Road America. He currently leads Road America race winner Ron White by 53 points (303 vs 250), but the Star Mazda series awards 44 points for a win, so no driver in the Top-10 can afford to relax for an instant.

Also top contenders for victory at Mosport are Australian James Davison (#7 Easternats/Velocity Motorsports Mazda), England’s Jonny Baker (#6 Andersen Racing Mazda) and even an extremely fast young lady from Switzerland, Natacha Gachnang (#35 AIM Autosport Mazda), who made Star Mazda series history by scoring back-to-back podium finishes in Rounds 5 and 6.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Star Mazda Championship “Master Class” racers include 50 year-old Steve Hickham of Corpus Christi, Texas (#17 HB Turbo/Hickham Motorsports) and 64 year-old Dan Tomlin Jr. of Dallas, Texas (#58 Team Tomlin). Tomlin races with his son and business partner, 42 year-old Dan Tomlin III (#56 Team Tomlin). Also in the Master Class is Gerry Kraut, 56, from North Oaks, Minnesota (#55 Dougherty and Company/JDC Motorsports). These ‘gentlemen racers’ may not be fighting for the win, but do run regularly in the top half of the field – and they love to race, happy to be out there and mixing it up with drivers who will be the stars of tomorrow.

All the drivers in the 12-race 2007 Star Mazda Championship are racing identical high-tech open-wheel cars. The Star Mazda race car features a carbon fiber chassis, fully-adjustable suspension and paddle shifters on the steering wheel, just like Champ Car and Formula One. Powering all of the Star Mazda race cars is Mazda’s legendary rotary engine that produces 240 horsepower, top speeds of 150 mph and 0 to 60 mph acceleration of 2.4 seconds. And the engine is so reliable that it can last an entire racing season, or longer, between re-builds. This helps keep the cost of racing in Star Mazda down to a fraction of the budget required to compete in any other open wheel series in the U.S. or Europe.

And here’s the story on what the young lions are all fighting for; forty years ago, on May 31, 1967, Mazda introduced the first street car with a rotary engine, the Cosmo Sport. Since then, they’ve built two million rotary-engined vehicles and the company has built its very identity on the idea of Zoom-Zoom and every vehicle they produce having the soul of a sports car.

In pursuit of that ideal, Mazda has created a unique, company-sponsored ‘motorsports ladder’ that reaches all the way from karting to Champ Car. The winner of a shootout among 2007 karting champions will get a scholarship in the 2008 Skip Barber series, while the Skip Barber champion moves up to Star Mazda, the Star Mazda champion moves up to the Champ Car Atlantic Series Powered by Mazda and the Atlantic champion gets $2 million, provided by Champ Car, toward a Champ Car drive. So they’re all racing for a dream, and the opportunity of a lifetime.

The GP3R is Round 9 of the 12-race 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. On-track Star Mazda action at Trois Rivières begins with an 11:20 am – 12:10 pm practice session on Friday, August 17. A second session in the afternoon is scheduled for 3:20 pm to 4:00 pm.

Qualifying will take place from 11:25 am to 12:10 pm on Saturday, August 28, with the 36-lap/60-minute Star Mazda race scheduled to take the green flag at 1:30 pm, Sunday, August 19.

Star Mazda races are broadcast on the SPEED Channel, with the GP3R event scheduled to air on Monday, August 27 at 3:00 pm. To find out when future Star Mazda races will air, log on to www.speedtv.com/programs.