The final race of the 2007 season for the Robinson Motor Sports/ Cincy Images Formula E was at Road Atlanta November 8^th – 11^th for the American Road Race of Champions (ARRC) presented by Grass Roots Motorsports Magazine. This event was the National Championship Race for the Formula Car Magazine series, where the top drivers from the individual divisions compete in the winner take all event.

Going into the event, we knew we had a great shot at coming home with the title, considering our success in the Formula E…. three races, three wins. With the five pre-qualifying sessions, and two rounds of qualifying, our main objective was to avoid any mistakes by the crew or the driver, and be diligent in all of our decisions regarding chassis set-up. As the sessions started to wind down, we thought the perfect season was slipping from our grasps…the final three sessions before qualifying found us getting a total of three laps due to rare mechanical failures. First we had an ignition relay mysteriously disappear from the car, stalling the engine and ending the session early. The next session we had an axle fail while leaving pit road, then the final one had a fourth gear failure as we completed the warm up lap.

After some excitement from the previous sessions, we had the car repaired and crossed our fingers as qualifying began. As has been common all season long for Robinson Motor Sports, provisional qualifying had all three team cars in the top positions with the Cincy Images FE starting second behind teammate Matthew Inge, and Ian Harms in third. Once again after the second and final of round qualifying, the top of the charts saw RMS sweep the front row, with the Cincy Images FE holding on to second position.

As we were preparing the car for the race, we decided to make a few chassis adjustments to help free up the car a little bit. We wish we had more time on the track and data to analyze, but the mechanical failure’s had us relying more on instinct than on raw data to make our decisions.

As the green flag flew over the 39 Formula E competitors for the 2007 FCM Championship race, the Robinson Motor Sports/ Cincy Images car took the early advantage through turn one. At the completion of lap one the advantage was sizeable and the lead grew as each lap passed. Lap after lap around the renowned Road Atlanta circuit, the RMS/ Cincy Images Formula E would never relinquish the lead, taking the checker flag by four seconds over second place Matthew Inge, with Ian Harms in third….a sweep of the podium for Robinson Motor Sports.

The win secured the Formula Car Magazine National Championship for the team, and gave the RMS/ Cincy Images FE a perfect season. With Matthew Inge starting on the pole and Ian Harms setting the track record, it was icing on the cake for the entire team.

The books are closed on the 2007 season, and we will see everyone again in January 2008.

Mark’s passion for racing was instilled in him from birth. He is the grandson of a sprint car driver & the son of auto-crossing parents. Racing was always at the forefront of his life, where it was all to common to see 3 TV’s in the living room on a Sunday catching all the Formula 1, Imsa, Indycar and NASCAR action as he was growing up.

Marks goal was to get into racing, and the first rung in that ladder is kart racing. Following the steps of his previous generations, his break finally came at 12 years of age when his grandfather then purchased an early 1980’s Yamaha Chassis equipped with a Yamaha KT100S engine. At that moment, MARK EATON RACING took shape. Although finances were still tight, the fledgling team consisting of his father, Bob, and his grandfather, Jerome, all had the mechanical ability and knowledge to make the team a success. Bob was a machinist by trade, so he made all the tooling to rebuild the engines and manufacture any broken or missing parts for the chassis themselves. Jerome took care of rebuilding the engines and clutches, and Mark took care of the chassis and related parts. After a year of trial and error, and Mark getting used to the speed of racing on abandoned roads, the team felt they were ready to race. Racing on out-dated equipment and scrap tires that National teams discarded, the team had immediate success. The first nine races they entered, they won, and then went on to claim the Central Florida Kart Club Novice Championship that year (1990). The following season the team moved to Yamaha Light, winning the majority of races they entered and claiming the Championship again for the second straight year... all on used tires!

After a three year hiatus from racing due to financial and health problems in his family, Mark joined Robinson Motor Sports in the summer of 1994. Since joining RMS, Mark has had great success with team owner Mick Robinson. Here Mark was able to gain invaluable experience as a mechanic, driver coach & driver himself in a variety of cars. He has raced in a variety of cars in several different sanctioning bodies: Formula SCCA, Toyota WSR, Formula Mazda, Improved Touring Mazda RX-7 and Spec Racer Ford in SCCA. He also raced in the Grand American Rolex series in a Marcos Mantis, and the Grand- Am cup series in a Mazda RX-8 with the now defunct Southpaw Racing.

In the process of honing his driving skills in all these cars, Mark also learned how to interpret and analyze Data Acquisition. With this experience he has coached many drivers within the Robinson camp, taking several under his wing with his knowledge and experience and turned them from green rookies to multi-race winners. Also with this invaluable experience he is able to do research and development for the team when new cars are acquired and need to be sorted and set-up.

Currently Mark competes as a team driver in the Formula E class for Robinson Motor Sports in the South East division of the SCCA. He also serves as team manager and driver coach for Robinson Motor Sports.