Austin, TX (March 23, 2019) - Looking to add to his Battery Tender ® Global Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires ® win tally at the Circuit of the Americas, 2018 Rookie of the Year Selin Rollan posted a blistering lap of 02:30.154-seconds to claim the pole for Saturday’s race one.
The Florida-based racer, who scored a dramatic victory in a rain-soaked debut weekend in 2018, will start alongside Global Mazda MX-5 Cup newcomer Gresham Wagner (Sick Sideways Racing) in the 31-car field. Drake Kemper (Sick Sideways Racnig) will start alongside 2017 Rookie of the Year Robert Stout (McCumbee McAleer Racing) in the second row, with Robert Noaker (Sick Sideways Racing) starting next to Luke Oxner (White Racing) in the third row.
The race is the first of two this weekend, as the Circuit of the Americas plays host for the NTT IndyCar Series for the first time. At play is the early advantage in the battle for the 2019 championship, which will see the champion claim a $200,000 prize from Mazda.
“I saw some space up the field and got a good draft,” said Rollan. “It's exciting, it is my first pole and I think I got a double pole so I'm excited to continue this momentum throughout the weekend and into Race 1 and 2. My team (Sick Sideways) got top three and 1-2 in ND-1 as well. Unfortunately we lost Philip Kenzie, a crew member a couple of weeks ago. We are all thinking of him and hopefully we can get this win for him.”
The race is also the debut event for the new version of the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car, now with the 181-horsepower, SKYACTIV®-G 2.0-liter engine available in the Mazda MX-5 Miata. With the introduction of the updated Miata, the series will now feature a two-class structure. The ND-2 class will showcase the new, 181-horsepower version of the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car, while the ND-1 class will utilize the previous generation Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car.
2015 Series Champion John Dean II has thrown his hat into the ND-1 ring, and began his pursuit of the $100,000 on offer for the ND-1 championship off to a fast start as the principal of Sick Sideways Racing posted a fast lap time of 02:32.4021- seconds to net the ND-1 class pole.
The race is slated to go green at 3:30 PM local (4:30 PM ET) on Saturday, with the livestream being hosted at www.mazdamotorsports.com.
Updates will be available via https://twitter.com/GlobalMX5Cup, with results to be posted with news and updated photos at https://mx-5cup.com.