Skip Barber National Championship

The BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda was an entry-level professional race series run by Skip Barber Racing School. Initially formed as the Formula Dodge National Championship, From 2006 to 2011 the Skip Barber National was the initial open-wheel race series in the Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development ladder, which includes the Cooper Tires U.S. F2000 National Championship and the Indy Pro 2000 Championship. The Skip Barber National has run in support of the American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and A1GP and is designed to give young drivers transitioning from karting to race cars their first experience of professional level road racing.

Skip Barber National Championship
CategoryOpen Wheel Racing
Country United States
Folded2011
Tyre suppliersBFGoodrich
Last Drivers' champion Scott Anderson
Official websiteThe BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda Website

History

Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by RACER

The Skip Barber National was developed to fill the gap between the Skip Barber Regional Race Series and the Barber Dodge Pro Series. The first season was a one-race shootout for top drivers from the four regional race series. Held at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, the race and the championship were won by 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay.

For the first several years of its existence, the Skip Barber National schedule was made up of what were deemed to be the best tracks scheduled for each of the four Skip Barber Regional Race Series. The Skip Barber National was run as a separate run group within each race weekend, with a separate fleet of cars. The National made its professional support series debut at the 2003 12 Hours of Sebring. The Skip Barber National champion during this era earned a $100,000 career enhancement award to help them pick up a ride in the next level of open-wheel racing.

BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda

When Mazda replaced Dodge as automotive partner with Skip Barber Racing School at the end of 2006, the Skip Barber National was renamed, with BFGoodrich taking over title sponsorship of the series. As part of this new partnership with Mazda, the Skip Barber National joined the Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development ladder, with the Skip Barber National Champion earning a fully funded season in the following year's Star Mazda Championship. The original ladder included the Skip Barber National, Star Mazda, and the Atlantic Championship. In 2010 this was changed with the replacement of the top of the ladder Atlantic Championship with the newly reformed U.S. F2000 Championship slotted between the Skip Barber National and the now top-level Star Mazda Championship. This overlaps with the Indy Racing League's new Road to Indy development ladder that includes U.S. F2000, Star Mazda, and Indy Lights.

Championship format

Drivers in the Skip Barber National earned points in 14 races, held over seven double-race weekends, with their worst single result dropped. Drivers also received a point for earning a pole position.

The Skip Barber Cup Championship was a separate class running with the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda. Named in honor of company founder and former owner Skip Barber, the Skip Barber Cup Championship was open to drivers aged 26 and older who would like to race against the younger drivers at the marquee events offered in the 2010 National schedule, but were not eligible for the Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development system. Skip Barber Cup drivers competed for a separate championship and prize fund.

Karting Shootout

Since 1998, every winter Skip Barber Racing School holds the Skip Barber Racing School Karting Scholarship Shootout, where karters gather to compete for scholarships for the upcoming season of racing, courtesy of Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development and FIA Motor Sport Safety Development Fund. Competitors learn everyday driving skills, attend media and motorsports seminars, practice interview skills and perform a series of sessions on track in Formula Skip Barber Race Cars. In the 2010 Shootout, the prizes consisted two scholarships for the entire 2011 race season of the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National presented by Mazda, becoming MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Scholarship Drivers. Other prizes typically include one half season in the Skip Barber National, one full season and three half seasons in the Skip Barber Regional Race Series.

Shootout yearScholarship winners
1997Ryan Hunter-Reay, Phil Giebler, Eric Jones, Michael Valiante
1998Ryan Howe, Jason LaPoint, Patrick Long, Bryan Sellars
1999Kevin Christensen, Michael Rossi, Jonathan Strohm, Landon Yee
2000A. J. Allmendinger, Tommy Contino, James Gue, Ben Moore
2001David Jurca, Craig Baltzer, Colin Fleming
2002Joe D'Agostino
2003Benny Moon, Jason Bowles, Mark Burt, Billy Johnson, Lorenzo Mandarino, Ron White
2004Jordy Vorrath, Cole Nelson, Justin Moon, Chris Carmody, Chris Wehrheim,
2005Alexander Rossi, Ricky Taylor, Marco Di Leo, Jonathan Goring, Joel Miller, Alex Ardoin
2006Beau Debard, Gabby Chaves, Jordan Taylor, Timmy Megenbier, Kyle Longmore
2007Connor De Phillippi, Brett Smrz, Fabio Orsolon, Michael Denino, Maverick Bartlett, Court Vernon
2008Sage Karam, Court Vernon, Dennis Trebing, Nick Andries
2009Spencer Pigot, Félix Serrallés, Nicolas Costa, Mukul Sud, Sebastian Ordonez, Jesus Rios
2010Trent Hindman, Danilo Estrela, Scott Hargrove, Tristan Nunez, Stefan Rzadzinski, Kenton Koch, Kyle Kaiser
2011Tristan DeGrand, Nick Neri, Adrian Starrantino, Aaron Telitz, Leonardo Jafet, Ayla Agren, Aiden Landuaer, Nicholas Silva, Nicolas Armien, Jack West
2012Yago Cesario, Brennan Harrington, Bryson Schutte, Yuri Cesario, Olivier Cote

Upcoming/current season

The BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda ran its final season during the summer of 2011. The final race was at Lime Rock Park, Saturday, October 8, 2011.

Alumni

Skip Barber National champions
Year Champion Subsequent experience and honors
1999 Ryan Hunter-Reay Atlantic Championship, Champ Car; sports cars, 2007 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year and 2012 champion, 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner
2000 Anthony Simone NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
2001 Júlio Campos Formula Three Sudamericana, Stock Car Brasil
2002 Grant Maiman First winner of first Red Bull Formula One Driver Search, Formula Renault 2.0 Germany, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
2003 Raphael Matos 2005 Star Mazda Series champion, 2007 Atlantic champion, 2008 Indy Lights champion, A1 Grand Prix, American Le Mans, IndyCar Series
2004 Marco Andretti Star Mazda Series, Indy Pro Series, American Le Mans, A1 Grand Prix, IndyCar Series race winner
2005 Gerardo Bonilla 2006 Star Mazda Series champion, 2007 IMSA Lites champion, American Le Mans
2006 Jonathan Goring Star Mazda Series, IMSA Lites
2007 Joel Miller Team USA Scholarship winner, Star Mazda Series, Indy Lights, 2008 Walter Hayes Formula Ford trophy winner, Weathertech Sportscar Championship
2008 Conor Daly 2008 Team USA Scholarship winner, 2009 Walter Hayes Formula Ford trophy winner, 2010 Star Mazda Series champion, Indy Lights, GP3 Series, GP2 Series, IndyCar Series
2009 Connor De Phillippi 2009 Team USA Scholarship winner, 2009 Walter Hayes Formula Ford trophy winner, 2010 Star Mazda Series Rookie of the Year, Porsche Junioren factory driver
2010 Spencer Pigot 2010 Team USA Scholarship winner, U.S. F2000 National Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, Indy Lights, IndyCar Series
2011 Scott Anderson U.S. F2000 National Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, Indy Lights

Noted Alumni

In addition to the Skip Barber National Champions, several drivers currently racing in higher levels of international motorsport have raced, and won, in the Skip Barber National:

gollark: There was someone on Twitter saying that one of the things they needed badly was *phone chargers*.
gollark: Stuff doesn't exactly grow very *fast*, either.
gollark: Exotic political compasses: https://twitter.com/virgil_30/status/1270791101989957637
gollark: Not all political problems are specific to America.
gollark: "Everyone has a gun" isn't really a scaleable replacement for police.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.