Field Prepares For 2015 Season, New Venue At NOLA Test

Subtitle:Teams, Drivers On Track Feb. 24-25 Near New Orleans

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 19, 2015) – The path to the 2015 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda championship starts with the opening two rounds March 18-20 at Sebring International Raceway, one of the oldest tracks in North America.

But the real on-track work for series teams and drivers begins Feb. 24-25 with an official test session at the newest track in the championship – NOLA Motorsports Park, located in Avondale, Louisiana, just 15 miles from the famed French Quarter of New Orleans.

Teams and drivers will work through a checklist of the usual car setup options, standard fare for every test. But they also will face a new variable in the 2.75-mile circuit, a flat, flowing design created by Alan Wilson, whose other layouts include Miller Motorsports Park in Utah and Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

Prototype Lites testing is scheduled for 9-10:30 a.m. (CT) and 1:15-2:45 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, and 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. and 3-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Among the teams expected to test are reigning Lites 1 Team Champion JDC Motorsports, Comprent Motor Sports, Eurosport Racing, Extreme Speed Motorsports, Ferrari of Houston, ONE Motorsports and Performance Tech Motorsports.

2014 Lites 1 Drivers Champion Mikhail Goikhberg has climbed to the Prototype Challenge class of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with JDC Motorsports after a dominant final season in Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda. So a host of series veterans and newcomers will begin the season-long mad dash toward the top spot through testing at NOLA.

Among the drivers expected to test at NOLA are 2014 Lites 1 race winners Matt McMurry (JDC Motorsports) and Tony Bullock (Comprent Motor Sports), 2014 Lites 1 Masters Champion and class winner John Falb (ONE Motorsports), 2014 Lites 1 Masters class winners Jon Brownson (Eurosport Racing) and Richard Fant (Ferrari of Houston), and 2014 Lites 2 race winner Todd Slusher (ONE Motorsports).