formed M1 Racing

Mata Forms M1 Racing,
Signs Acosta for Full
Pro Mazda Campaign
CRESSON, Texas, Dec. 19 — Paul
Mata, who served as team manager for
Team GDT in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear for six
years, has formed a new, multi-car team
called M1 Racing that has all the ingredients of a championship contender.
He has already signed Juan Camilo
Acosta as one of M1 Racing’s drivers for
2013 in the series, which was recently
renamed the Pro Mazda Championship
Presented by Cooper Tires.
Although M1 Racing is new it has the
makings of a powerhouse team. It consists of many open-wheel veterans, including not only Mata but also noted
engineers Eric Purcell and Remi
Lanteigne, all of whom worked together
on Team GDT this year. (Team GDT’s
Star Mazda operation was disbanded at
the end of the season and its owner,
multi-time Expert Series champion J.W.
Roberts, is pursuing other motorsports
interests.)
M1 Racing purchased the bulk of the
Star Mazda equipment previously
owned by Team GDT and AIM Autosport.
M1 Racing has signed Colombian
rookie Juan Camilo Acosta (above)
to compete in the 2013 Pro Mazda
Championship Presented by Cooper
Tires. He is sponsored by two
young women’s clothing lines: Studio F and Ela.
M1 Racing has established its headquarters at MotorSport Ranch in Cresson, Texas, which is about a 15-minute
drive from Fort Worth. Being able to test
on that facility’s 1.7-mile and 3.1-mile
road courses will give it a definite advantage in its pursuit of victories in the
Pro Mazda Championship, which is part
of the Mazda Road to Indy program.
Veteran Paul Mata (above) has formed a
new team called M1 Racing to compete
in the 2013 Pro Mazda Championship
Presented by Cooper Tires.
Mata is excited about signing Acosta
and hopes to sign at least one other
driver to join the 22-year-old from Cali,
Colombia, on his Pro Mazda team in
2013. Funded drivers can get more information by contacting Mata by e-mail
For more information:
Linda Mansfield
Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: [email protected]
at [email protected] or by calling him at (214) 282-1646.
Acosta drove a Star Mazda car for the
first time when he participated in the
Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the road
course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oct. 10-11 with Team GDT. He set
the team’s fastest lap of that test and he
was fourth and fifth overall in the two
practice sessions held during his first
day ever driving a Star Mazda car.
Acosta made his first start in the series
at the season finale Oct. 19 at Road Atlanta, finishing 13th in a Team GDT
entry. His sponsors for that event, Studio F and Ela, two young women’s
clothing lines, will continue to sponsor
him in Pro Mazda in 2013.
Acosta also competed in a doubleheader in the Panam GP series this
year, winning the second half of that
doubleheader Sept. 23 at Autódromo
Tocancipá, Colombia.
Acosta said he chose M1 Racing because its personnel are making him a
better driver.
“When I met them I was a complete
rookie driver, and in about six days they
taught me a lot about how to drive a
race car,” Acosta said. “I think I’ll be
able to improve my driving with their
help. They are a good, complete crew
with very experienced guys who are
very competitive. We just completed 18
days of testing and we have 16 more
days planned in the next couple of
months. We’re testing a lot because we
want to be very competitive next year.
Everybody, myself included, is working
hard and we all want to fight for the
championship. I think we’re going to
have fun!”
M1 Racing certainly has a strong engineering department.
Purcell was John Edwards’ engineer
when he won the Star Mazda driver
championship in 2008. Purcell can relate to his young charges, because he
was a promising open-wheel driver himself until a crash during testing ended
his driving career. Since then he has
become a widely regarded engineer
and race car designer, working with a
wide variety of young racers like Peter
Dempsey, Devin Cunningham, Natacha
Gachnang, Jorge Goncalves, Kyle Marcelli and David Ostella.
Lanteigne has also been the engineer
of many notable drivers in Star Mazda,
Formula Atlantic, Firestone Indy Lights
and other series, including Helio Castroneves, Patrick Carpentier, Katherine
Legge, Tristan Vautier, Conor Daly and
Alex Rossi.
Lanteigne is also helping Mata with the
overall team management of M1 Racing. He has been instrumental in the
formation of many teams, including Andersen Racing in Star Mazda, Euro International in Atlantics, Jensen
Motorsports in Firestone Indy Lights
and others.
M1 Racing will also be the only Pro
Mazda team with a nutritionist on staff,
as that role and the role of driver coach
is filled by Chuck West, the 1992 Star
Mazda driver champion, a top Atlantic
competitor and the founder of World
Speed Motorsports.
Restart Communications based in Indianapolis will handle the team’s public
relations. Its principal has also worked
with many rising stars in the past, including current IndyCar drivers Graham
Rahal and J.R. Hildebrand, reigning
Firestone Indy Lights champion Tristan
Vautier, GP3 driver Conor Daly and
Andy Lally, a sports car champion who
was the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Rookie of the Year.
In the coming weeks M1 Racing will
debut a website at M1Racing.co. Its
Facebook page is at M1 Racing — Pro
Mazda and its Twitter account is M1
Racing Pro Mazda (@M1ProMazda).