Tuesday, February 20, 2007 FAIRFIELD, N.J. – Leading Star Mazda team Andersen Racing has signed Jonathan Goring, the 2006 champion of the Skip Barber National Presented by RACER, to a contract for the 2007 season. The 17-year-old from Norfolk, Conn., joins Ricardo Vassmer and Jonny Baker as the Fairfield, N.J.-based team's full-season drivers competing in the Star Mazda series, with Phil Saville and Michael Fitzgerald joining them for selected events. All five are slated to drive at the season opener Friday, March 16, in Sebring, Fla., a support event for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Goring won four SBN races in 2006 to nip three-time winner Marco Di Leo by 2 points for the title and its $100,000 Career Enhancement Award.
The 2006 Skip Barber National series was so competitive that Goring didn't become its champion until the
last turn of the last lap of the last race. But Goring, a senior at Explorations School in Winsted, Conn., did indeed win the title, and with it a $100,000 scholarship he'll use to help defray the expenses of running in the Star Mazda series this year. ‘‘I'm very excited to be a part of the Star Mazda series and the Andersen team, and I would like to thank everyone who is helping me to achieve my racing goals,’’ Goring said. "The Star Mazda series is the perfect stepping stone for my career, from Skip Barber to Champ Car Atlantic and beyond. The Mazdas are a blast to drive and the team does a terrific job, so I think we can put it all together and enjoy a great 2007 season. ‘‘I'm extremely appreciative of the opportunities the Skip Barber program has given me,’’ he elaborated. ‘‘The Skip Barber School and Regional Race Series taught me all the skills I needed to win the National championship. I am very proud and happy to be representing the best racing school in the country in Star Mazda.’’ ‘‘We've been watching Jonathan closely, and he did very well when he tested one of our Star Mazda cars in November at Roebling Road,’’ said Andersen Racing's Dan Andersen. ‘‘I'm again impressed with the quality of Skip Barber graduates, especially their champions,’’ Andersen added. ‘‘We expect Jonathan, Ricardo and Jonny to all be contenders for the Star Mazda championship this year. ‘‘We hope to get off to a good start at Sebring,’’ added Andersen. ‘‘Brad Jaeger won the pole and set a new track record in qualifying for that race last year in one of our cars, and then another one of our drivers, Gerardo Bonilla, who won the 2005 Skip Barber National title, went on to win the race.’’ Goring started racing at age 10 in karts. A summer job working as a mechanic for the Skip Barber Racing School at Lime Rock Park in 2004 was the start of big things for him with that organization. After successfully completing two of its schools he began his formula-car career in the Skip Barber Regional Series in 2005, and switched to the National category later that summer. He won a $15,000 scholarship at the Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shoot-out at Sebring in 2005 before becoming the champion of the organization's biggest series last year with four victories. ‘‘We're very happy for Jonathan, signing with such a first-rate Star Mazda team as Andersen Racing,’’ said Rick Roso, Skip Barber's motorsports marketing manager. ‘‘Goring has always been very quick, and it's been a pleasure watching him mature as a race car driver over the past two-and-a-half years. Jonathan is going to be a big asset to Andersen Racing, and we'll be cheering as he continues to climb the motorsports ladder.’’
For more information on Goring, see jonathangoring.com. For more information on Andersen Racing, which offers a three-tiered program of Formula Ford 2000, Star Mazda and Indy Pro Series competition to prepare drivers for careers as professional race car drivers, see andersenracingteam.com. For more information on Skip Barber Racing, see skipbarber.com. For more information on the Star Mazda series, see starmazda.com. Linda Mansfield, Andersen Racing
