Liam Lawson and Max Vidau will be among a contingent of 17 drivers competing for a $200,000 scholarship in the Mazda Road to Indy Scholarship Shootout this weekend.

The scholarship will be put towards an entry in the 2018 USF2000 Championship, America’s version of Formula Ford.

The championship is the first rung on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder which culminates with the Verizon IndyCar Series.

South Australian Vidau earned his place by virtue of winning the 2017 Australian Formula Ford Series.

Lawson this year became the youngest ever Formula Ford champion in the world when he claimed New Zealand’s Formula 1600 title with 14 race wins out of a possible 15.

He also finished runner-up in this year’s Australian Formula 4 Championship.

The Pukekohe teen had also been looking to step up to the Toyota Racing Series in early 2018 but was not granted dispensation to join the series before he turns 16 years old during the final round.

The Mazda Road to Indy Scholarship Shootout will be held over two days, December 9-10, on the full 1.6-mile (2.6km) road course at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, with each driver in identically prepared Formula Mazda cars.

West Australian Anthony Martin won the USF2000 Championship in 2016 and this year fell just short of the Pro Mazda title, the next rung on the MRTI ladder.

Matthew Brabham and David Besnard are also past USF2000 champions.

Entrants: Mazda Road to Indy Scholarship Shootout

• Spencer Brockman, 17, Westport, Conn. – SCCA Formula Atlantic (At-Large Entry determined by Mazda)
• Manuel Cabrera, 17, Mexico City, City – Formula Panam (Mexico)
• Matthew Cowley, 20, Manchester, England – F1600 Formula F Championship Series
• Jake Craig, 20, Mission Viejo, Calif. – At-Large Entry determined by eKartingNews.com
• Keith Donegan, 20, Dublin, Ireland – Formula Ford Festival (UK)
• Mitch Egner, 25, Victoria, B.C., Canada – Pacific F2000 Championship
• Elliot Finlayson, 21, Yorkville, Ill. – SCCA National Championship Runoffs (Formula Enterprises)
• Olin Galli, 21, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Selectiva de Kart Petrobras (Brazil)
• Aaron Jeansonne, 19, Sulphur, La. – Team USA Scholarship
• Jonathan Kotyk, 23, Atlantic Beach, Fla. – Team USA Scholarship
• Liam Lawson, 15, Pukekohe, New Zealand -– New Zealand Formula Ford Championship
• Ross Martin, 16, Kilmarnock, Scotland – Beatson’s Scottish FF1600 Championship
• Niall Murray, 22, Dublin, Ireland – Dawson WAM Northern Ireland Formula Ford 1600 Championship
• Jamie Thorburn, 19, Duns, Scotland – Formula Ford 1600 SuperSeries (UK)
• Max Vidau, 16, Adelaide, Australia – Australian Formula Ford Championship
• Carter Williams, 19, Clovis, Calif. – Formula Car Challenge Presented by Goodyear
• Oliver White, 25, Bath, England – Walter Hayes Trophy for Formula Ford 1600 (UK)