Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Spencer Pigot (l.) and Felix Serralles were the big winners at the 2009-2010 Shoot-out.
Skip Barber Racing School will head west to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this December for the 14th edition of its annual Karting Scholarship Shoot-out. The event, the largest and single most important event for karters transitioning to race cars, is scheduled for Friday, December 3rd through Monday, December 6th at the Salinas, Calif. facility. “Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in early December is a win-win for both karters and the Shoot-out,” explained Todd Snyder, VP of Competition at Skip Barber Racing School. “The new date removes a huge schedule conflict with a major karting event and Mazda Raceway provides a new challenge for karters looking to make that first big move in their career.” This is not the first time the Shoot-out has been held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In 2005, Jordy Vorrath bested 47 other karters to win the grand prize of a fully-funded drive in the 2005 Skip Barber National, where he was runner-up to National Champion Gerardo Bonilla. Any karter intending to enter the Shoot-out must submit an application by September 30. The application can be found by visiting
skipbarberoldsite.561local.comkartingshootout. Please note that submission of the application does not guarantee a seat in the Shoot-out. Following four days of on- and off-track coaching and evaluations (all on-track activities will utilize equally prepared Formula Skip Barber race cars), a panel of judges will reward the most talented karters with scholarships to race in the Skip Barber Regional Race Series and the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda. The biggest prizes are a pair of paid seasons in the 2011 Skip Barber National, courtesy
MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development and a grant from the FIA Motor Sport Safety Development Fund, each valued at more than $52,000. In all, more than $200,000 in scholarships will be awarded at the event. For the second year, the event has been expanded to include a fourth day dedicated to road and track safety training as part of a grant from the FIA Motor Sport Safety Fund. Details on the road and track safety training and additional scholarship opportunities will be announced in the coming weeks. Over the years, Skip Barber Racing's ''star search'' system has unearthed and then developed such talents as A.J. Allmendinger, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Michael Valiante, Raphael Matos, Marco Di Leo, Ricky and Jordan Taylor and Gabby Chaves. Two of the more recent champions of the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda – Jonathan Goring in 2006 and Joel Miller in 2007 – won scholarships at the Shoot-out. Spencer Pigot, the point leader after four of 14 rounds in this year’s championship was one of the big winner’s at the most recent Shoot-out. Submit your 2010-2011 Skip Barber Karting Shoot-out application to Chris Kretzmer, Karting Relations Manager, at
[email protected], or fax to (860) 248-4554. You may also call Chris at (860) 435-4138 for more information. Jim Altemus
