McElrea wins 2018 Mazda Road To Indy Shootout!

2018 Australian Formula Ford Champion, Hunter McElrea, has won the 2018 Mazda Road To Indy Shootout. McElrea will be racing in the 2019 USF2000 Series thanks to a whopping US$200,000 scholarship, provided by Mazda Motorsports. McElrea has already participated in three Mazda Road To Indy tests with Pabst Racing, forging a strong relationship with the Wisconsin-based team. Hunter McElrea is the first Australian to win the Mazda Road To Indy Shootout and the first Australian Formula Ford driver to directly graduate from Formula Ford to USF2000 with a scholarship from Mazda Motorsports. Prior to winning the shootout, McElrea defined himself as "hungry" to be part of next year's Road To Indy series. "The Road To Indy ladder system is such an amazing platform, where it can give drivers like myself who don't necessarily have the full budget, to go up and race straight away to kind of win their way to the top. You can't find it anywhere else in the world. It's an amazing ladder system and I'm just really hungry and hope to be part of it next year." Australian Formula Ford category administrator, Phil Marrinon, had a key role in establishing the partnership between Australian Formula Ford and Andersen Promotions, giving young Australian drivers the chance to climb the Mazda Road To Indy ladder. "We are massively proud of Hunter and what he has achieved this year. Our category as a whole would like to thank Andersen Promotions and the Mazda Road To Indy for supporting our National Series, and we are proud to provide them with a driver as fast and professional as Hunter. I am sure the Soul-Red USF2000 car will be at the front next season," said Marrinon. The Formula Ford Association will proudly continue its partnership with the Road To Indy ladder in 2019 and will continue to develop the skills of young Australian drivers to unearth the stars of tomorrow.