2012 Formula Car Challenge Champion Moves to the Mazda Road to Indy with World Speed Motorsports

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Coming off of a solid two-day test at the Circuit of the Americas, where he set fastest time on the opening day of testing, 2012 Formula Car Challenge Champion Kyle Kaiser is excited to jump into the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and begin the trek on the Mazda Road to Indy with the opening rounds at the circuit this weekend.

Kaiser, 16, from Santa Clara, California, will climb into the #18 Intervision, NetApp, Juniper Networks, Riverbed sponsored Pro Formula Mazda for multiple Pro Mazda Championship winning team World Speed Motorsports. Last season, after a successful 2011 racing with Skip Barber, Kaiser decided to start getting more experience in the Pro Formula Mazda car. He joined the Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear series and won both the regular and winter championships with World Speed support, winning 8 races, and finishing on the podium in 11 out of the 14 races. 

“I’m really excited for the season to kick off and know everyone at World Speed feels the same way,” Kaiser said. “I attended the F1 race here in November and have been looking forward to running here as soon as we realized that we’d get the chance to race here ourselves.  I’ve spent a lot of time watching Sebastian Vettel’s qualifying lap and driving the circuit on my simulator and was stoked to get onto the track in person!”

Finding success quickly at the Circuit of the Americas official test was also pleasing to Kyle and the team as they learn the new Cooper Tires to be run this season.  "I am really proud of what Kyle and the entire team were able to accomplish. There are a lot of fast cars in the series, so while we are happy to start our season off in this fashion, we know we need to keep improving every session of every weekend," stated World Speed Motorsports Team Owner Telo Stewart.

Kaiser echoed those feelings, “My engineer Kent Stacy and the World Speed crew put a great test plan together for the test and we accomplished a lot over the two days.  The Cooper tires were excellent and we continued to get fast throughout the opening day on tires that had run most of the day. The tires are a bit softer than what we’ve run previously so it requires a different driving technique that I feel matches my style.”

The opening rounds of the 16-race Pro Mazda Championship Presented By Cooper Tires will kick off at the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas, this weekend with test sessions on Thursday, February 28th and official practice and races on March 1-2 in support for the GRAND-AM of the Americas Presented by GAINSCO and TOTAL.

ABOUT KYLE KAISER
Kyle Kaiser was born in Los Gatos, California, on March 5, 1996.  He started his karting career at the age of 7, winning multiple races before moving up to formula cars with Skip Barber Racing in 2010, winning the 2010 Western Region Rookie-of-the-Year title, finishing 2nd overall in the championship. Following a 3rd place finish in the 2011 Skip Barber Western Region Championship Kaiser joined World Speed Motorsports and captured the Pro Mazda class championship in the Formula Car Challenge, winning 8 races, and finishing on the podium in 11 out of the 14 races. When not on track, Kaiser is a high school junior at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California.

ABOUT WORLD SPEED MOTORSPORTS
As one of America's most dynamic racing ventures, World Speed Motorsports has operated multi-car programs in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, Formula Car Challenge, and Formula Renault. In the Atlantic series, the team demonstrated its ability to be a frontrunner on every type of circuit, from the streets of Long Beach to the shores of Montreal.

WSM is a proven winner, capturing multiple series and class championships with Scott Bradley, Adrian Carrio, Chris Cumming, and Chuck West in the Star Mazda Championship, now known as the Pro Mazda Championship. World Speed Alumni include NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Michael McDowell, sports car drivers Guy Cosmo, Andy Lally, Alex Figge and Chris Cumming, and IndyCar drivers Mario Moraes and Jeff Bucknum.