NEWS // STAR MAZDA CHAMP MOVES TO FIA GT3

Mike Guasch of Walnut Creek, California, who won the 2009 Star Mazda Championship 'Master Series' title, will make the switch from open-wheel racing to sports cars in 2010.

Guasch will pilot the #22 United Autosports-MOLECULE Labs-MG4 Manufacturing Audi R8 LMS car in the FIA GT3 European Championship this upcoming season. His co-driver will be Mark Patterson, another former Star Mazda Master Series competitor, who for the last five years, has competed in the Grand Am Rolex series driving a Daytona Prototype... [read more]

Guasch and Patterson will share the car in more than a dozen 1-hour events held in six countries, including Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Portugal and Italy during a season that stretches from May 2nd to October 31st.

To race in the FIA GT-3 series will be a great adventure and I frankly can’t wait,” said Guasch. “The caliber of teams and drivers is absolutely top-shelf, and there is a lot of interest from the media because Henri and I make up an all-American team. I've lived in Europe in the past, so I know the culture and the food and I expect to spend a lot of time there testing and working to be competitive in the series."

A semi-retired businessman and entrepreneur, Guasch clinched his 2009 Master Series championship with six in-class victories driving the #91 JDC Motorsports-Molecule Labs-MG4 Manufacturing Mazda.

"The Star Mazda Championship is a tremendous training ground for drivers of any age, and I feel well-prepared to take on this new challenge," says Guasch. "I'll get to drive my new GT car for the first time later this week, but I recently did a three-hour endurance race in a Porsche to get a feel for racing a sports car. It’s a somewhat claustrophobic experience at first, with all that metal around you, and while the car is more powerful and faster in a straight line than my Star Mazda, it reacts much more slowly in the corners. But I got the hang of it pretty quickly and turned some respectable laps, so with even more time testing and racing my new R8 LMS, I expect to be very competitive; it's just a matter of dedication, that's what makes anyone good at what they do."

Image: Mike Guasch
Info: Star Mazda
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey