|
 |
|
 |
| Features |
| Bondurant Driver Search Shootout - A Karters First Step Up |
 | Bondurant Driver Search Shootout will feature talented karters piloting Formula Mazdas in hopes of earning a funded season in 2011
(Photo: Bondurant Championship Race Series) |
Ever since the formation of the junior formula car classes and championships, the search for the next great star has been taking place. For years this meant attending races and keeping an eye out for a talented young racer showcasing his or her talent behind the wheel. That however has changed over the past few years via the introduction of driver shootouts and searches. In North America one the premier racing schools has joined this endeavor, with The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving creating the Bondurant Driver Search Shootout.
The brainchild of former karting star and current Vice President & General Manager of the Bondurant SuperKart School and the Bondurant Championship Series Alan Rudolph, the newest junior formula driver search is aimed at talented young karters looking to make the move to open-wheel competition and a potential career in motorsports.
“In order for the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving to be relevant in the ladder system, it is imperative that we have the race series and now the drivers search,” stated Rudolph. “Bondurant has always been perceived as a sedan or sports car type of school -- not an open-wheel school -- mainly because we have never had a race series in open-wheel cars. The fact is Bondurant has been using single-seater open-wheel cars for our training since the beginning some 42 years ago. Fortunately, Bob shares the vision of being a relevant step for karters moving up, and has been 100% supportive of the creation first of the series and now the driver search. He also sees it as a way to give back to the sport that he loves so much.”
Open to racers aged 15 to 25 and limited to 20 competitors, the driver search will be a multi-faceted affair. Over the course of two days, the drivers will not only pilot Bondurant School C6 Corvettes and Bondurant Championship Series Formula Mazdas on two different track configurations at the Firebird International Raceway road course, but also be evaluated on camera by a panel of judges on their skills outside the cockpit via interviews and public speaking.
“We will be looking for someone who adapts quickly to the different cars and tracks we will be using,” commented Rudolph on the driver search. “Speed will be important, but it's not everything. Also important is communication, how they interact with the instructors, judges, and media members.”
 | The Bondurant Championship Race Series has rapidly established a reputation as a premier training series
(Photo: Bondurant Championship Race Series) |
So what’s on tap for the driver winning the Bondurant Driver Search Shootout, well a fully-funded season in the 2011 Bondurant Championship Race Series.
A highly cost-effective school series, the Championship Race Series features talented racers going head-to-head behind the wheel of Bondurant prepared Formula Mazdas at the Firebird International Raceway facility in Arizona.
“The standard Formula Mazda is a really, really good car for the school series environment,” stated Rudolph on why the series uses the FM race car. “It's a car that fits anyone, whereas the Formula 2000, Formula BMW, and other cars like that are just too narrow to fit all our clients. It's also a very strong car that can handle the abuse of what a school environment puts a car through. The Mazda Rotary engine produces great power, and is also very reliable. If those reasons aren't enough, it's a great training tool, and in my opinion the best next step out of karting.”
Racing once a month via doubleheaders, the inaugural 2009-2010 18-race Championship Race Series season was the perfect showcase for what Bondurant officials are hoping to achieve from the series. The title fight came down to the season-finale races, with a Formula Mazda veteran dueling with a young karting star for top honors.
“The veteran Jamie Slone started the season with all the experience, put a beating on the young guys early on,” said Rudolph looking back on the 2010 season. “However you could start to see the tables turn as the season progressed. Neil Alberico, Phil DeLaO and Alan McCallum [all talented karters] started coming on strong, putting their cars on pole and winning a few races. Showcasing how close the cars and drivers had become, one race witnessed four racers qualifying on the exact same tenth of a second. In the end, the championship came down to the last race between Jamie and Neil. Whoever won that race was going to be champion. Neil in the end won the race and tied Jamie for the points, earning the champion crown because he had more wins than Jamie. What a great first year!”
 | Neil Alberico showcased the series in fine style in 2010 by steadily improving as the season progressed en route to earning the series title
(Photo: Bondurant Championship Race Series) |
With a dedicated staff of mechanics and instructors – including Rudolph, who has won a Skip Baber Racing Scholarship, raced in the Star Mazda championship as well as the ALMS Petit Le Mans race, and won several national karting titles – it should come as no surprise that the inaugural season featured plenty of close racing. They key for Bondurant officials however was how the drivers were able grow and improve behind the wheel. After all the race series is an extension of the race school, with the goal of helping drivers move up the motorsports ladder and be successful.
“It is my goal to get our champion in the ladder system,” said Rudolph. “I will be working on ways to get our champion to the next level whether it be pro Formula 2000 or Star Mazda. This is a critical step in making our series relevant. That being said, at the end of the day, the Bondurant School has been the leader in high performance driver training for more than 42 years and now we want to have the best training race series as well.”
So if you are looking at taking that first step towards a potential career in motorsports, you’d be hard pressed to find a better route then spending $1500 to take part in 2010 The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving Bondurant Driver Search Shootout or racing in the 2011 Bondurant Championship Race Series. Don’t delay though, as the deadline for applications is only a little over a week away on August 8th. The driver search itself will take place in Arizona in early October.
For more information, be sure to visit http://www.bondurant.com/championship-race-series/driver_search.php |
|
|
|
Go Top
|
|
|
|
|
