Weston Workman and Nate Cicero earn spot on factory team

IRVINE, CA (October 25, 2021) – Mazda Motorsports has announced the recipients of its three Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires scholarships and the two members of its factory team in the Spec MX-5 Challenge Series presented by Toyo Tires. The selections followed two days of on and off-track evaluation at Sebring International Raceway.

The competition began with 21 drivers in total, 12 for the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup scholarships and nine young karters for the Spec MX-5 Challenge team. Drivers were judged not only by lap times, but also ability to create lasting partnerships, understand and apply data analysis, and overall improvement.

The MX-5 Cup judging panel consisted of Mazda Senior Manager, Brand, Entertainment, and Sponsorships Chris Hill; Mazda Motorsports Program Manager Jonathan Applegate; Motorsport Marketing Manager for BFGoodrich Tires and Michelin Pete Calhoun; professional racers Tom Long and Andrew Carbonell; and Manager of Mazda Motorsports Business Development David Cook.

The Spec MX-5 judging panel consisted of Cook; Senior Manager at Pagid Racing Jim Emerson; former IndyCar and two-time Daytona 24 Hour winner Max Papis, and one of last year’s MX-5 Cup scholarship winners, Chris Nunes.

After a comprehensive judging process focused on the on- and off-track skillsets and effort, Connor Zilisch, of Mooresville, North Carolina, was declared the winner, earning a scholarship valued at $110,000 to take part in next year’s Mazda MX-5 Cup.

“I can’t believe this happened,” Zilisch said. “I can’t thank Mazda enough. This is an amazing opportunity to forward my progress in the motorsports world and I’m so excited to get to work.”

Runner-up Bryce Cornet, of Norman, Oklahoma, was awarded a $75,000-value scholarship for his performance in the shootout.

“Thank you, Mazda Motorsports and all the partners, for an amazing opportunity,” Cornet said. “This is the spark my career has needed for a very long time.”

As part of Mazda Motorsports’ commitment to create opportunities for female racers, Laura Hayes, of Asheville, North Carolina, was declared the winner of the $75,000 Women’s Initiative Scholarship.

“I’m excited and honestly surprised to be standing here,” Hayes said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to work with Mazda. I’m new to the Mazda family. I hope to make you proud.”

The trio of scholarships is only the start of Mazda’s prize fund. Racing in the 2022 MX-5 Cup, these three drivers will have a shot at the $80,000 Rookie-of-the-Year award and the $250,000 championship prize.

“Mazda is proud to support these incredible drivers in their quest to become professional racers,” Applegate said. “What we’ve seen today makes me very enthusiastic for next year’s Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup. Connor is impressively wise beyond his 15 years. He and Bryce are a testament to the talent among Mazda club racers. Additionally, it’s great to continue our Women’s Initiative and welcome Laura to the Mazda family.”

Making the leap from karting to sports car racing is a daunting task, but Westin Workman, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Nate Cicero, of Pound Ridge, New York, will have a leg up on the competition. As Mazda club racing factory drivers, the duo will receive financial support, testing opportunities, a driver coach and motorsports mentor to guide them through the motorsports industry and so much more.

“Seeing these young drivers in person during the course of our two-day shootout only strengthens our desire to support the karting community,” Cook said. “eKartingNews.com helped us discover nine amazing racers and people in our finalists. Selecting the two recipients was very difficult for Max Papis, Chris Nunes, Jim Emerson and me. We are proud of them all and excited about the future for each.”

Without the parity in the Shootout cars, the judges would have had an even more difficult time making their selections. Flis Performance prepped and tended to the MX-5 Cup cars, while W2 Racing, Panic Motorsports, and Formidable Racing Development took care of the Spec MX-5 cars.

The 2021 Mazda MX-5 Cup and Spec MX-5 Challenge season finales will take place at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Spec MX-5 first, November 5 -7, then MX-5 Cup, November 10 – 12. For more information about MX-5 Cup visit www.mx-5cup.com. To learn more about Spec MX-5 Challenge visit www.specmx-5.com.

About: The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires is the signature spec series for Mazda Motorsports. The series has been operated by Andersen Promotions since 2017 and is currently sanctioned by IMSA. Mazda-powered grassroots champions can earn Mazda scholarships for this pro-level series. The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup champion is awarded $250,000 as the top rookie nets $80,000.

BARCELONA, Spain (24 Oct. 2021) – Young American Formula 1 hopeful Jak Crawford ended his 2021 campaign with a flourish, winning a pair of races on Sunday to end the Euroformula Open season.

It was the eighth victory in 16 races for the 16-year-old Red Bull Junior team driver from Houston, driving the No. 52 Dallara for Team Motopark. The final weekend boosted him one position to finish third in the final standings, despite sitting out the opening two races due to age restrictions (he turned age 16 in time to compete in the Sunday race), and missing two full weekends due to commitments in the FIA Formula 3 series.

“I’m happy with the whole season,” Crawford said. “I can’t thank Motopark enough for giving me a race-winning car. Obviously, our objective was to win the races today, and see what happened in the points. I think it was a great year despite missing eight races. It’s a shame we didn’t get to race the whole season, but I’m still happy to win races and with what I’ve achieved this year.”

After setting the fastest lap in practice, Crawford qualified sixth – missing out on securing the pole for the first time in five attempts this season.

“I had an issue with the engine in qualifying,” he said. “Basically, we think there was a sensor that had gone wrong, and it was feeding false information to the engine. We were down on power, and we didn’t quite nail the setup for the conditions. But there was still quite a good recovery! I had the pace all weekend, and we were the ones to beat, although the issues in qualifying set us back.”

Falling to seventh on the opening lap, he regained sixth on Lap 3 and held that position for the remainder of Saturday’s race. That proved to be critical, as the top six finishers would be inverted for the Sunday morning race.

“We knew going in that we would have to finish sixth,” Crawford said. “That’s what was going to change our weekend, and we ended up with two wins. But in the end, it’s almost a good thing [to finish sixth], because it would have been really hard to overtake and get fastest lap in race two if I had won from pole in race one.”

The top-six inversion put Crawford on the pole for Sunday morning. While he led every lap, he managed to survive final-lap drama when problems with the electronics caused his gearbox to fail exiting the final corner. He held on, although a once-comfortable lead of 1.256-seconds was reduced to a mere 0.168-seconds at the checkered flag.

“It wasn’t that easy at all,” Crawford said following the race. “I had a really good start. I got the fastest lap at the beginning. But halfway through, I started to suffer with gearbox issues. It was shifting up as I was trying to shift down, and I started to fall back a bit. Then it seemed that the issue was fixed. I was trying really hard to manage it – staying off the curbs and everything.

“Then on the final lap, I got the issues really big,” Crawford continued. “Out of the last corner, it went all the way to sixth gear from second. I thought I was going to get beat, but man, I got really lucky!”

Turning a lap of 1:36.779-seconds on Lap 3 was the fastest lap of race two, good enough to put Crawford on the pole for the final 18-lap event. This time, there was no drama. After briefly going side-by-side with newly crowned champion Cameron Das in Turn 1, Crawford pulled to a one-second lead, and gradually pulled away – again setting the fastest lap in the process. At the checkered flag, he beat Das by 2.036-seconds in a 1-2 finish for young Americans.

“It was a more simple race,” Crawford said. “I managed to pull a gap early on, and stabilized the gap from there. I think I made one mistake in the race, but overall I think it was a great
weekend despite the issues in qualifying.

Next year’s FIA F3 season starts on November 1-3 with official post-season testing in Valencia, Spain. While Jak’s 2022 plans are set, the official announcements will not be made till later.

“The 2021 season is over and I am excited for next season,” said Crawford. “It is clear I have to step up my F3 game next year but the expectations are not just part of the programs I am in, they are also my own expectations. I will use the off-season to reflect and prepare and we will be ready when racing starts in 2022. Every new year is a bigger year.”

After the test, Crawford hopes to be back home in Texas in early November after a karting race in Las Vegas.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve spent a lot of time at home,” he said. “I’ve only been back for a couple of weeks at a time. I’m excited to get back and be able to relax, because it won’t be long before next year’s season gets started.”

Toyota City, Japan, Oct 25, 2021 – (JCN Newswire) – Hypercar history will be written when the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) titles are decided in a Bahrain double-header, and four-time Le Mans winner TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is ready for a duel in the desert.

For the first time in WEC history, races will be held on consecutive weekends at the same venue; on Saturday 30 October the 6 Hours of Bahrain, followed by the 8 Hours of Bahrain a week later.

A 100% win record this season means TOYOTA GAZOO Racing travels to Bahrain in pole position to retain the World Championship. The team leads Alpine by 51 points, with a total of 65 on offer in the final races, meaning third place in the first Bahrain contest is enough to guarantee a third consecutive title.

There is a three-way fight for the drivers’ crown and the identity of the first Hypercar drivers’ World Champions will be decided only in the final race of 2021, on Saturday 6 November.

Following their emotional first Le Mans victory in August, the #7 GR010 HYBRID crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez head the standings as they attempt to defend the title they won in Bahrain last year.

Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley, in the #8 GR010 HYBRID, are only nine points behind having also won two of the four races so far this season. Another two victories would guarantee them the title while the third-placed Alpine drivers are also in the championship challenge, trailing by 30 points.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has a very strong record in Bahrain, having won five times from eight visits to the 15-turn, 5.412km Bahrain International Circuit, including three wins for its legendary TS050 HYBRID LMP1 car.

The new GR010 HYBRID Hypercar will make its Bahrain debut in exactly the same specification as at Le Mans, when the team earned a one-two victory thanks to a strong team effort to overcome fuel pressure problems caused by contamination in the fuel cell. That issue has been addressed prior to Bahrain following extensive technical investigations.

Koji Sato, GAZOO Racing Company President:

“It is my pleasure to join the team for the final two races of the 2021 WEC season. Since Le Mans, I know the team has been working very hard to address the technical challenges we experienced and I am confident that we have developed appropriate countermeasures. The whole team is looking forward to Bahrain, where we want to deliver an exciting finale to the WEC season for all endurance fans. Having two races on consecutive weekends is a tough challenge for all drivers and teams but I know everyone at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has prepared strongly for Bahrain and we will be ready. Reliability and performance are never guaranteed in endurance racing, especially with a new car, so the whole team is working hard to give both driver crews an equal chance at winning the World Championship.”

Mike Conway (GR010 HYBRID #7):

“We are definitely pushing to win another championship in Bahrain but it’s going to be tough; there are two events with 14 hours of racing still to go. I am sure it will come down to the second race and we will push hard to retain the title. It’s been a great season so far, particularly with winning Le Mans, and it would be nice to top it off with the championship. Bahrain has been a strong circuit for me over the years, always a favourite, so lets’ see what it brings this year.”

Kamui Kobayashi (GR010 HYBRID #7):

“To finish the season with two races at the same circuit is new for WEC and it means everyone can expect an intense two weeks. Of course, it’s the first time for us to drive with the GR010 HYBRID on this circuit so we need to focus on constantly improving the car balance so we are in good shape for both races. With Mike and Jose, and our engineers, we will work hard and give ourselves the best chance of winning the World Championship again.”

Jose Maria Lopez (GR010 HYBRID #7):

“It’s going to be special to fight for the title in back-to-back races, particularly coming from some amazing moments at Le Mans. It’s most important for the team to win the title with a good first race, then we will see who deserves the drivers’ championship. Whoever takes the crown will have really earned it. Car #8 is always strong competition for us; we fight on track but we are team-mates and friends so there is huge respect between all of us.”

Sebastien Buemi (GR010 HYBRID #8):

“I am looking forward to a long stay in Bahrain; it’s going to be good. We have been preparing in the simulator for this and we expect a tight fight with the sister car and the Alpine. We will need to adapt to the different conditions because the behaviour of the car changes quite a lot from day to night. The team has worked hard since Le Mans to understand a few issues and continuously improve the car and I will give my very, very best to fight for the championship until the end.”

Kazuki Nakajima (GR010 HYBRID #8):

“I am sure it will be another close fight in Bahrain to end the season; our car has been very close with car #7 all season and it will be the same for the final two races. The margins have been very small so we have to look for every tiny improvement in the balance. I’m looking forward to the challenge. Bahrain is a great place for a race and it will be interesting to see how the track conditions change between the two races considering one is in the day, the other is at night. I expect this will have an impact so we need to be prepared for it.”

Brendon Hartley (GR010 HYBRID #8):

“I am looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the GR010 HYBRID again after quite a long break. It feels like a long time since Le Mans. We go to Bahrain with all to play for in terms of the drivers’ World Championship because the gap between the top three is pretty close. Bahrain normally produces good races and it’s a nice circuit. We have prepared on the simulator but nothing will beat the real sensations of driving our Hypercar around the track.”