Palmetto, Fla. - The cosmopolitan Canadian city of Toronto, Ont., is the next stop on the calendar for the entire Mazda Road to Indy development ladder as all three series – Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda – will hold two races this weekend on the challenging 1.755-mile street circuit at Exhibition Place. Drivers from as many as 15 different nations will be vying for honors over the weekend.

Frenchman Jamin on a Roll in USF2000
Nico Jamin has every intention of becoming the second Frenchman in as many years to win the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and a MAZDASPEED scholarship to ensure graduation to Pro Mazda for 2016. The 19-year-old from Rouen, France, seeks to follow in the footsteps of 2014 champion Florian Latorre, and had begun to distance himself from the pack on the heels of three consecutive wins for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.

Last time out, though, on the Lucas Oil Raceway oval, Jamin had to give best to Jake Eidson, who scored his third victory of the season for Pabst Racing. Eidson, 20, from Littleton, Colo., has fond memories of Toronto after earning his first USF2000 win there one year ago.

Fellow American Aaron Telitz, from Birchwood, Wis., remains in the thick of the championship fight, only 30 points behind Jamin, his Cape Motorsports teammate, and also has good prior experience of the Exhibition Place street circuit after claiming a podium finish in 2014.

Best-placed rookie after nine rounds of the 16-race season is Indianapolis-based Australian Anthony Martin, who lies fourth in the standings and is riding a streak of six top-five finishes for John Cummiskey Racing. Other first-year drivers who have impressed include Canadian karting standout Parker Thompson, from Red Deer, Alb., who has made solid progress with JDC MotorSports under the tutelage of 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice; Australian Luke Gabin, who earned his opportunity with Team Pelfrey by virtue of winning the Skip Barber Racing Championship Shootout last fall; and China’s Yufeng Luo (Pabst Racing), who already has a trio of top-five finishes to his name.

This weekend’s Allied Building Products Grand Prix of Toronto will kick off with two practice sessions on Friday, June 12. Qualifying will take place at 9:20 a.m. on Saturday, and the green flag for the first of two 30-minute races will fly at 12:40 p.m. Race Two on Sunday, June 14, will start at 9:00 a.m. Live timing and commentary for all sessions will be available on the new Mazda Road to Indy App and at usf2000.com.