Thanks to the MAZDASPEED partnership with VISIT FLORIDA®, select races of the 2010 Star Mazda Championship Presented By Goodyear will be televised, including four LIVE HD broadcasts.  The five race weekends and seven races that constitute the VISIT FLORIDA Cup will all be televised.  Those races are as follows: 

·         Sebring International Raceway, March 19, 2010 (Season Opener) 

·         New Jersey Motorsports Park, June 26-27, 2010 (Doubleheader) 

·         Autobahn Country Club, July 31-August 1, 2010 (Doubleheader) 

·         Mosport International Raceway, August 28, 2010                        

·         Road Atlanta, October 1, 2010  (Season Finale)

The VISIT FLORIDA Cup is an award within the overall 13-race Star Mazda Championship.  The racer scoring the most points in the five VISIT FLORIDA weekends will win the Cup, as well as a personalized Florida dream vacation.

The TV package is similar to Mazda’s successful program with the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup.  Key facts:

·      The broadcasts will be produced by Carolinas Production Group of Matthews, North Carolina.

·      Each 45-minute race will be a one-hour broadcast. 

·      The VISIT FLORIDA Cup telecasts will be produced in high definition, and will air first on HDNet, available in approximately 17 million US households nationwide. 

·      The New Jersey and Autobahn doubleheaders will be live broadcasts on HDNet.

·      The VISIT FLORIDA Cup telecasts will also air in Canada on TSN2, and worldwide on ESPN International affiliates, including ESPN Latin America.  ESPN Latin America reaches 21.6 million homes in Mexico and Latin America.

·      The telecasts will air additionally in US syndication on a variety of national and regional cable and broadcast channels.  Our flagship syndication affiliate will be InCountry TV, available on DirecTV and Dish Network's basic packages in 32 million US households (channel 344 on BASIC DirecTV and channel 230 on Dish Network).

·      Total distribution is 80 million US households and another 11 million households in Canada and internationally.  Additional syndication partners may be added .

·      The broadcast team includes veteran Rick Benjamin on play-by-play, Johnny O’Connell as analyst, and Todd Lewis on pit road.

·      Broadcast dates and times will be released at a later date.  Information will also be posted to www.mazdamotorsports.com when it becomes available.

Quotes: 

·      Chris Thompson, President and CEO, VISIT FLORIDA --  “Being a title sponsor for the televised Star Mazda Championship Series this year and having the opportunity to award the VISIT FLORIDA Cup to one of these highly-skilled young drivers before a national and even international racing audience is a tremendous way for us to spotlight all there is to see and do in the Sunshine State.”

·      John Doonan, MAZDASPEED Team Development Manager, Mazda North American Operations -- “Putting together a great TV package is similar to pulling together a great race team.  It requires having common goals, a shared vision, and the best people.  We know we have a championship caliber team with VISIT FLORIDA, Star Mazda, and the Carolinas Production Group.”

·      Gary Rodrigues, President, Star Mazda -- "We feel very gratified to have this opportunity to work with Visit Florida.  Each of the drivers is considering which Florida vacation they want to win, and we know our fans will be pleased to see our Mazda powered young guns competing on easily accessible TV channels. "

·      Rick Benjamin, Carolinas Production Group Principal -- "We're extremely proud to have been selected by Mazda, VISIT FLORIDA, and the Star Mazda Championship to serve as the series' exclusive TV production and distribution partner.  Star Mazda is one of the best open-wheel driver development series anywhere, and we're looking forward to an extremely exciting VISIT FLORIDA Cup this year, on track and on television."

Fun Facts:

·      Florida is the No. 1 domestic travel destination in the U.S., welcoming 80 million visitors and employing more than 1 million Floridians.

·      Mazda has scored 23 wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona and a dozen wins in the 12 Hours of Sebring since 1973.

·      Sebring International Raceway has been a key sports car destination and tradition in central Florida for over half a century, drawing in excess of 150,000 spectators to its many races.

·      Florida was the second state to have a Mazda office when they entered the U.S. market in 1970.  There are currently over 70 Mazda dealers in the state of Florida.

·      Mazda was the first title sponsor of the Gator Bowl from 1986-1991. 

·      Florida is home to dozens of iconic race tracks including Daytona, Sebring, Homestead, Gainesville and the St. Petersburg street course.

·      Mazda racers who currently call Florida home include Sylvain Tremblay and Charles Espenlaub.

·      Florida is also home to a host of famous car museums including the Don Garlits Museum, Daytona USA, Rick Treworgy’s Muscle Car City, the Sarasota Classic Car Museum and the Tallahassee Automobile Museum.

·      The Performance Racing Industries (PRI) show, the world’s largest motorsports racing trade show, is held annually in Orlando each December.

ABOUT MAZDA

On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle.  At the track, you’ll see MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has the Soul of a Sports Car.  In fact, the largest road-racing class in the world is Spec Miata, with more than 2,500 first- and second-generation Miatas tearing up America’s racetracks, making it the most-raced production car in the world.  Mazda’s involvement in motorsports extends to its relationship with Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, one of the world’s premier road-racing circuits, and the Skip Barber Schools for driving and racing.

Celebrating its 40th Anniversary in the United States in 2010, Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers.  Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario; and in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.

ABOUT VISIT FLORIDA

VISIT FLORIDA (VF) is the official tourism marketing corporation for the State of Florida.  VF is not a government agency, but rather a not-for-profit corporation that carries out the work of the Florida Commission on Tourism.  It was created by the Florida legislature in 1996 as a public/private partnership.  VF markets to consumers, both in the U.S. and abroad, works with the world's major travel journalists, represents the state at domestic and international travel trade shows and promotes the state to travel agents, tour operators and consumers all over the world. VF has hundreds of sales and promotional programs to help the state's many tourism businesses and destinations market themselves more effectively and affordably.