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| October 17, 2012 News |
| 2012 Skip Barber Racing School Karting Scholarship Shootout presented by Mazda Underway |
| Article by: skipbarber.com |
The 2012 Karting Scholarship Shootout presented by Mazda begins today. This time two years ago, a 16-year old karter from southern California was gearing up for the Karting Scholarship Shootout. Today, Kenton Koch, 18, Glendora, CA, has transitioned from formula cars to sedans and is the champion of the Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Challenge earning a fully funded ride in the MAZDASPEED Pro Challenge for 2013 where he will drive alongside the Playboy MX-5 Cup.
"If it wasn't for the Karting Scholarship Shootout, I wouldn't be here," Koch said in a recent interview during a Skip Barber Regional race weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca."The Karting Scholarship Shootout has basically gotten me to where I am, right now."
For Koch, the event taught him about more than just driving fast."It's as much about off the track as it is about on the track," he said. "[For me], it's acutally harder to do interviews than it is to drive. But for certain people I guess it can be different. The biggest thing I learned is how to prepare off the track."
Who will be this year's star?
The entrants for this year's shootout are the following:
Olivier Cote
Arthur Oliveira
Ruben Abadi
Timothy Humphrey
Jonathan Sugianto
Stephen Abel
Colton Herta
Brennan Harrington
Yago Cesario
Yuri Cesario
Bryson Schutte
Skyler Robinson
Matheus Dionisio
Mitsui Duzanowski
Esteban Garzon
Stefan Yasin
Tom Parry
Javier Cantu
Camilo Forero Vasquez
Jacob Parsons
Nicolas Armien
Ethan Low
Keaton McCormick
The 2012 Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shootout Presented by Mazda at Virginia International Raceway is upon us. This shootout has awarded more than sixty-four scholarships to famous racers such as Ryan Hunter-Reay (IZOD IndyCar Series Champion), Alexander Rossi (Formula Renault 3.5), Spencer Pigot (USF2000) and many more.
Funded in part by the FIA Foundation's Motor Sport Safety Development Fund, this year's participants will learn about driver safety, media skills and sponsor relations from today’s professionals and receive quality on track time in Skip Barber Formula 2000 race cars while competing for $120,000 in Skip Barber Racing Scholarships. The Motor Sport Safety Development Fund was set up in 2008 as a charitable fund to help progress and improve safety, training and education in motor sport worldwide. The FIA Institute manages the programmes of the Fund on behalf of the FIA Foundation. This includes the Young Driver Safety Programme under which this activity is being conducted.
The participants will be evaluated by Skip Barber Racing School Instructors, experts and celebrity judges including:
David Hobbs, famous Le Mans driver now SPEED Channel and F1 analyst
Bob Varsha, SPEED Channel personality and F1 commentator
Along with these judges, there are a number of important experts that will also be in attendance to lead educational seminars on a variety of topics (shown below):
Townsend Bell, IZOD IndyCar Series Driver, Sponsorship Coach and Skip Barber Alumni
Bryan Herta, Owner of Bryan Herta Autosport, IndyCar race winner, and 2011 Indy 500 Winner as a Team Owner with driver Dan Wheldon
Dean Case, Communications Director for MAZDASPEED Motorsports
Gerardo Bonilla, ALMS Driver, Skip Barber Racing School Lead Instructor and USF2000 National Championship series Driver Coach
2012 Skip Barber Karting Sholarship Shootout Schedule:
Day 1:
Safety and Survival Modules provided by Skip Barber Racing School and funded in part by the FIA Motorsports Safety and Development Fund
These drills include:
1) Skid recovery and car control in Mazda RX8’s on a wet skid pad
2) Car handling on an autocross in Mazda MX5’s
3) Safety discussion with Skip Barber Racing School instructors.
Interviews with SPEED Channel broadcasters Bob Varsha and David Hobbs
Educational Seminar: Bryan Herta - The Team Owner's Perspective
Autocross - Skip Barber Formula 2000 race car
Day 2:
Educational Seminar: Townsend Bell - Sponsorship Discussion
Media Training with SPEED Channel broadcasters Bob Varsha and David Hobbs
Educational Seminar: Gerardo Bonilla - Preparation of the Racing Driver
Two 30-minute track sessions with feedback provided Skip Barber Instructors
Day 3:
Two 30-minute track sessions with feedback provided Skip Barber Instructors
Educational Seminar: Dean Case - Business, Marketing and PR 101
The karters will be competing for points awarded based on best lap times and deducted for car contact and spin offs.
On the final day, the panel of judges comprised of David Hobbs, Bob Varsha and Skip Barber Instructors will gather to deliberate the winners of five racing scholarships worth a total of $120,000.
1st Place - A full season in the Skip Barber Racing School 2012-2013 Winter Race Series or Summer Race series
2nd Place - $25,000 in Skip Barber Race Series Scholarship
3rd Place - $20,000 in Skip Barber Race Series Scholarship
4th Place - $15,000 in Skip Barber Race Series Scholarship
5th Place - $10,000 in Skip Barber Race Series Scholarship
Skip Barber Regional Race Series provide a perfect proving ground for drivers hoping to advance up the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Ladder--a ladder that allows young racers to advance from Skip Barber Racing School to USF2000, which is the first step in the Mazda Road to Indy. The Mazda Road to Indy awards drivers scholarships to advance to Star Mazda, Firestone Indy Lights and ultimately the IZOD IndyCar Series. Skip Barber Racing School is the official racing of the IZOD IndyCar Series. |
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