New date announced for 14th annual event
Spencer Pigot (l.) and Felix Serralles were the big winners at the 2009-2010 Shoot-out
Skip Barber Racing School will head west to MazdaRaceway Laguna Seca this December for the 14th edition of its annual Karting ScholarshipShoot-out. The event, the largest and single most important event for karters transitioning to racecars, 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 Shootout,”explained Todd Snyder, VP of Competition at Skip Barber Racing School. “The new dateremoves a huge schedule conflict with a major karting event and Mazda Raceway provides anew 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 2005Skip 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. Theapplication can be found by visiting www.skipbarber.com/kartingshootout. Please note thatsubmission 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 willutilize equally prepared Formula Skip Barber race cars), a panel of judges will reward the mosttalented karters with scholarships to race in the Skip Barber Regional Race Series and theBFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda. The biggest prizes are a pair of paidseasons in the 2011 Skip Barber National, courtesy MAZDASPEED Motorsports Developmentand 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 andtrack safety training as part of a grant from the FIA Motor Sport Safety Fund. Details on the roadand track safety training and additional scholarship opportunities will be announced in thecoming weeks.
Over the years, Skip Barber Racing's ''star search'' system has unearthed and then developed suchtalents as A.J. Allmendinger, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Michael Valiante, Raphael Matos, Marco DiLeo, Ricky and Jordan Taylor and Gabby Chaves. Two of the more recent champions of theBFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda – Jonathan Goring in 2006 and JoelMiller in 2007 – won scholarships at the Shoot-out. Spencer Pigot, the point leader after four of14 rounds in this year’s championship was one of the big winner’s at the most recent Shoot-out.Submit 2010-2011 Skip Barber Karting Shoot-out applications to Chris Kretzmer, KartingRelations Manager, at ckretzmer@skipbarber.com, or fax to (860) 248-4554. You may also callChris at (860) 435-4138 for more information.
About Skip BarberFor more than 30 years, Skip Barber Racing School LLC has operated a fully integrated systemof racing schools, driving schools, racing championships, corporate events and OEM eventsacross North America.
The Skip Barber Racing School is held at more than 20 of the most prestigious race tracks inNorth America, while the Skip Barber Driving School, utilizing Mazda's performance sedans andsports cars, operates at five world-famous destination locations. The Skip Barber Race Series iscollectively five separate, equal-car racing championships – the Skip Barber MAZDASPEEDChallenge; two regional race series featuring race prepared Mazda MX-5 Cup race cars, tworegional open-wheel amateur series and an entry level open-wheel pro series: theBFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda, which awards a $200,000 title bonus Allthe series are part of Mazda's unique MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development ladder system.The Corporate Events unit creates custom racing and driving programs for companies of any sizethat desire special, exciting events to train, entertain, educate and reward. OEM Events providesunique, specialized automotive-related training, analysis, evaluation, logistics and consultation.Skip Barber recently launched the Skip Barber Superbike School powered by KTM.
