2016 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout

The 2016 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout was the first edition of the Road to Indy Shootout. The event was held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on December 6 and 7. The winner received a $200,000 scholarship to compete in the 2017 U.S. F2000 National Championship.[1]

United States 2016 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout
Race details
DateDecember 6 & 7, 2016
Official nameMazda Road to Indy Shootout
CourseRoad course
2.238 mi / 3.602 km
Pole position
DriverUnited Kingdom Oliver White
Podium
FirstUnited States Oliver Askew
SecondUnited Kingdom Oliver White
ThirdUnited States Trenton Estep

Entry list
DriverAge2016 result
United States Ryan Norman[2]18Atlantic Championship Series champion6
Australia Will Brown18Australian Formula Ford highest eligible driver (2nd).4
Republic of Ireland Niall Murray[3]21BRSCC F1600 champion
United Kingdom Oliver White23Mountney Formula Ford Super Series
United States Peter Portante20F1600 Formula F Championship runner-up1
United States John McCusker20F2000 Championship Series runner-up2 6
United States Jonathan Sugianto[4]21Formula Car Challenge champion 3
Mexico Axel Matus[5]18Formula Panam champion
United States Trenton Estep[6]16Formula Tour 1600 champion
Brazil Marcel Coletta[7]14Mazda Road to Indy Brazil champion
India Karthik Tharani[8]22MMSC 1600 Indian Championship runner-up5
New Zealand Michael Scott[9]21New Zealand Formula Ford Championship champion
United States Tim de Silva20Pacific F2000 champion
United States Austin Garrison18Rotax Max Challenge
United States Nigel Saurino21SCCA Runoffs – FC
United States Neil Verhagen[10]15SCCA Runoffs – F1600 champion6
United States Matt Machiko25SCCA Runoffs – FM
United Kingdom Neil MacLennan[11]18Scottish Motor Racing Club Formula Ford 1600 Championship champion
United States Timo Reger19Skip Barber Race Series
United States Oliver Askew19Team USA Scholarship
United States Kyle Kirkwood18

Notes

^1 Neil Verhagen won the 2016 F1600 Championship Series. But as he was already qualified by winning the Runoffs, runner-up Peter Portante was awarded a place to compete.[12]

^2 McCusker finished second in the 2016 F2000 Championship Series. The championship was won by Steve Bamford, a masters class competitor, ineligible because of his age. Drivers must be between 14 and 25.

^3 Formula Car Challenge FormulaSpeed champion Sugianto won the shootout invitation over Formula Car Challenge Pro Formula Mazda champion Bruno Carneiro after a video competition.

^4 Brown finished second in the 2016 Australian Formula Ford championship. The championship was won by Leanne Tander, ineligible because of her age (36).

^5 Tharani finished second in the MRF1600 (India) championship, but champion Vikash Anand is facing indictment for drunk driving from a September crash where Anand was driving under the influence, and thereby disqualified.

^6 Verhagen, McCusker and Norman all qualified, but were unable to attend due to prior commitments clashing with the shootout date. Verhagen tested at the annual Road to Indy Chris Griffis Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, scoring the fastest time in the test with Pabst Racing. Norman signed with Andretti Autosport on December 5, 2016 to participate in Indy Lights for the 2017 season. [13]

Mazda Road to Indy - Brasil

The 2016 Mazda Road to Indy - Brasil was a karting contest to qualify for the finals at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The event was held at Kartódromo de Interlagos on 27 August 2016. The event was set up by former racing driver Paulo Carcasci.[14] Eleven drivers from four different Brazilian states and the Federal District competed for a spot in the final at Laguna Seca.[15]

Result
RankDriverFP[16]Q[17]H1[18]H2[19]F[20]Points
1.São Paulo (state) Marcel Coletta392155
2.São Paulo (state) Murilo Coletta281251
3.São Paulo (state) Vinicius Papareli121347
4.São Paulo (state) Lucca Croce643435
5.São Paulo (state) Jean Aguiar914533
6.Federal District (Brazil) Pedro Cardoso872932
Rio de Janeiro (state) Italo Barrilari7657
Minas Gerais Evandro Bambirra4548
São Paulo (state) Allan Croce5336
Mato Grosso Edgar Henrique1111511
São Paulo (state) Erick Lutum1010610

Format
Judges
United States Joel MillerMazda Motorsports factory driver
United States Spencer Pigot
United States Jonathan Bomarito
United States Andrew Carbonell
Canada Scott Goodyearformer IndyCar Series driver
United States Kyle KimballMazda Motorsports operational manager
United States Jim Bowieowner of Brandrenaline

Lucas Oil School of Racing supplied the 18 scholarship candidates with Formula Ford style cars. The Ray Race Cars GR-RSC was fitted with a 2 litre engine built by Elite Engines. All cars were shod with Cooper Tires. The Shootout started with orientation of the cars and the track on December 5. On the second day drivers were divided in four groups and took to the tracks. For the final Shootout day the group was again divided in four. After initial testing sessions the first drivers were eliminated. The remaining drivers started 30 minute qualifying sessions before the race over 30 minutes.[21]

Competition

All participants participated in a vehicle orientation and then multiple practice sessions over two days, culminating in a pre-qualification session where six finalists would be chosen. Those finalists would then participate in a 30 minute qualifying session and a 30 minute race.

DriverQualifyingFinale
United States Oliver Askew31
United Kingdom Oliver White12
United States Trenton Estep43
United States Kyle Kirkwood54
Republic of Ireland Niall Murray65
Australia Will Brown26
Brazil Marcel ColettaDNQ
United States Austin GarrisonDNQ
United States Matt MachikoDNQ
United Kingdom Neil MacLennanDNQ
Mexico Axel MatusDNQ
United States Peter PortanteDNQ
United States Timo RegerDNQ
United States Nigel SaurinoDNQ
New Zealand Michael ScottDNQ
United States Tim de SilvaDNQ
United States Jonathan SugiantoDNQ
India Karthik TharaniDNQ
United States John McCuskerDNA
United States Ryan NormanDNA
United States Neil VerhagenDNA

Winner

Oliver Askew was selected as the winner of the shootout and won a scholarship to compete in the 2017 U.S. F2000 National Championship.[22]

References
  1. "Field Set for Inaugural MRTI USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout".
  2. "NORMAN EARNS SPOT AT MAZDA SHOOTOUT". USF2000. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  3. "BRSCC F1600: MURRAY BOOKS HIS SHOOTOUT TICKET". USF2000. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  4. "Sugianto Earns MRTI $200K Shootout Invitation".
  5. "Axel Matus recibe su premio de campeón y Vecchi logra su segundo triunfo" [Axel Matus receives his prize as champion and Vecchi grabs his second win]. SportCarMx (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  6. "Banquet 2016/ 2016 Banquet". Formula Tour 1600. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  7. "COLETTA TO REPRESENT MAZDA ROAD TO INDY - BRASIL AT SHOOTOUT". USF2000. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  8. "MRF F1600: Tharani to compete in Mazda Road to Indy Shootout". Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  9. "Michael Scott earns place in Mazda Road To Indy Shootout". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  10. "SCCA: Formula F win makes Verhagen youngest national champion ever". Racer. Archived from the original on 29 September 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  11. "SCOTTISH FF1600: MACLENNAN CLINCHES MRTI SHOOTOUT BERTH". USF2000. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  12. "F1600, F2000 and Atlantic Drivers Set for Mazda Shootout". Atlantic Championship Series. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  13. "Notes: Andretti Autosport names Norman to Lights". INDYCAR. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  14. "Marcel Coletta wins Mazda Road to Indy Brazil at Interlagos". motorsport.com. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  15. "Briga de alto nível e título para Marcel Coletta no Mazda Road to Indy Brasil em Interlagos". PistaLivre. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  16. "TREINO MRTI - LIVRE". Race Monitor. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  17. "TOMADA DE TEMPO MRTI". Race Monitor. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  18. "ELIMINATÓRIAS MRTI PARES". Race Monitor. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  19. "ELIMINATÓRIAS MRTI IMPARES". Race Monitor. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  20. "FINAL MRTI". Race Monitor. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  21. "Judges/Format Announced for MRTI $200K Scholarship Shootout". USF2000. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  22. Malsher, David. Askew wins Mazda Road to Indy Scholarship Shootout, Motorsport.com, December 8, 2016, Retrieved 2016-12-10
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