BRASELTON, Ga. (April 25, 2024) – The Mazda Heritage Collection’s 2024 season tour begins this week at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The 1989 Mazda 767B and the 1991 RX-7 GTO will take part in HSR’s ‘The Mitty,’ April 26 – 28.

 

The featured marque for this year’s Mitty is ‘Cars of Japan’ giving Mazda and extra incentive to be there. Bomarito will drive the 1989 Mazda 767B in Group 6 and Long will drive the 1991 RX-7 GTO in Group 9 and both of the recently restored entries will also participate in Saturday’s ‘Cars of Japan’ feature race.

 

Mazda has experienced a great deal of success at Road Atlanta in both GT and prototype competition. The marque’s RX-2 was a winner throughout the 70’s and in the late 80’s and 90’s the RX-7 experienced plenty of victories at the Georgia track. In Mazda’s prototype era, the Mazda AE99 LMP finished third in the inaugural Petit Le Mans in 1998. More Petit Le Mans wins came in 2013 (Mazda Lola B08/86) and in 2021 (Mazda RT-24P), Mazda’s last prototype race.

 

Expanding its footprint at Road Atlanta, the Mazda Heritage Collection has teamed up with Downing Atlanta Inc. Owner Jim Downing is a legendary Mazda racer and Atlanta native who designed the Kudzu. Driving the fourth iteration of his design, the Kudzu DG4 powered by a Mazda 3-rotor engine, Downing and co-drivers Yojiro Terada and Franck Freon won the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 category.

 

He brings with him a 1996 Mazda Kudzu DLM, a later generation of his design.

 

More than just a racer, Downing will go down as one of motorsport’s greatest safety innovators, thanks to his part in developing the now universally used Hans Device.

 

“Mazda has a rich history at Road Atlanta and a lot of that is tied to Jim Downing,” Mazda Senior Manager, Motorsports Jonathan Applegate said. “Downing has been a member of the Mazda family for decades, both inside and outside the car. If The Mitty feature race is ‘Cars of Japan’ then the Mazda Heritage Collection needs to be there and so should Jim Downing and his collection.”

 

Tickets and a full schedule for The Mitty are available at https://www.roadatlanta.com/hsr-mitty. Kids 12 and under are free.