Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Manufacturers’ Championship and 10 race wins highlight the year for Mazda.
Mazda racers capped off the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge Championship season with five wins during the season finale weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Thanks to amazing customer teams, Mazda earned the Touring Car Manufacturers’ Championship. The championship was delivered by the combined efforts of Breathless Performance, EASTEX Motorsports, BERG Racing, Snader Racing and Hale Motorsports. The Mazda MX-5 Miata teams edged out Nissan, Porsche, VW, Hyundai, Honda, Volvo and Ford for the title.
“The 2015 World Challenge Touring Car Manufacturer Championship can be summed up in one word: Customers. We are so proud and appreciative of all of our customer teams that have dedicated themselves to running up front, standing on the podium and winning races for the Mazda brand,” said John Doonan, director of motorsports, Mazda North American Operations. “We are grateful for their investment of time, energy and resources in racing Mazdas. This championship is a celebration of them and their efforts. Special thanks to each and every member of all the teams that brought this championship to Mazda.”
The Pirelli World Challenge includes three classes where Mazda teams compete, and all three included success for the Zoom-Zoom Nation.
Season highlights for the Mazda racers:
• In Touring Cars (TC) Ernie Francis Jr. from Davie, Florida, drove his Breathless Performance Mazda MX-5 to four wins and second place in the drivers’ championship and the Breathless team was voted TC crew of the year. Adam Poland from Mount Vernon, Texas, drove his EASTEX Motorsports Majestic Pet Products Mazda MX-5 to one win and nine podium finishes for a third-place finish in the championship.
• In Touring Car ”A” Elivan Goulart, from Shelton, Connecticut, scored a win at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in the TechSport Racing Mazda RX-8.
• In Touring Car “B”, aka B-Spec, Joey Jordan from Santa Barbara, California, was a late-season arrival in his Corksport Mumford Brewery / Minx Nails Mazda2. Joey scored four wins in the final five races of the season.
Other Mazda racers in the season were Kevin Anderson, Steve Bottom, Gino Carini, Robby Foley, Randy Hale, Chris Holter, Cameron Parsons, Jason Saini, Austin Snader, Steve Taake, Yiannis Tsiounis, John Weisberg, Dinah Weisberg and James Wilson.