Saturday, October 17, 2015

Joseph Burton Harris #MRT24
Mazda Road to 24 Shootout

Oma and Opa was honored to hob-knob with Joseph and his family at the Formula Car Challenge’s return to Sonoma Raceway after a year hiatus. The series took center stage at the Sonoma Raceway with its double race format featuring Pro Mazda (PFM), FormulaSPEED (FS2.0), and Formula Mazda (FM). Click here for detailed post.

Burton-Harris Sonoma Team:  Mike Anderson; Sitara Wilson, Joseph, and Moses Smith

Joseph won both races from pole. He was driving at Sonoma for the very first time for Moses Smith Racing out of Cresson Texas. I was able to verify that this eighteen-year-old is not only a skillful racer, but a well-versed and polite young man who was extremely fun to be around.



Joseph Burton-Harris is a 2015 Mazda Road to 24 Finalist


 

 

Winner-Take-All Competition



My friend Joseph Burton-Harris exploded upon the racing world in the USA this year. He started go-karting at eight years old, winning two world championships at the age of fifteen and sixteen.

Now at the tender age of eighteen, Joseph races in the Moses Smith prepared #132 Si Partners/Sydney Sports/GMG Formula Mazda

Check out Burton-Harris' 2015 stats:

  • 1 National Championship
  • 14 Races
  • 13 Wins
  • 7 Poles
  • 12 Fastest Laps
  • 5 Lap Records
  • 0 Crashes
  • 14 Top 5's
  • 14 Top 10's
  • 93% Win Percentage
  • 88% Pole Percentage
  • 100% Top 5 Percentage
  • 100% Top 10 Percentage
His recent win at the ‘SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB’ last month was exhilarating. He managed a 9.9 s victory over second place.

“This is pretty amazing,” Burton-Harris reported. “We’ve worked so hard all year. The whole winning part is great, I mean it feels amazing, but just being here and driving on this track is great. This time 10 years ago, we used to come to Orlando for my father’s business and this used to be my one trip, to do the tours. To actually go around there on the track itself is just an amazing feeling. For the SCCA to put on this event in Daytona, just the year that I was starting out in cars, I feel very fortunate.”

Joseph Burton Harris - Mazda Road to 24 Shootout
Equally exciting is that the win qualified Joseph to be a semi-finalist in the ‘Mazda Road to 24 Shootout.’ This event is the single largest prize in grassroots motorsports. Launched in 2006 as the Club Racer shootout, the Mazda Road to 24 Shootout has annually promoted one talented club racer into the professional ranks.

The $100,000 scholarship package supports a drive in the 2016 Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup. For 2016, this will be in the all-new Global MX-5 Cup car, which officially went on sale on October 1.

Joseph fits the shootout criteria perfectly. He is an aspiring professional racer who has that great range of skills required to succeed. His skills include Speed, Consistency, Race Craft, Technical Feedback and Off-Track Business, Marketing and PR skills!

To advance to the next level, Burton-Harris will submit a business proposal and a short video presentation. It is anticipated that there will be six to eight finalists. The finalists will be announced the week of October 19, and the final shootout will be at Carolina Motorsports Park, in Kershaw, South Carolina, on November 8-10.

The racers will be tested on the track for their driving skills and in the garage for their technical understanding of the sport. This is a winner-take-all competition; there is no second place.

Additional information about the Mazda Road to 24 shootout, and 2016 MX-5 Cup race car, can be found at www.mazdamotorsports.com Mazda Motorsports will be providing live social updates from the Carolina Motorsports Park event on Twitter at @mazdaracing  and with hashtag #MRT24.

You can keep updated on Joseph Burton-Harris’
progress by following his Facebook page.


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