Aaron Jeansonne is a 23-year-old racing driver currently competing in the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires. Growing up in rural southwest Louisiana with a single father and no family ties to racing, Aaron’s rapid rise through the open-wheel and sports car ranks has been a very unlikely one.

As a die-hard fan of the sport from a young age, Aaron had always dreamed of competing on the track like his heroes. A lack of financial resources meant that he would have to wait until he was old enough to begin working to fund his start in the sport. At 16 years old, Aaron purchased a dirt oval go-kart that he would race around the rural tracks of South Louisiana. His first taste of racing was good, as he went on to win several races and a local track championship.

Aaron competed in dirt oval karting for a year before taking a step up. At 18 years old, he began working as an aircraft mechanic. Still living with his father, he was able to attend one Skip Barber 3-D Shool 3-Day School in October 2016. This gave him eligibility to compete in an event in the Lucas Oil Formula Car Series one month later. Aaron was able to score a victory in his first-ever car racing weekend, which justified competing in the 2017 season by any means necessary despite very limited financial resources.

Several wins and second place overall in the points standings in his first full season of racing caught the eyes of the Team USA Scholarship, a group that sends two talented American open-wheel racers to Europe every year to compete in big Formula Ford events. Aaron won the Scholarship in 2017 and showed speed instantly, even on international tracks and mixed weather conditions.

Despite the instant success, Aaron was only able to compete in partial seasons in 2018 and 2019 in F2000 and British FF1600. Having previously been a finalist for the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout (2017) and one of the five finalists of 20 international drivers, Aaron left a great impression on Mazda. In 2019, the future was looking unclear. He then turned to Mazda MX-5 grassroots racing, eyeing the Mazda MX-5 Cup $110,000 Shootout.

With limited sports car experience, Aaron was nominated and advanced through the off-track process of Mazda’s 2019 Scholarship and made it to the shootout. Showing the same amount of speed as the winner, Mazda committed to placing Aaron in their Spec MX-5 Challenge program in 2020 while he remained a prospect to return to the shootout. Winning in his first event in the Spec MX-5 Challenge and running up front at the championship round sparked some attention. Aaron once again advanced to the MX-5 Cup Shootout, and in 2020, he won the $110,000 prize to compete in the 2021 championship.

2021 proved to be a year full of challenges that saw Aaron out of title contention, but he lived by Mazda’s “Never Stop Challenging” fighter spirit and was presented with the Spirit of Mazda award at the end of the season.

Aside from his driving duties, Aaron also coaches clients as a professional driving coach and is attending school to pursue a degree in business.

Learn more about Aaron at TeamWWF.com

Aaron Jeansonne

By Wings and Wheels Foundation Inc

Aaron Jeansonne

Mazda MX5 Cup Series