Savage, Minn. – JDC MotorSports is pleased to confirm that Mexican pilot Jorge Cevallos will steer the team’s white and blue #21 for the remainder of the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Cevallos made his series debut at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March and turned in a strong effort to post finishes of seventh and ninth. Cevallos tested with the team recently at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Illinois, in preparation for this coming weekend’s event at Barber Motorsports Park, and he and the team are both excited to get back on-track. Jorge is a very unique competitor in the Pro Mazda paddock, having battled back from an Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis in 2014 to re-focus on his burgeoning racing career. While the recovery process continues with a focus on conditioning, the 21-year-old has resumed his racing career and expects his performance to improve all year long. Cevallos races with the crucial support of Escuderia Telmex, Visit Baja California, Caliente Casinos, llantas Tersa and Bell Helmets.
“We’re thrilled to have Jorge with the team for 2016; he’s truly an inspirational story for anyone who wants to go racing,” offered John Church, JDC MotorSports Team Principal. “His performance at St. Petersburg was strong, and we’re looking forward to what he’ll be able to do as the year progresses.”
It’s been a challenging road for the 21-year old. After a three-year education in ultra-competitive world of Southern California karting, Cevallos graduated into the British Formula Renault series in 2012, scoring six top-10 finishes in his rookie year. In 2013, he moved to the Protyre Formula Renault UK series and notched his first formula car victory at Donington Park, taking third in the championship standings. He was then named to the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy for the 2014 season, as he advanced to the European Formula Renault 2.0 NEC championship with Fortec Motorsports. However, midway through the 2014 season, Jorge finally decided to get professional help for the health issues he had been dealing with, and he was eventually hospitalized to manage his internal problems that would be diagnosed as Ulcerative Colitis. Cevallos was on the shelf for the 2015 season as he recovered from surgery, but with his illness now being properly managed, he has been totally focused on getting back into a race car and improving his strength and stamina.
Jorge will be back behind the wheel this week at Barber Motorsports Park. The weekend gets started with two 30-minute promoter test sessions at 9:20 am and 12:00 pm Central Daylight Time on Thursday, April 21. The first official series practice session will be run that afternoon at 3:45 pm. Cevallos will get one more practice session on Friday morning at 8:45 amahead of Qualifying at 2:25 pm. The first of two races on the weekend will be run on Saturday at 4:30 pm. The second race will take to the track at 11:15 am on Sunday morning. Live video with play-by-play will be available all weekend on RoadToIndy.tv.
Jorge Cevallos: The whole JDC MotorSports team is really motivated for Barber. For me, personally, being back on the race track at St. Pete felt like a win, and to come out of it with a double top-10 gave us a lot of motivation working towards Barber. We've worked hard and hope to turn a few more heads early in the season.
About JDC Motorsports:
Involved in formula car racing since its inception in 1994, JDC MotorSports has established itself as one of the leading junior open-wheel and sports car teams in North America. The team runs operations in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered By Mazda, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Mazda Prototype Lites, Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. In 2015, they won the Prototype Lites championship with Kenton Koch, and they also scored the 2016 Rolex 24 race win at Daytona International Speedway with Misha Goikhberg, Stephen Simpson, Chris Miller and Kenton Koch.