The 20th anniversary of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, one of the top open-wheel driver development series in North America, kicks off the 2010 season with back-to-back, high-profile races, a trio of champions from other open-wheel series and hot young rookies from eight countries – all battling to advance their careers and win one of the most coveted prizes in auto racing. 

It all begins with Star Mazda's traditional season opener at the legendary 12 Hours of Sebring on March 19, followed by the Series' first appearance at an IZOD IndyCar race, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Fans can expect edge-of-your-seat racing as more than twenty-five Star Mazda racers, male and female, ranging in age from 16 to 58 battle wheel-to-wheel at speeds up to 150 mph. 

The Series

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is the college varsity of auto racing -- a highspeed training ground for future stars of the sport. Drivers in the series are mostly young racers moving up from karting, Skip Barber, USF2000 and European series like F3, Formula Renault and Palmer-Audi. 

Some are also more mature racers in whom the competitive fire still burns brightly; they compete in the Expert Series (driver 30 to 44 years old) and Master Series (drivers 45 and older).

For 2010, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will feature an 11-weekend, 13-race schedule, most on major race weekends with American Le Mans and the Indy Racing League. 

The Cars

The Star Mazda Championship race cars look like ¾-scale IndyCars, but don't be fooled into thinking they're not 'real' race cars. The machines you'll be seeing on track at Sebring and St. Pete are hightech, high-speed race cars race cars featuring sophisticated aerodynamics and suspension as well as a legendary Mazda ‘Renesis’ rotary engine that produces 250 horsepower. With a race weight of 1,335 pounds, including fuel and driver, a Star Mazda

race car has a top speed of 160 mph and accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds. All the cars feature a carbon fiber chassis, fully-adjustable ‘pushrod’ suspension, sequential 6-speed gearbox and Goodyear radial racing tires. While designed to be strong, safe, reliable and relatively inexpensive to operate, the cars of the Star Mazda Championship are wickedly fast, high-tech training tools for the next generation of racing stars. 

The F1-Style Standing Starts

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, one of the top open-wheel racing and driver development seriesin North America, will utilize standing starts in the 11 road course and street circuit events in the 2010 season (rolling starts will be used at the two oval races). 

The technology be used in the new standing start format is unique and was developed at the Star Mazda Championship headquarters complex in Pacoima, California. A series of 18 x 18-inch mobile LED panels, all wirelessly connected to the starting computer, are placed at intervals alongside the starting grid, so that all drivers in the typically large Star Mazda Championship starting field of 30+ cars have a clear view. Horizontal rows of super-bright red LED’s will begin to glow, moving up the screen like a thermometer. When the final row of lights comes on and the screen is full red, the starting computer will randomly select a delay of between .5 and 2.5 seconds, after which all the red LEDs will go out simultaneously and the entire screen will turn green, signaling the start of the race. 

The Driver Development Programs 

Drivers in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear are in the unique position of participating in two separate but complementary programs designed to advance their motorsports careers. 

MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder: 

Up-and-coming race drivers have two major challenges: winning on the track, and finding the resources to move up to the next level. Mazda, in conjunction with series corporate partners, is making the second task significantly easier for this year’s champion drivers. Mazda will provide a next-level, fully-funded ride for the 2011 season in a Mazda powered car to the 2010 champions of selected Mazda series. 

The winner of a karting 'shoot-out' will participate in a full season of the BFGoodrich Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda in 2010. 

The Skip Barber National Champion moves up to race in the Cooper Tires Presents USF2000

National Championship Powered by Mazda. 

The USF2000 Champion moves up to race in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. 

The Star Mazda Champion moves up to race in the next Mazda-powered series up the ladder. 

Mazda is the brand of choice for road-racers across North America. More than 9,000 grassroots racers compete in various classes with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). Racers who are years away from earning a driver’s license can now begin their professional motorsports careers in the Mazda family. A driver can begin in karts and progress through the Skip Barber series, Club Racing Formula Mazda, professional Star Mazda and finally to Formula Atlantic, all with Mazda. No other car company has ever connected the dots this way. 

The Indy Racing League 'Road to Indy' Program: 

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, now entering its 20th year as one of North America's premier open-wheel driver development series and a well-established gateway to many forms of motorsports, takes on an added dimension as a part of the official "Road to Indy" developmental system. In conjunction with the new Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship powered by Mazda and Firestone Indy Lights, the Road to Indy provides a clearly defined path for career-minded young drivers to progress up through the ranks to compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. 

Drivers from each of the “Road to Indy” series will benefit from the program in both immediate and longer-term ways. In 2010, all three series that make up the “Road to Indy” program will join the IZOD IndyCar Series at the Streets of St. Petersburg and Iowa Speedway. In addition, the drivers and teams will participate in various Indy Racing League programs such as: 

Inclusion in online advertising promoting the Road to Indy program 

A micro Website dedicated to Road to Indy housed and promoted on the League’s official website IndyCar.com 

Opportunities to develop business-to-business relationships with Indy Racing League teams, sponsors and manufacturers. 

Invitation to participate in the Road to Indy Summit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May on the same weekend they will be competing in the "Night Before the 500." 

Notable graduates of the Star Mazda Championship already competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series include Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal and Raphael Matos (the 2005 Star Mazda champion). 

Additionally, competitors in the Indy Lights series who honed their skills in the Star Mazda

Championship include James Davison, James Hinchcliffe, Pablo Donoso, Michael Potekhen, Daniel Herrington and Richard Kent. 

"The Road to Indy program is the result of a lot of effort by a lot of people over a long time," says Roger Bailey, Executive Director of Firestone Indy Lights. "Our series has had a long relationship with the Star Mazda Championship over the years and a number of the drivers competing with us currently are Star Mazda graduates. 

The Star Mazda race car is just the right vehicle, with the right horsepower and driving characteristics, to produce drivers ready to hit the ground running in Firestone Indy Lights. Star Mazda has been the unofficial stepping-stone to Indy Lights for many years and to be able to officially recognize that now, along with all the other good things happening for the Indy Racing League, is perfect timing and a big step forward for open-wheel racing." 

The Television

Races in the 2010 Star Mazda Championship will be broadcast both live and tape-delay in the U.S., South America and Europe. A major sponsor of the Star Mazda TV package is VISIT Florida (www.visitflorida.com), the state’s official tourism marketing corporation. In addition, drivers will be competing for the inaugural VISIT FLORIDA Cup; the driver scoring the most points in the five weekends / seven races sponsored by VISIT FLORIDA (Sebring, Autobahn double-header, New Jersey double-header, Mosport, Road Atlanta) will win a Florida dream vacation. 

Two of the race weekends, New Jersey Motorsports Park (June 26 – 27) and Autobahn Country Club (July 31 – August 1) will be shown live on HDnet. Other races, including Sebring, Mosport and Road Atlanta, will be syndicated to a variety of outlets reaching more than 55 million households in the U.S. 

Races will also be shown in 40 countries in South America on SPEED Latin America. 

Each 45-minute race will be a one-hour broadcast. InCountry is the lead syndication affiliate for telecasts. They will air all shows, nationally, at one air time consistently, beginning approximately 30 days after each race date; with over 60 million additional US households. 

Each race will have multiple rebroadcasts. InCountry's key is channel 344 on BASIC DirecTV and channel 230 on DishNetwork. Star Mazda races will also be broadcast/available internationally. 

For further information about when and where Star Mazda Championship races will be on TV, please visit www.mazdaracing.tv. 

In addition, races from previous seasons of Star Mazda Championship competition will be available via streaming video at www.GoRacingTV.com.

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