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Result

1. Lorenzo Mandarino 

2. Devon Cunningham +0.608 

3. Alex Ardoin  +1.140 

4. Jonathan Goring  +1.791 

5. James Davison  +2.651 

6. Ron White  +3.441 

7. Nick Haye  +4.178 

8. Dane Cameron  +4.711 

 

  

Continued from News

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 Cumming and Weaver Capture West Coast Championships at

Mazda Raceway

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca saw Star Mazda West Coast Series Champions crowned on back-to-back weekends with Vancouver, British Columbia resident Chris Cumming capturing the Pro Formula Mazda title during the American Le Mans Series race weekend, while Fresno, California native Bill Weaver locked up the Standard Formula Mazda crown at the San Francisco Region SCCA Double Points finale.

"The West Coast title was my goal from the start of the year, so it feels great to get it," Cumming explained. "I've got the thank the team at World Speed, particularly my mechanic Patrick Bradford, as well as my coaches from Standing Start, Grant Ryley and Mikel Miller. Working with everyone has been a lot of fun and I'm already looking forward to next year!"

Cumming recorded five victories to edge out Formula Mazda Challenge Champion Patrick O'Neill, who came into the event with what appeared to be an insurmountable lead but was excluded from the results by Star Mazda Championship officials for driving infractions during the event. O'Neill would finish second in the championship with Dave House wrapping up third place with a second place finish in the finale.

While the Pro Formula Mazda drivers were battling back and forth for the points lead, Standard Mazda drier Weaver was the class of the field, winning every race he entered for his championship run. The season finale would be a memorable one for Weaver as brake problems cropped up during the race.

"I lost my brakes about half way into the race. I had to pump the pedal to have any brakes at all and even then it was marginal. With about 7 or 8 minutes to go, two cars got together cresting the hill in turn 1 and caused a full course yellow. I had been able to put 5 or 6 lapped cars between Derry O'Donovan and myself at that point but without brakes I knew he would be on my butt if we actually got the green," Weaver revealed. "Fortunately for me, the clock ran out before they were able to get the mess cleaned up and we finished under yellow. I can honestly say that this was the first time I was happy to finish a race behind the safety car."

Stew Tabak would earn second place behind Weaver with a steady run of podium finishes to close out the season while newly crowned Mazdapalooza Champion Shawn Westerhoff would finish third in the points battle.

 

LORENZO MANDARINO CLAIMS VICTORY AT ROAD ATLANTA
"Season ends on a high note for Canadian pilot"

Multi-time karting champion and current Star Mazda series front runner Lorenzo Mandarino scored his second victory of the season in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyearr. Mandarino took the lead in the closing stages of the event and went on to take the chequered flag at Road Atlanta.

In Thursday afternoons qualifying session the British Columbia resident claimed the outside pole position and a strong starting spot on the outside of the front row. With a majority of the drivers setting their quick times earlier in the run, Mandarino worked on the setup of his Newway Forming Team G.FRO Pro Mazda to turn his quick time on lap eleven. Looking to advance his position in the race, Mandarino and crew went to work to improve the car for Friday.

After a major incident at the start of the event and the eventual restart that followed, Mandarino inserted himself into the second position and was involved in an intense battle with his fellow competitor in third. As the duo raced hard, they began to run down the leader before the yellow flag flew once again. Circuiting the Road Atlanta race course under caution, Mandarino began to prepare his plan of attack to take the lead in the remaining laps.

During the mad scramble of the resulting re-start two laps later that had veteran race observers biting their nails, Mandarino moved into the lead with a daring side-by-side pass through the first turn and would never look back. Mandarino paced the field before the final caution and eventual chequered flag flew on the event to give the Canadian pilot his second victory and lots of momentum heading into the final event in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear.

"Boy, I really needed this one," stated Mandarino in the post race press conference. "We qualified second, but the weather made the race a gamble for us. It rained in the morning, and it was mostly dry by race time though there were some clouds around, so choosing to go with the dry setup and dry tyres was a calculated risk. The G.FRO team gave me a great car for the race and gave me some really good coaching over the radio and helped me make correct decisions about how to run the race. This is their win as much as mine and is a big step forward toward my plans for 2008, which I hope to finalize soon."

Mandarino's next event will see him back in the seat of his Neway Forming Team G.FRO Pro Mazda machine as he will look to continue his winning ways at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Mandarino currently sits seventh in the overall points standings and will look to improve on that position at the October 20th event.

Road Atlanta Race notes

 UNSURPRISING WINNER, DESERVING CHAMPION -- MANDARINO WINS AND CAMERON TAKES THE TITLE

Road Atlanta, GA / Oct. 5, 2007 -- After a heated battle in the second half of the race that saw the front-running drivers swapping places several times per lap, it was ultimately Vancouver's Lorenzo Mandarino who scored his second win of the season in Round Eleven of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship driving the #15 Team G.FRO/Newway Forming Mazda. And it was Californian Dane Cameron, struggling all weekend with a car that was a rocket in the turns but slow down the straights -- who did what he had to do, finishing 8th in the #19 JDC Motorsports/Finlay Motorsports Mazda and clinching the championship... the first rookie to do so in the 17-year history of the Star Mazda Championship.

"Boy, I really needed this one," said Mandarino, who has had an up-and-down season of wins and podiums mixed with 18th and 19th- place finishes. "We qualified second, but the weather made the race a gamble for us. It rained in the morning, and it was mostly dry by race time though there were some clouds around, so choosing to go with the dry setup and dry tyres was a calculated risk. The G.FRO team gave me a great car for the race and gave me some really good coaching over the radio and helped me make correct decisions about how to run the race. This is their win as much as mine and is a big step forward toward my plans for 2008, which I hope to finalize soon."

The 45-minute race began with a bang, literally. A four-car melee on the first lap brought out a full-course yellow for several laps, but when racing resumed, it was Australian driver James Davison, the poleman and winner of Round Ten at Mosport, who motored away to a 1.5 second lead in his #7 Velocity Motorsports / Easternats Mazda. He dominated the first half of the race, but began losing ground to the hungry duo battling behind him in 2nd and 3rd-place. Eventual race winner Lorenzo Mandarino was keeping one on the road and one eye on his mirrors as Alex Ardoin of Lafayette, Louisiana in the #51 Mundill Racing / Oral and Facial Surgery Center Mazda was flinging his car into the turns, using every inch of the track -- and then some -- trying to get past.

On lap 14, Saint-Bruno, Quebec Racer Devin Cunningham inserted himself into the battle, moving the #33 AIM Autosport/Discovery Channel Mazda into third... then back into fourth... then back into third again. The battle between Cunningham and Ardoin was easily the competitive highlight of the race. And all the while, points leader Dane Cameron was soldiering around in 8th, getting the job done, but with frustration radiating from the cockpit like a beacon.

Everything changed, for the front-runners anyway, on lap 20 when Mark Olson, trying to be gentlemanly about getting out of the way while being passed by the front-runners, slid off the track and put his #53 Mundill Racing / Vectren Source Mazda hard into the tire wall. This brought out yet another full-course yellow and bunched up the field.

During the mad scramble of the resulting re-start two laps later that had veteran race observers biting their nails, Mandarino moved into the lead with a daring side-by-side pass through the first turn, and by the time the field came back around to the start/finish line, Davison found himself shuffled back to 5th. The final bit of drama in the race came courtesy of Dallas, Texas driver Russell Walker who tangled wheels in the middle of a group of cars and flipped his #28 JWR Racing/Pavecon Mazda hard into the red Georgia clay. He was lucky to walk away unscathed, though a TV close-up of him standing behind the barrier at the side of the track required minimal lip-reading skills to discern his feelings about the situation.

With just a few minutes left in the race and a serious mess to clean up, officials brought out the checkered flag. Ultimately, the finishing order was Mandarino, Cunningham and Ardoin on the podium, with Jonathan Goring in the #14 Andersen Racing / Skip Barber Racing Mazda and pole-sitter/early race leader Davison rounding out the top-5.

Finishing first in the Master Class for Star Mazda Championship drivers aged between 30 and 44 was Richard Zober of Newtown, PA in the Comprent Motorsports / Zober Industries Mazda, his fourth class win of the year. In the Expert Class for drivers over 45, the winner was Gerry Kraut, driver of the #55 JDC Motorsports/Dougherty & Co. Mazda. Karut has won his class four times in 2007.

For Dane Cameron, all thoughts of how he might have wished the race had gone differently were swept away in the realization that he had indeed won the 2007 Star Mazda Championship, and the Mazda-sponsored full-season drive in the 2008 Cooper Tires Champ Car Atlantic Series Powered by Mazda that comes with it. Not to mention the $100,000 in cash, $10,000 for being the top Rookie... and a brand-new Mazda RX-8 sports car.

"When we came into this series at the start of the year, we knew that the biggest thing would be consistency," said the jubilant 18 year-old native of Somona, California. "So that's what we focused on. The JDC team is so good that along the way we managed to win three races, start from the pole five times and finish on the podium four times, so however I might wish this race had gone better for us, it was a great season and we accomplished the mission of winning the championship. I'm grateful to the team, my father, who is also the engineer on my car, and my sponsors, especially Rob Finlay who made me part of the Finlay Motorsports driver development program. And to Lynx Racing and the others who have made this possible. And of course to Mazda and their 'motorsports ladder' program that is making it possible for me to live out my life-long dream of a career in racing. The ladder system is critical for the health and development of open-wheel racing in this country, and Mazda deserves a lot of credit for being the first automaker to put together a program that reaches all the way from karting to Champ Car."

 

 

An Aussie triumphs in Canada as Davison wins a thriller at

Mosport

Mosport, Canada / August 25, 2007 -- Australian racer James Davison took advantage of the confusion resulting from pit stops and tyre changes caused by a brief early-race downpour to take his first victory in the Mosport round of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Vancouver native Lorenzo Mandarino finished second while series championship leader Dane Cameron filled out the podium.

"I started fifth but I got a good run into Turn One while it was still dry on the opening lap and stayed out several extra laps when it started raining while everyone else pitted," said the driver of the #7 Velocity Motorsports / Easternats Mazda. "I pitted in the lead but by crew did a great job changing tyres and I only lost four places. There was only one full-course yellow and it was difficult to pass lapped traffic, but my car was good as the track dried out toward the end of the race and I just stayed out of trouble and brought it home."

Davison has crossed the finish line first in two previous races, Sebring and Road America, only to be stripped of his victories for 'driving infractions' by series officials. His 2007 record also includes two poles, two podiums and three top-5 finishes.

Mandarino who won at Round Four at Salt Lake City, but finished 19th, 15th and 13th in the last three races, finally got his luck turned around. He put the #15 Team G.FRO/Newway Forming Mazda third on the grid for the start, but profited from the confusion in the opening laps.

"With the rain and the pit stops and the full-course yellow, it was difficult to know who was running where and who I needed to pass," he said. "I just followed the orders my team was giving me over the radio and kept passing people until I got by Cameron. I had a good run at Davison in the last two laps but just couldn't quite get there. Given the luck I've been having lately, 2nd-place feels like a win."

Series championship leader Dane Cameron, driver of the #19 JDC Motorsports/ Finlay Motorsports Mazda, started the race from the pole, but gave up the lead to Jonathan Goring's #14 Andersen Racing/Skip Barber Racing Mazda at the start. He pitted for rain tires on the second lap and dropped back to 8th, eventually working his way up to 2nd in the closing laps before finally finishing 3rd, his fourth podium finish of the year. His race record also includes five poles, three wins and two top-5 finishes.

"I didn't get a great start and we probably waited too long to pit because it cost us a lot of track positions," said the 18 year-old native of Sonoma, California. "I was hoping for a little sprinkle and a full-course yellow, but we got a short downpour that stopped almost immediately and left us out on rain tires on a drying track for the rest of the race. I was on a full dry setup and it was fast but just chewed up the tires and I had to back off to make it to the finish. No racer is every happy with finishing third, but we accomplished the main mission of increasing our points lead and I'm hoping to be able to wrap up the championship in the next race at Road Atlanta in October."

Suffering the most in the race was Californian Ron White, who's back-to-back victories in Round 8 at Road America and Round 9 at Trois Rivieres had him looking like a late-season championship contender. But he crashed in practice and damaged his rear wing in the race, forcing him to pit for several laps for repairs. He ultimately finished 20th, six laps behind.

The 2007 Star Mazda Championship points battle still has Cameron in the lead with 381 points, followed by Davison with 319 and White with 313. Rounding out the top-5 are Cameron's JDC Motorsports teammate Nick Haye, driver of the #37 JDC/Quantum Sphere Mazda with 285 points and Jonathan Goring with 282 points.

The highest-finishing driver in the Expert class for racers between 30 and 44 years of age, was Texan Tony Rivera who finished an excellent 6th in his #52 Mundill Mazda. He also leads the Expert points battle with 112. The highest-finishing drivers in the 'Master' category for drivers over 45 were newcomer Chuck Hulse of Yorba Linda, California in his #68 Team G.FRO/Silicon Salvage Mazda (15th overall) and Steve Hickham of Corpus Christi, Texas, driver of the #17 Hickham Motorsports/HB Turbo Mazda. Hickham finished 18th overall and leads the Masters points battle with 160.

Mosport was the third of three back-to-back races for the Star Mazda Championship. Teams and drivers will have the entire month of September off to rest and re-build race cars before heading down the home stretch with the final two races of the season, Road Atlanta on October 4 -- 5 and the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Northern California October 19 -- 20.

 

DIFFERENT RACE, DIFFERENT TRACK, DIFFERENT COUNTRY,

 SAME RESULT

WHITE, CAMERON, HAYE 1-2-3 AT TROIS RIVIERES

 

The back-to-back Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear races at Road America and Trois Rivieres took place in different countries and on completely different kinds of tracks -- a natural terrain road course vs. an urban street circuit -- and while the details of the two races were different, the results were exactly the same.Ron White, who started 6th, won his second in a row; points leader Dane Cameron, starting 4th, kept his championship hopes healthy with a 2nd-place finish; and newly-emerging talent Nick Haye scored his second-straight podium finish after starting 7th.Russell Walker, driver of the #29 Pavecon/John Walko Racing Mazda, turned only one lap in qualifying, started last and moved up through the field to finish 4th. Quebec newcomer Yannick Hofman, driving his first-ever Star Mazda race after two seasons in Formula BMW, showed he will be a force to be reckoned with when he joins the series full-time next season after moving up from 8th on the starting grid to finish 5th in his #00 Jig-A-Loo/Andersen Racing Mazda.

"I took the outside line into the first turn and was fortunate to get through the carnage with no damage," said White, driver of the #69 Maxwell Paper Products/Maxwell Racing Mazda. "After everything got sorted out I was in 5th, and just kept focused and drove the wheels off the car like I did at Road America. I was able to move up during the re-starts after full-course yellows, and when I took the lead, I went from third to first in a matter of about two hundred feet. This is my second year in Star Mazda, my second win of the season and I'm second in the championship... now I just need to convert all that into Number One."

The race started predictably enough with the 24-car field attempting to enter the first turn all at the same time, with the result that three cars were immediately knocked out of the race, several more were severely damaged, including front-row starter Marco Di Leo' #21 Maxwell Racing/Nugget Mazda who ultimately retired with mechanical failure.

And still more subtle damage conspired to influence the outcome of the race in the form of a damaged front wing on Dane Cameron's #19 JDC Motorsports/ Finlay Motorsports car and bent suspension on Nick Haye's #37 JDC Racing/ Quantum Sphere Mazda."We struggled a bit during practice but were right on the pace in qualifying and I thought we had the car to win the race but with the damage to my front wing during the first turn accident, we'll never know just how good a car was," said Cameron, the series points leader and winner of three races and four pole positions so far this season.J"After the contact, I thought the car was OK, but then the shock cover flew off down the back straight, so I was a bit concerned but just stayed out there and drove as hard as I could to get as many points as possible."

Cameron's JDC Motorsports teammate Nick Haye, of Huntington Beach, California, put together a string of four top-10 finishes in the first four races of the season, then hit a patch of bad luck and finally bounced back with his first podium of the season in the last race at Road America.

"I'm so happy to be on the podium here because it finally feels like my luck has turned around, though I was worried at the start," said the native of Huntington Beach, California. "I had some contact in the first-turn incident, and it felt like my suspension was just a little bent during the race, but not enough for me to take it to the pits. I just stayed out and tried to keep my championship hopes alive."

Other events of note in the race include pole-sitter Alex Ardoin, driver of the #51 Mundill / Oral & Facial Surgery Center Mazda, who was apparently channeling Gilles Villeneuve for most of the race with broad, opposite-lock, tail-out powerslides through the corners. He led the early stages, slipping back to second when a too-wide line through a turn let Toronto native Lorenzo Mandarino slip by in his #15 Team G.FRO/Newway Forming Mazda.Mandarino led several laps until tangling wheels with Ardoin and getting pitched into the Turn Six tire wall on lap 20. Ardoin, muscling his way back toward the front, tried a 'hail Mary' pass in the closing stages of the race that nearly took out himself, Dane Cameron and Nick Haye. Contact with Haye caused a suspension failure and Arodin, after a drive that had the crowd on its feet, was finally credited with a 18th-place finish.

Finishing first in the Expert class for drivers aged 30 to 44 was Dan Tomlin III, who finished 10th overall in his #56 Team Tomlin Mazda.JSteve Hickham drove his #17 HB Turbo/Hickham Motorsports Mazda to an 11th-place finish overall and first in the Master class for drivers 45 and older. Interestingly, Chuck Hulse, a 54 year-old Californian who joined the series at Road America, while not technically entered in the Master class championship battle, has scored back-to-back top-10 finishes (10th at Road America and 9th at Trois Rivieres) in the #68 Silicon Salvage/Team G.FRO Mazda.

The GP3R was Round 9 of the 12-race 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear and is scheduled to air on the SPEED Channel on Monday, August 27 at 3:00 pm. To confirm the time and find out when future Star Mazda races will air, log on to www.speedtv.com/programs.

 

 

LAST TO FIRST -- WHITE WINS A WILD ONE AT ROAD AMERICA

In a wild race that saw the first car to cross the finish line penalized and moved back to fourth, it was Ron White, who started last in his #69 Maxwell Racing / Maxwell Paper Products Mazda taking his first win of the year in Round Eight of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Finishing 2nd and extending his points lead was Dane Cameron in his #19 JDC Motorsports /Finlay Motorsports Mazda, followed -- after a bit of controversy -- by teammate Nick Haye making a great showing for his new sponsor with his first podium of the year in the #37 Quantum Sphere/JCD Motorsports Mazda

The race began with pole sitter Marco Di Leo, suffering from fuel pressure woes in his # 21 Maxwell Paper/Nugget Mazda, losing the lead to 2nd-place qualifier Australian James Davison in his #7 Easternats / Velocity Motorsports Mazda. Davison led most of the race but several overt blocking moves in the closing stages provoked series officials to penalize him three places, dropping him back to 4th. This handed the victory to White, who overcame a horrible start to the weekend in stellar fashion to score his first win of the season. White has scored two podiums and two top-5 finishes so far this season.

"We weren't able to qualify because of mechanical problems, so I had to start at the very back of the grid, which actually worked out quite well," said the native of Santa Clara, California. "The field spread out a bit back there and gave me some room to run hard and pass cars. I had to drive the wheels off the car, but I figured out some new racing lines about mid-way through the race that let me pick up about a second per lap, and that really helped get me to the front. I changed teams between the last race and this one, no hard feelings, just one of those racing things, and I'm really happy to be able to thank the Maxwell Paper Racing team with our first win of the season."

Star Mazda Championship points leader, and winner of three races so far this season, including Round Seven at Toronto, suffered through a difficult day of practice on Thursday and a miserable qualifying session that saw him start 8th on the grid. He moved up and down the order during the race like a yo-yo, finally making the pass for 2nd on the next to last lap. This is his third 2nd-place finish this year, in addition to three wins and four pole positions.

"How many places I lost was a function of traffic, yellow flags and the fact that, as the points leader I have a target on my back and pretty much everyone was trying to run me off the road," said the 18 year-old native of Sonoma, California. "How many places I gained is a function of what a great car the JDC Motorsports team gave me for the race. We had the fastest car out there, and if I didn't have to spend so much time dodging disaster, we'd have given Ron run for the front in the closing laps. That said, the mission this weekend, after winning, was to be smart, keep it on the road, finish the race and extend our points lead... which we did."

Third place was also a source of controversy, with one driver replacing another during the middle of the podium ceremony. Jonathan Goring raced his #14 Skip Barber Racing/Andersen Racing Mazda across the finish line in third place after a hard-fought pass for position... a pass that that officials ultimately determined was an infraction of the rules, resulting in a penalty moving him back to 24th.JJThe recipient of that pass, and the man ultimately replacing him in the middle of the 'hat dance' was 4th-place finisher Nick Haye, driver of the #37 Quantum Sphere/JCD Motorsports, who started the race from 9th on the grid. Haye has scored four top-10 finishes so far this season.

"It was wild, I was back in the paddock with my car surrounded by people and my team is telling me that I need to get over to the podium, that I'd finished third," said Haye. "I actually qualified quite well, but due to a penalty I incurred in Toronto they took away my best laps and I started ninth. The team gave me a great car and I'm really excited to score my first podium for my new sponsor Quantum Sphere. It was really aggressive out there, but I just love the track and it really suits my driving style."

Rounding out the top-5 were the aforementioned James Davison, finishing 4th for his fifth top-5 of the year, and another interesting story, Eric Freiberg in the #39 Northwest Autosport/EBI Medical Mazda.JFreiberg's normal car is the #3 CDE Collision Damage Experts/Northwest Autosport Mazda, but terminal mechanical problems shortly before the race looked to keep Freiberg out of the event... until his teammate, Steve Cook of New Orleans, LA, offered to sit out the race and put Freiberg in his #39 car... a gentlemanly gesture that worked out well for Freiberg and the Northwest team.

Also of note in the race, 3rd-place qualifier Natacha Gachnang of St. Gingolph, Switzerland got caught up in an on-track incident and though she was able to continue, finished 7th in her #35 AIM Autosport Mazda.JGachnang made Star Mazda series history with back-to-back podium finishes at Portland and Cleveland earlier in the season. Pole-sitter Di Leo soldiered on with a down-on power car to bring it home in 8th.

Finishing first in the Expert Series for drivers aged 30 -- 44, and 13th overall, was Richard Zober, driver of the #66 Zober Industries/Comprent Motorsports Mazda. Texan Steve Hickham won the Master Series for driver over 45 years of age with a 16th-place overall finish in the #17 HB Turbo/Hickham Motorsports Mazda.

 

Formula Mazda Challenge  Rounds 13, 14 Sears Point summary

O'Neill Continues Winning Ways at Infineon 
Slone and Westerhoff Split Mazdapalooza Double-Header

Recently crowned Formula Mazda Challenge Champion Patrick O'Neill continued his winning ways in Rounds Thirteen and Fourteen of the Championship at Infineon Raceway to sweep the weekend for the fifth time this season, recording his eleventh and twelfth victories, in what has been an almost flawless season for the driver of the #64 O'Neill Construction Pro Formula Mazda.

"Once again my Mazda was working perfectly and I have to give thanks to my mechanic and to everyone at World Speed Motorsports for all their hard work putting together this championship," O'Neill said. "There were a couple of hungry drivers behind me this weekend and a couple of mistakes today almost cost me the race but I was able to bear down and reclaim the lead."

Saturday's event found O'Neill on the pole position with Chris Cumming in the #26 World Speed Motorsport Mazda lining up alongside for the start of the 21 lap event. As the green flag flew O'Neill was off to a strong start opening up a gap on the field as Cumming and teammate Paul LaHaye in the #4 World Speed Motorsports machine battled for second place. Cumming's race would be cut short as they came through lapped traffic, as contact with Mazdapalooza leader Jamie Slone in turn three would force him out of the event. LaHaye would claim his fifth podium of the season with a second place finish and Michael Gesser would capture his first podium of the year with a third place finish in his #2 Alaska Coffee Roasting Mazda.

Despite the contact with Cumming, Slone would hold on to claim his second Mazdapalooza victory of the season ahead of Doug Smith and reigning series champion Chaz Lemmon.

Qualifying for Sunday's round of the championship would once again be led by O'Neill with LaHaye claiming the outside front row position, edging out Cumming by 0.015 seconds. Both drivers would hound O'Neill on the opening laps this time, but O'Neill was slowly able to open up some breathing room. With five laps remaining O'Neill made an uncharacteristic mistake in turn eleven, spinning the #64 O'Neill Construction Mazda, but would be able to recover in time to maintain the lead, after another spin in turn eleven on the following lap he was not so fortunate and LaHaye assumed the lead as the laps wound down. Now in second place O'Neill set off after LaHaye and was able to work his way back into the lead with two laps remaining and hang on for the victory.

Sunday's Mazdapalooza race for Standard Formula Mazda drivers was no less dramatic as current series points leader Shawn Westerhoff, who was hampered by clutch trouble during Saturday's event, would capture the pole position and duel with Smith and Lemmon for most of the race. Westerhoff would finally catch a break when Smith spun and Lemmon checked up to avoid contact, allowing Westerhoff to open a gap to claim his second victory of the season.

Both series now prepare for the season finale weekend September 12-15 at Infineon Raceway.

Eric McCombs

 

CALIFORNIAN CAMERON WINS, CANADIAN CUNNINGHAM SECOND

Dane Cameron continued his domination of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear with a hat trick in round Seven at the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto -- fastest in every practice session, won the pole in qualifying, led every lap on the way to his third win of the season in the #19 JDC Motorsports/Finlay Motorsports Mazda. Cameron's record includes four poles so far this season, and he scored an identical hat trick on his way to victory in Round Two at the Reliant Park street circuit in Houston.

Finishing second in a 45-minute race interrupted every few laps by no less than five full-course yellows was Quebec racer Devin Cunningham, driver of the #33 Discovery Channel/AIM Autosport Mazda. Cunningham won the 2006 Discovery Channel 'Star Racers' competition and is making the most of the full-season sponsored ride in the Star Mazda series that was his prize. He won a rainy Round Five at Portland.

Completing the top-3 in his first-ever Star Mazda podium finish was Alex Ardoin of Lafayette, Louisiana. Ardoin, who's previous best finish was 6th at Round 6 in Cleveland, qualified the #51 Oral & Facial Surgery Center/Mundill Racing Mazda in 16th and drove up through the field to finish 3rd.

Also putting in a notable drive was Tyson Sy of Manila, Philippines, who suffered a blown engine in the first few laps of qualifying, forcing him to start the #68 Popsy/Team G.FRO Mazda from the very back of the 22-car field. He sliced his way up the order in a manner that had the track announcers nicknaming him the 'Thrilla from Manila,' running third for several laps before finally bringing the car home in 4th-place.

Cameron pulled out to a 2-second lead in the opening laps of the race until an accident at the 4-minute mark brought out the first full-course yellow. He resumed pulling away from the field when the race went green again with 35 minutes to go, only to run into another full-course yellow at the 31 minute mark. And so it went throughout the race, allowing only one or two green flag laps in between cautions until the closing minutes.

"It wasn't nearly as easy as it looked," said the 18 year-old native of Sonoma, California. "The tires on my car took three laps to come fully back up to race temperatures, so I was driving the wheels of it and holding on for dear life on every re-start trying to keep Devin behind me. That aside, the JDC team gave me a really good car and I'm happy to score my third win and extend my lead in the championship."

Cunningham qualified 5th on the grid and moved up to second on the re-start after the second full-course caution. He challenged Cameron hard on several subsequent re-starts, running within inches, but eventually opted for a more conservative approach and an assured podium finish.

"I though I would be nerve-wracking to race in front of this big a Canadian crowd, but it was just amazing," said Cunningham. "Like Dane's car, my tires took several laps to come up to temperature and it was tricky with all the track surface changes from asphalt to concrete in the turns and then back again. I got a good run on Dane during one of the re-starts, but it was clear that he had the faster car so I settled down and made sure to protect my position and make it to the finish."

Ardoin, the 2006 Skip Barber Shootout Award winner and 7-year veteran of national karting competition, ran a 'stealth race' until, on a yellow-flag re-start with twelve minutes left in the race, he executed a bold, side-by-side pass, taking over 3rd-place from Tyson Sy.

"I've only run two street circuits so far, Houston and here, but I love them because they bring out a whole different aspect of driving," he says. "What made the difference here was an adjustment I made to my racecraft after looking at some tapes of previous races. It was apparent that I wasn't being nearly aggressive enough, especially under braking, so I worked on that and it paid off here in Toronto."

Toronto is the seventh round of the 12-race 2007 Star Mazda Championship schedule and the first of three Star Mazda races in Canada over the next two months, including Trois Rivier, Quebec (where Star Mazda is the feature race) on August 18-19, and at Mosport in Bowmanville with the American Le Mans Series on August 24-25.

 

ROOKIE JONATHAN GORING SCORES HIS FIRST STAR MAXDA VICTORY AT

CLEVELAND

Round Six of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, held on Sunday 24 June at the Burke Lakefront Airport circuit in Cleveland, Ohio, was won by Jonathan Goring of Norfolk, CT, driver of the #14 Andersen Racing/Skip Barber Racing Mazda. Goring, the 2006 Skip Barber National Series champion, came into the race 5th in the points, qualified on the outside of the front row and battled for most of the 45-minute race with pole-sitter leader Dane Cameron of Sonoma, California.Cameron led the first half of the race until deteriorating tires slowed his pace and Goring slipped by him on the second of two yellow-flag re-starts. Cameron finished 2nd in his #19 JDC Motorsports/Finlay Motorsports Mazda, and retains his lead in the championship. Finishing 3rd in the #35 AIM Autosport Mazda is the series' lone female driver, Natacha Gachnang of St. Gingolph, Switzerland, who also scored a podium finish at Round Five in Portland.

"It was an exciting race for me because I knew from the start that I had a car capable of winning the race," said Goring, who won four races on his way to the 2006 Skip Barber championship. "I was careful in the first turn and got through with no problems, after which Dane was leading until the half-way point when I was able to close on him a bit. Then came the first of two full-course yellows and I couldn't get past him on the first one, but got by on the second. This is my first win in the Star Mazda championship and I'd really like to thank my team, sponsors and Skip Barber for all their support."

This weekend marked the Star Mazda series' first visit to the 2.106-mile Burke Lake Airport circuit. For championship points leader Dane Cameron, however, it was a return to the track where he won from the pole last year in the Formula Ford 2000 series on his way to second place in the championship and 'Rookie of the Year.' His Star Mazda record so far in 2007 includes three poles, two wins, one 2nd-place finish and two 4th-place finishes. He came into the weekend leading the championship battle by 12 points and extended that lead with his 2nd-place finish today.The new points totals reflecting the results of the Cleveland race will be published after the completion of post-race technical inspection.

"It all came down to tires for me; I tried to save them as much as possible in qualifying so they would last the race, but we came up just a bit short on rubber," said Cameron, who also set the fastest lap of the race. "There was a bit of confusion with second of the two full-course yellows and I wasn't able to get my tires scrubbed properly for the re-start so I had no grip going into the first turn.JThat's where Jonathan got me and it took so long for the tires to come back in that I just couldn't catch him. Still, we pretty much dominated the weekend with fastest in every session, the pole and extending our points lead, so I'm reasonably happy."

In Round Five at Portland, Gachnang became the first female driver to finish on the podium (a 2nd-place finish) in the modern history of the Star Mazda championship. Only one other female driver, Lynx driver Sara Senske, ever scored a podium finish -- ten years ago on the short oval at Irwindale, CA in the previous-generation, tube-frame Mazda race car. Gachnang's 3rd-place finish this afternoon secures her place in the history books as the only female driver to score back-to-back podium finishes in the Star Mazda championship.

"Qualifying was hard because I had to serve a 10-minute penalty for something that happened yesterday and as soon as I went out on course there was a red flag, so I only had about four laps to try and set a time," said Gachnang. "I got an OK start in the race from 10th on the grid and was able to pass a few people, but it was the re-start that really helped me. I scrubbed my tires really well and went to the inside when the green came out, which was the right decision because I moved immediately up to third place and held it until the end. This is very tight, competitive racing, and I'm happy to be with such a good team."

Rounding out the top-5 were Tyson Sy of Manila, Philippines, in the #68 Team G.FRO/Popsy Mazda and Eric Freiberg of Homer Glen, Illinois, in the #3 Northwest Autosport/CDE Collision Damage Experts Mazda.

 

 

Rookie Devin Cunningham Scores His First Win at PIR IN Star Mazda

Surviving a first-lap, first-turn melee that took out both top qualifiers -- and a handful of full-course yellows in between -- rookie Devin Cunningham raced his #33 Discovery Channel/AIM Autosport Mazda from 10th on the grid to victory at Portland International Raceway in Round Five of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear.

Cunningham won the 2006 Discovery Channel competition, called 'Star Racer,' designed to find the next great Canadian racing driver. The 8-part docu-reality series aired last fall and Cunningham is now making the most of his prize, a full-season sponsorship in the 2007 Star Mazda Championship.

"We didn't do well in practice and didn't qualify particularly well, but the team kept working at it and we got the job done in the race," said the native of St. Bruno, Quebec. "I paid attention to where other guys were going off course and was extra careful in those places. Beyond that it was a question of patience and picking cars off one at a time. This time last year I was struggling to pay for my go-kart racing and to find myself winning my fifth formula car race, in the rain, is something that will take a while to sink in."

Finishing second, after qualifying 15th, was Cunningham's AIM Autosport teammate, Natacha Gachnang of St-Gingolph, Switzerland, driving the #35 AIM Autosport Mazda. Gachnang is the first female driver in the modern history of the Star Mazda Championship to finish on the podium.JThe first was Lynx Racing driver Sara Senske, in the older tube-frame cars, on the Chicago oval ten years ago.

"This is a great sensation for me, because I did not expect anything like a podium finish," she said. "My practice times were in the top-10, but qualifying was bad and I did not expect much from the race until I see everyone spinning in the first turn and suddenly I am in fifth. Then I spin in the second turn and am twelfth, but I was able to keep it on the road after that and the car was good. I worked to really heat the tires up during the yellow flag laps and that helped a lot on the re-starts. I'm very happy for the team that we could be 1-2 at this race."

Santa Clara, California racer Ron White qualified 4th in his #69 Team G.Fro/Wunder-Bar Mazda and led a good portion of the race before tire problems allowed Cunningham and Gachnang to slip by. This is his second year in the series and his second podium of the year. He scored five podium finishes in 2006."I had a really good car for the race and was running easily at the front until something happened to one of my rear tires and I had trouble with handling and putting the power down coming out of corners," said White. "The track kept changing as it dried out toward the end of the race so I just drove within the limits of the car and kept it on the road. I worked hard on getting a run on Natacha on the last lap but came up about a foot and a half short. That's okay, though, we'll bring it on and get them next time."

Finishing fourth was Dallas, Texas native Russell Walker in the #28 Pavecon/John Walko Racing Mazda, while pole-sitter Marco Di Leo of Toronto, Canada, who was caught up in the first-lap mayhem, brought his #21 Maxwell Paper Products Mazda home in fifth.

 

 

 

Northwest Autosport and Lorenzo Mandarino Victorious at Miller

Motorsports Park.

Northwest Autosport and Canadian racing driver Lorenzo Mandarino cruised into victory lane with their first victory of the season this weekend in Round Four of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at Miller Motorsports Park during the American Le Mans Series Larry H Miller Group Utah Grand Prix race weekend.

Driving the #23 Newway Forming Northwest Autosport Pro Formula Mazda, Mandarino, from Vancouver , British Columbia , mastered the 24-turn 4.5-mile circuit jumping up from seventh on the grid to earn his first series victory. “This is a competitive series and it was a tough race today so coming out on top with a victory is great,” the series rookie explained. “I was able to jump up into third place on the opening lap and worked patiently for the leaders to make a mistake and when they did I was able to take advantage and move into the lead. The car was working really well and I have to thank everyone at northwest Autosport for all their hard work. We had topped the charts during testing here in April and were fast in the first session but we struggled a bit during the weekend as everybody else got faster but the guys kept on working and their reward was this victory.”

Mandarino’s victory brings Northwest Autosport back to the top of the podium for the first time since Ryan Justice wrapped up the 2006 season with a victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “We’re pumped to be back in victory lane so quickly,” Team manager Mike Hernandez explained. “Lorenzo drove a tremendous race and put himself into the heart of the championship battle.”

While Mandarino was rolling to the win fellow Northwest Autosport driver Eric Freiberg, from Homer Glen, Illinois, was in the thick of the battle in his #3 Northwest Autosport Pro Formula Mazda, bringing the car home in the thirteenth spot after lining up fifteenth on the grid.

“The start of the race was crazy with cars going four and five wide and I was able to gain a few spots,” Freiberg revealed. “The weekend had started off really well and we were getting faster but on Friday we fell back a bit as the car picked up an understeer. The guys at Northwest Autosport worked really hard and I’m looking towards the next race weekend and hopefully a stronger result.”

Despite not finishing as high as expected the weekend was still special for Freiberg as he visited the Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 18, as part of the Star Mazda Racing For Kids Program. “This was my first time participating in a hospital visit for Racing For Kids and it was a lot of fun to put smiles on faces of some very sick kids,” Freiberg explained.

Round Four of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will be broadcast by Speed Channel on Saturday, May 26, at 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.  Round Five of the championship will be held in Northwest Autosport ’s backyard as the series joins the Champ Car World Series at Portland International Raceway on June 8-9.

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