This week’s Mazda Road to Indy Open Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway marks the final official event under the patronage of Mazda after nine years at the helm of what has grown into the most effective open-wheel driver development program in the world. It also represents the predawn of a new era as teams and drivers begin to focus on chasing more than $2M in scholarships and prizes that will be paid out as part of the 2019 Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires.
All three series – Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda – will be represented at the two-day test on Monday and Tuesday, December 3/4, at the 2.21-mile South Florida road course.
Two-time defending USF2000 Team Champions Pabst Racing will field three cars at Homestead-Miami for Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Hunter McElrea and Colin Kaminsky. Sundaramoorthy, who, coincidentally, was born in Pabst’s hometown of Oconomowoc, Wis., showed well in several USF2000 races this year after winning in F1600, while California-born, New Zealand-raised McElrea recently clinched the Australian Formula Ford Championship title. Kaminsky, from Homer Glen, Ill., placed 10th in USF2000 this year with a best finish of fourth at Road America.
At least a dozen young drivers from six different nations, all with hopes of scooping a champion’s prize package valued at over $305,000 to graduate to Pro Mazda in 2020, will gain a head start on the 2019 USF2000 season this week.
St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Cape Motorsports, which has won a total of 12 USF2000 titles, including the last eight in a row, has signed up four talented youngsters for the test. Versatile Australian Cameron Shields, who has won races in both Formula 4 and Formula 3 this year – and hails from the same Queensland town, Toowoomba, as reigning Indy 500 champ Will Power – will drive on both days, while Braden Eves, Nikko Reger and Julian Van der Watt each will join the team for one of the two days.
Eves, 19, from New Albany, Ohio, impressed while making his USF2000 debut at Portland in September. Reger, 20, from Houston, Texas, is looking to make his return to open-wheel racing after winning this year’s Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup championship, while South African Van der Watt, 21, looks to build on a solid rookie year with Team Pelfrey in USF2000 after winning the 2018 South African National Formula 1600 Championship.
Alex Baron, 23, who carries dual French and British citizenship, will spearhead the new Legacy Autosport team after winning two of the first four USF2000 races this year before his season ended prematurely.
Canadian Formula F champion Kellen Ritter, 17, from North Vancouver, B.C., will continue with Exclusive Autosport after making his USF2000 debut at Portland, while BN Racing will field cars for Kyle Dupell, from Portland, Ore., who will drive on both days, and Eves, who will join the Chicago-based team on Tuesday.
Drivers in all three series will have three 40-minute sessions on each of the two days, starting at 9:00 a.m. ET. Live timing and scoring for all sessions will be available on the respective series’ websites, indylights.com, promazda.com and usf2000.com, as well as the Mazda Road to Indy TV App.
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