New facilities at Infineon Raceway and Star Mazda West Coast Series keeping team occupied
The grid for the opening round of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will look a little different this year as World Speed Motorsports, which guided Adrian Carrio to the 2006 drivers championship, will not be participating in the upcoming race at Sebring International Raceway, focusing instead on driver development for 2008 and the administration of the Star Mazda West Coast Championship.
“With all our success last season it will be a little strange not participating in the opening round of this season but the circumstances didn’t work out for us to be there,” commented team owner Telo Stewart. “World Speed Motorsports was working hard to put several deals together with some potential championship contenders but the drivers were unable to come up with the budgets needed to do the job right. We are disappointed that things didn’t work out on this front but are excited with how things are shaping up on several other fronts.”
Indeed the team will still be running in full swing as it prepares to move into it’s new 12,000 square-foot facility at Infineon Raceway a the end of March. The team has also started on an extensive training program with drivers Frank Bain and Taylor Hacquard for the 2008 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear in addition to operating the Star Mazda West Coast Championship and Russell Pro Series and maintaining a fleet of twenty-five Pro Formula Mazdas for the west coast series.
“We have really seen a resurgence in drivers looking to participate in the various west coast series and we continue to look at opportunities to expand in this area,” explained team manager Mark Milazzo. “Three rounds of our Star Mazda West Coast Series, Miller Motorsports Park, Portland International Raceway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, will coincide with races for the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear and we expect to have at least eight cars from our stable at those events.
The new shop though really is the crown jewel though as we will have space to maintain thirty cars under one roof and it has been exciting to watch it all come together.” As one of America’s most dynamic racing ventures, World Speed Motorsports has operated multi-car programs in the Champ Car Atlantic Series, Star Mazda Championship, USF2000 and FormulaTR, having scored multiple championships over the years, the most recent being Adrian Carrio’s race to the title in the 2006 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. The team has been instrumental in developing the careers of drivers such as current Champ Car World Series driver Alex Figge, Grand AM Daytona Prototype race winner Michael McDowell, Nascar Busch series driver Brad Coleman, and American Le Mans Series driver Guy Cosmo.