Fans attending the St. Petersburg Grand Prix this weekend will be given a unique opportunity to test their skills against some of the biggest names in the sport as well as rising stars in the Mazda Road to Indy “Beat the Pros Challenge” presented by Andersen RacePark to benefit Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

All three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel development ladder will hit the ground running in Florida this coming weekend, March 9-11, in support of the headline Verizon Indy Car Series as part of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Issues cut the 17-year-olds weekend short, but do not dampen his positive outlook going into the first races of the season

The new Mazda-powered Tatuus PM-18, introduced for this year’s Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires continued to impress this weekend as 15 drivers completed a total of 1610 laps during two days of Spring Training road course testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Rafael Martins was a standout rookie with TRS Arden in the 2016 F4 British Championship, winning at Oulton Park and tallying two podium finishes during the season. The 19-year-old comes to the United States for the first time, seeking to become a professional race car driver via the Mazda Road to Indy and Team Pelfrey.