Formula BMW USA & Mazda MX-5 Cup Added to Memorial Day Weekend Lineup

Formula BMW USA will hold Rounds 3 & 4 of its championship at Lime Rock Park on Memorial Day weekend. (Photo courtesy of Formula BMW)

One of the world’s best open-wheel training series and the newest category for the SCCA’s most popular class will be part of the action on Memorial Day weekend at Lime Rock Park.

Entering its third season, Formula BMW USA incorporates a full field of talented young drivers from North, Central and South America and lines them up in state-of-the-art, 140 mph Formula BMW FB2s to begin the next step in their racing careers. Bobby Rahal’s son, Graham, is one of the graduates of the Formula BMW USA program.

Each Formula BMW USA race weekend will include two rounds of the championship and a separate qualifying session will determine the grid for each 30-minute standing-start contest.

Lime Rock hosted the first ever Formula BMW USA races in 2004. The top drivers qualified at an average speed of more than 106 mph and both races were decided by less than half a second.

This season Formula BMW will also compete at the Canadian and the United States Grand Prix.

New for 2006, the SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook features fields of identical 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miatas.

The SCCA Mazda MX-5 Cup will provide an affordable, entry-level nationwide professional series whereby drivers compete in identically outfitted vehicles.

Mechanically, all MX-5 Cup cars will remain essentially stock, as delivered from the dealer, with only bolt-on modifications to the intake and exhaust systems. While the stock MX-5 Miata produces 170-hp, it is expected that an MX-5 Cup car will produce in excess of 200-hp.

Formula BMW USA and the SCCA Mazda MX-5 Cup will run in conjunction with the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series GT Class and the Grand-Am Cup Series at Lime Rock on May 26-29.