Kyle Mohan is a skilled racer behind the wheel, and a talented builder; his form of the sport, however, is unique to many. Kyle competes in Formula D, where it’s all about style. If you have never seen Formula D in person, go! The crowds are large, young, diverse, and intensely passionate about the sport.
Why do we like Kyle? Because like all Mazda racers, he has a passion for driving and is a great ambassador. His 2016 MX-5 is truly one of a kind, powered by a 1,200+ HP turbocharged, nitrous-injected, three-rotor engine developed by Mazdatrix.
We caught up with Kyle to ask him about his history:
MM: How did you get started in the sport?
KM: I grew up with family who loved motorsports and loved to build cars. I always enjoy a competitive challenge and I am motivated by the idea of not only building my own machine to compete against other teams, but putting it out there for everyone to see and prove that what I built is the best.
In addition, I have an artistic background and appreciated that motorsports and drifting is an avenue for my creative interests to meet on the track.
MM: Why do you like to race with Mazda?
KM: Mazda embraces driving and sports cars with a Zoom-Zoom mentality and promotes having fun with your car on track or on the road. Mazda has developed unique cars and motor platforms and they have only gotten cooler and faster over the years that I have been racing, including the RX-7 and RX-8. So when I went to build my most recent race car for the 2016 Formula Drift season, it seemed like an obvious choice to get a light and agile chassis to complement my high-horsepower motor; the MX-5 was the best choice. I’m so glad that I made the move to the MX-5, and have seen great improvements in my performance and motorsports program development as a result.
And as a rotary engine builder, I appreciate the rotary’s beautiful design, which works well under harsh conditions. The unique sounds rotary engines make are always a crowd favorite and the hard-core rotary fans are so dedicated to the Mazda brand.
MM: What’s the appeal with Formula D?
KM: I enjoy the challenge of interpreting the rule book that regulates parameters around the car’s setup and finding ways to optimize the car’s performance to out-compete other teams, while still staying within the rules. It’s the art of thinking outside the box where I try to stay one step ahead of my competition and infuse creativity to develop something that no one has seen before – like a big art project meant to haul ass.
