McElrea headed for US
Californian-born, Australian-based Kiwi Hunter McElrea has won the third annual Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $US200K scholarship shootout and will look to compete in the US in 2019.
Having won the 2018 Australia Formula Ford Championship, the teenager gained automatic entry into the two-day event.
Nineteen drivers chosen from a variety of Official Feeder Series from around the world were put through their paces during an intense two-day shootout which included continual off-track assessment and four ontrack sessions.
It is expected that McElrea will move to the United States next year to contest the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. The series uses the American variation of the Formula Ford category. The single seater car is powered by a 2.0 litre Mazda engine and unlike the Australian and NZ Formula Ford has front and rear wings for greater aerodynamics.
The USF2000 is the first rung on the highly acclaimed ‘Road to Indy’ which provides a scholarship-funded path to reach the Verizon IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 in which fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon competes.
Kiwi Formula 1600 champion Callum Hedge elected not to compete in the scholarship as he has plans to race in the 2019 Australian Formula Ford Championship. It also clashed with his racing in the second round of the fiercely competitive TR86 Championship last weekend at Pukekohe Raceway where he won the round and now has the overall lead in the series. Suzuki Series underway The annual Suzuki Series heads on Sunday to Manfeild in Feilding for the second of three rounds. The series is seen as a key warm up for the New Zealand Superbike Championship that gets underway in January with the opening round in Christchurch on January 5-6.
It was Wainuiomata’s Shane Richardson (Kawasaki ZX10R) who came away from Taupo last weekend with a slender four-point lead in the premier Formula One superbike class over defending Suzuki Series F1 champion Scott Moir (Suzuki GSX-R1000).
Neither won a race, with Richardson taking two second and Moir two third placings. The first F1 race was won by Whakatane’s Mitch Rees, the second race win going to his younger brother, fellow Honda CBR1000SP1 rider Damon Rees. Eleven different classes are competing over the three rounds. The third and final round is regarded as a highlight of the racing calendar, the iconic street race of ‘Cemetery Circuit’ in Wanganui on Boxing Day. Bamber confirmed for Le Mans Porsche have confirmed that Earl Bamber will compete in the 87th edition of the 24-hour race at Le Mans in June next year. He will again team up with Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy in the #93 911 RSR car as part of a fourcar assault by the manufacturer.
Also confirmed for 2019 is Bamber’s participation in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in the US with codriver Laurens Vanthoor. What is unclear is the role of Brendon Hartley. Now as an ex-F1 driver, Hartley has remained contracted to Porsche and will have a number of options for the next season. Speculation still surrounds who will drive for the marque in Formula E for the 2019/20 season. Benjamin Carrell is the online editor of talkmotorsport.co.nz