Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing finished third in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires this past weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, September 10-13. Driver Neil Alberico finished second in the driver standings.

In the final rounds of the Pro Mazda Championship, Alberico was battling with eventual champion, Santiago Urruita. In the end, a late spin in Race 1 allowed Urruita to claim the championship. Alberico was able to rebound in Race 2 and pick up a podium finish to end his season in the runner-up spot in the championship.

Rookie teammates Daniel Burkett and Florian Latorre each had solid races. In Race 1, Latorre started sixth and Burkett 14th. Each finished in the top 10, Latorre in eighth and Burkett one spot back in ninth. In Race 2, Burkett started 10th and finished in 11th. Contact in turn 1 ended Latorre’s day early, as he was not able to finish a lap.

“Overall, it was a great season,” said team owners Dominic and Nicholas Cape. “It’s just our second year in the series, and we’ve had drivers finish in the top-two both years. We won the most races this year with five and we were in it till the last couple of laps on Saturday.

"Neil has been with us for three years. He is part of our family, and we are proud of our accomplishments together. He won the Winter Fest in 2013 and went on to finished second in the USF2000 Championship that year. He finished third in Pro Mazda in 2014 (our first year), and he finished second this year. In these three years together, we have had a total of 15 wins and nine pole positions. We wish all the best in the future; he is an outstanding individual.” 

In addition to great performance by the drivers, the crew, sponsors, family members and series officials also played a big part of the team’s success. 

“We’re proud of all our drivers and our crew,” the Cape brothers continued. “A huge thanks to Daniel, Florian, Don, Will, Reg, Colin, Jim, Kyle, John, Tyler, Jeremy B., Jeremy G., Scott, and to our driver coaches: Matthew Brabham, Jordan and Ricky Taylor. A special thanks to Rising Stars, Mobe, and the Alberico family, along with Andersen Promotions, John Doonan, Mazda and Cooper Tires. ”

The Pro Mazda Series will next be on track for a series test at the Circuit of the Americas, November 21-22 in Austin, Texas.