David Cook

Buttonwillow Raceway Park was the host for Rounds 7 and 8 of the Western Conference Majors Tour. With the Western Conference having had an early start to the season, in January, championships are on the minds of many drivers with only four races remaining. As they hit the 15-turn, 3.020-mile circuit running clockwise, the fights for the Western Conference Majors, and perhaps even the National Championship Runoffs at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in October, were beginning to take shape.

David Ferguson brought his brand-new Prototype 2 Veracity Racing Data/Mazda/Hoosier Van Diemen RFS-03/Mazda to Buttonwillow, and it let him down in the first qualifying session as he worked out the kinks. Ferguson started next to last for the 30-minute timed race on Saturday, and then picked his way through an early incident. With three laps to go he had written off any chance at a victory, still eight seconds behind Paul Decker.

Traffic fell in his favor, however, and Ferguson began to reel in Decker. Knowing the track, Ferguson decided on the back stretch of the last lap that he was going to make his move in the left-handed corner known as “Phil Hill” – and then pulled it off for the first Mazda P2 win in the Western Conference.

Ferguson, from nearby Paso Robles, Calif., repeated the win in Sunday’s 16-lap race. He was one of three Mazda drivers to sweep the weekend, including Mike Anderson in Formula Mazda. At the start on Saturday, Anderson narrowly split two formula cars that had spun and were facing the wrong way in Turn 1. On Sunday, Anderson just walked away from the field to take the win.

Chris Emanuel inherited the win on Sunday in Formula Atlantic when the No. 43 Damon Racing/Mazda Pro Formula Mazda of Vince Gaddini’s day ended on lap 13. Gaddini, the Saturday winner, appeared to have the field covered when a different class car went off track in front of him. Gaddini, slowing to avoid him, stalled and ended his day, and Emanuel’s No. 36 Airguard/Hawn Racing/CER Inc. Swift 016a/Mazda went on to win.

Elliot Skeer was the third Mazda double winner, taking Spec Miata on both days. Each time he used patience along with his quickness to take the win in Spec Miata driving the No. 77 Rush Motorsports Mazda Miata.

Mark Drennan put his Miata in the front early, opening up a gap while Charlie Hayes’ Miata and Skeer’s No. 77 Rush Motorsports Miata worked together behind him. That gap closed as the minutes counted down.

Hayes had gotten in front briefly on the penultimate lap, but Drennan led across the stripe as they saw the one-to-go sign. Drennan admittedly made a mistake as the trio worked through the opening turns and dropped a wheel into the dirt, allowing Skeer to push Hayes in front down the back straight. Skeer and Hayes came into the corner side by side, with Skeer on the inside. That gave Skeer the run he needed to the checkered flag, stealing a win after running third for most of the race. Hayes finished second, Drennan third.

Skeer ran second or third for the early stages of Sunday’s race behind Drennan and Hayes, who led the first 14 laps, officially. Skeer was solidly second after lap 12, when Drennan pulled off course with a bad rear wheel hub. By then, Tyler Vance was coming quickly and into the mix. Skeer used the opportunity to pull around Hayes and stretched out two car lengths for the final two laps to take his win. Hayes and Vance completed the podium.

The SCCA Western Conference Majors Tour continues May 24-26 at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., with a Memorial Day doubleheader weekend. The SCCA Majors Tour has two events next weekend, including the Mid-States Conference Rounds Seven and Eight at High Plains Raceway and the Northern Conference opener at Blackhawk Farms Raceway.

SCCA Western Conference Majors Tour
Rounds 7 and 8
Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, Calif.
April 26-27, 2014

Round 7 Mazda Winners

Class Driver Hometown Car
E Production Aaron Downey Rossmoor Calif. Mazda RX-3
Formula Atlantic Vince Gaddini Auburn Calif. Mazda PFM
Formula Mazda Mike Anderson Anza Calif. Formula Mazda
GT-3 Mike Henderson Alpine Calif. Mazda RX-7
Prototype 2 David Ferguson Paso Robles Calif. Van Diemen RFS-03/Mazda
Spec Miata Elliott Skeer Carlsbad Calif. Mazda Miata

Round 8 Mazda Winners

Class Driver Hometown Car
Formula Atlantic Chris Emanuel Huntington Beach Calif. Swift 016a/Mazda
Formula Mazda Mike Anderson Anza Calif. Formula Mazda
GT-3 Mike Henderson Alpine Calif. Mazda RX-7
Prototype 2 David Ferguson Paso Robles Calif. Van Diemen RFS-03/Mazda
Spec Miata Elliott Skeer Carlsbad Calif. Mazda Miata

 

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Liam Dwyer Prepares for Team Debut SALINAS, Calif. In four visits to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Freedom Autosport has earned four double-podium finishes. And for the past three years, the team has finished 1-2 with their Mazda MX-5s. When Freedom Autosport returns to the track next weekend, they hope that history […]”

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April 25, 2014 – CJ Wilson Racing today announced that its official test and reserve driver, Elliott Skeer, will make his IMSA Continental Sports Car Challenge Series debut at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca next month. The 19 year old from Carlsbad, California will replace the injured Marc Miller alongside Tyler McQuarrie in the #3 CJ […]”

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“I was an adrenaline junkie and maybe I raised him to be an adrenaline junkie. You just like living on the edge. Life seems more thrilling when you’re going fast,” says Craig Duerson of how he and son Hayden got into racing. The two are racing together in the Cooper Tires IMSA Prototype Lites powered […]”

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  The SCCA Solo season is in full swing and two back-to-back Championship Tour events featured a plethora of Mazda winners. First up was the College Station, Texas, Tour, followed a week later by the San Diego Tour. The Tire Rack SCCA Solo College Station Championship Tour, held on the Texas A&M University Riverside Annex, […]”

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Hello everybody! Thanks for taking some time to read about my first blog on my journey through the Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich. I got into the series by winning the NASA Teen Mazda Challenge West, which resulted in being invited to the Mazda Club Racer Shootout. I was very fortunate to have won […]”

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The Miata is one of the most popular and successful cars in autocross and SCCA Solo. Light and nimble, it’s a great car for maneuvering around a tight course marked out by traffic cones. Early cars can also be quite inexpensive, and Craig Naylor’s Street Touring S Miata is a perfect example. “I bought the […]”

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  Slick conditions and cool temperatures affected all eight race groups that took to the track to contest Round 7 of the SCCA Eastern Conference U.S. Majors Tour at VIRginia International Raceway, part of the SafeRacer National Club Racing program. Add one part water to the unseasonably cool temperatures from Friday, and those were the […]”

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The late, lamented Formula Atlantic Championship, in its final iteration, used Swift 016/Mazdas powered by the MZR engine as its racecar. When the series folded under economic pressure, many of the cars were left orphaned, with only SCCA Club Racing as an option. However, Formula Race Promotions, which already had series for F2000 and F1600 cars on the East Coast, created the Atlantic Championship Series. In 2014, the Series will expand to include five full event weekends with two races each, comprising a 10-round Championship calendar presented by Hoosier Racing Tire.

Furthermore, for competitors racing with the MZR-powered cars, Mazda will offer a year-end championship fund. The first pair of races at Road Atlanta were dominated by Mazda-powered cars, with Daniel Burkett winning both events.

“We’re happy and thrilled to welcome Mazda to the revived Atlantic Championship Series and into the Formula Race Promotions family,” said Chip Robinson, Formula Race Promotions race director. “Manufacturer support and recognition, along with a contingency, furthers the progress of bringing back a professional atmosphere and Championship for Atlantic cars.”

Competitors taking part in the contingency program will need to brand their cars with Mazda signage and register with the manufacturer. In addition, to be eligible, a competitor must use Mazda power for the course of the season.

“The Swift .016 Mazda-MZR Atlantic cars has been a favorite of both drivers and fans since 2006,” noted John Doonan, Director of Motorsports for Mazda North American Operations. “We’re happy to see so many of these cars back on track for 2014. Mazda supports racers who race with Mazda power and we’re pleased to post contingency prize money to the Atlantic Championship Series.”

The Atlantic cars will join the F2000 and F1600 Series on all their race weekends in 2014.

Similar to the business model behind F2000 and F1600, Atlantic drivers and teams can expect hefty amounts of track time, reasonable entry and registration costs, a controlled spec tire from Hoosier, and a dedicated and hard-working Series staff at every event.

Mazda’s payout structure for year-end points

Position Payout
1st Mazda $5000
2nd Mazda $3000
3rd Mazda $2000
4th Mazda $1500
5th Mazda $1000

 

2014 Atlantic Championship Schedule

Date Venue
April 11-13 Road Atlanta
May 16-18 Watkins Glen International
June 6-8 VIRginia International Raceway
July 4-6 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
August 30-Sept. 1 Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

 

 

 

As the most-raced vehicle in the U.S., a new version of the Mazda MX-5 is certainly big news. While Mazda isn’t quite ready to reveal the next generation of MX-5, it did confirm development details of the next MX-5 Miata roadster. Making its world debut during a press conference at the New York International Auto Show, the vehicle’s all-new SKYACTIV®-CHASSIS bared its sports car soul and affirmed that the future model would be lighter, stronger and with a physical footprint more in tune with its first-generation predecessor than with its heavier, larger current-day cousin.

“This SKYACTIV-CHASSIS expresses a deep-dive chronicle – complete with beginning, middle and conclusion – of the passion, challenges and triumphs being poured into the next-generation MX-5 Miata,” said Robert Davis, senior vice president, U.S. Operations, Mazda North American Operations. “The dedication of the R&D and Design teams to honor the vehicle’s dynamic heritage and globally-recognizable features is evident from the chassis’ structural blueprint, and will undoubtedly translate into what we believe will be a remarkable production car.”

With the fourth-generation MX-5, the soul of the sports car is not only revisited, but reinvented. With no richly layered, character line-laden sheet metal to hide beneath, the SKYACTIV-CHASSIS lays out a narrative of MX-5’s continuing story with a perfectly arranged table of contents. This chassis is the first time SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY has ever been shown in a front mid-ship engine rear-wheel-drive design. Also, its compact configuration showcases an engine closer to the vehicle’s center, a center of gravity which itself is lower than that of any previous generation. And not only lower but decidedly leaner, with a weight reduction goal of more than 220lbs., all with the goal of continuing to achieve the highest standards of body rigidity and collision safety performance.

This unwavering determination to keep the MX-5 faithful to its roots of being compact, light and fun-to-drive also is a further evolution of the brand’s Jinba Ittai signature – the oneness between a car and its driver. An early example is that of engineers painstakingly researching the optimum driver position for behind-the-wheel excitement and comfort as further proof that a driving experience intertwined with a history of courage, creativity and conviction is the Mazda way.

More information on the next-generation MX-5 Miata will be announced at a later date closer to the vehicle’s launch.

If things had gone a bit differently in his life, instead of racing in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida, 18-year-old Tristan Nunez might have spent the middle of March preparing to compete in the Sony Open tennis tournament in Miami. But, fortunately for him and Mazda race fans, […]”

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With an overflowing paddock and trailers parked outside the gate, the first SCCA U.S. Majors Tour event at Thunderhill Raceway Park opened Saturday under blue skies for Rounds Five and Six of the Western Conference Majors Tour. The event featured the usual format of 30-minute timed races on Saturday and 16-lap or 40-minute races on […]”

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The Sports Car Club of America is beginning to release information about the 51st National Championship Runoffs, the first held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the first one on the West Coast in 46 years. That includes the race schedule, which puts GTL, Spec Miata, F Production, P1 and STU and Touring 3 on […]”

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Dalton Sargeant is about as fresh as a racer gets. That’s fresh as in new, by the way. The 15-year-old high school student from Fort Lauderdale had his first two car races in the IMSA Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda events during the 12 Hours of Sebring week, and walked away with two […]”

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Prime weather conditions on Saturday greeted a record number of racers at the opening day of the SCCA U.S. Majors Tour Mid-States Conference doubleheader weekend at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, but it wouldn’t last. Sunny skies and good air allowed each of the 142 registered entrants to get the most horsepower out of their machines […]”

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Jesse Prather explains what a good set of double-adjustable shocks can do for a racer and help him or her tune the car. Adjustable shock absorbers, or dampers if you prefer, are fairly commonplace at all levels of racing. Most are double adjustable for compression and rebound, some are adjustable for compression only, and the […]”

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A few days before the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring weekend, in which not only did the two SpeedSource Mazda SKYACTIV-D Prototypes compete, but also featured the opening rounds of the Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich and the Cooper Tires IMSA Lites Powered by Mazda, more than 300 students at nearby Tampa’s Middleton […]”

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Brazilian rookie Victor Franzoni started the “regular season” Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda in exactly the same way as he began the recent Cooper Tires Winterfest preseason mini-series – with a victory. The 18-year-old from Sao Paulo started Afterburner Autosport’s No. 17 Vhero/Aflex/E-QUAL/Novac Sports Van Diemen-Mazda from the pole position but was made […]”

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Spencer Pigot seems to have hit his stride in his sophomore year of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Despite facing a rash of talented newcomers, Pigot took both rounds of the series as the Mazda Road to Indy opened its season with the Verizon IndyCar Series at the Grand Prix of St. […]”

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At Sebring International Raceway, with a full complement of Mazda racers on hand, Mazda announced the latest addition to its driver development program, a partnership with iRacing. This newly formed partnership enables the best of iRacing’s 50,000 online racers in North America, most of who have raced a virtual MX-5 Cup car, a chance to […]”

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Andersen Promotions, in conjunction with IMS Productions, announced its 2014 television broadcast schedule and on-air talent for the Mazda Road to Indy, which will feature coverage of Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda on the NBC Sports Network. All […]”

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Well, here I am on yet another plane and another adventure, heading down to Florida from Indianapolis. Only a few days are left before the pre-season is over and we get into race mode at St Pete. It has been great to relax over this off-season. It’s always nice to have everything lined up thanks […]”

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(For all Parts Spotlights, click here)

While once automotive technicians turned to the trusty shop manual for information on how to fix a particular car, as cars have become more and more sophisticated, so has the information needed to repair them. Expensive and not updateable, the shop manual has become virtually extinct.

Fortunately for those needing that information while building or maintaining production-based racecars, Mazda Motorsports makes that information available through access to its Service Information Web site.

“The purpose of that Web site is to supply the aftermarket, so an aftermarket repair shop can buy a subscription, as little as 24 hours all the way up to a year unlimited, and they can access the same information as a dealer,” says Mike Allen, MAZDASPEED specialist. “All the online repair information, calibrations, service bulletins, recalls… everything service related.”

The site includes the same service information available to dealers, including the shop manuals, wiring diagrams and service bulletins. While Steve Sanders, MAZDASPEED Motorsport Development Manager for Mazda North American Operations, notes that many earlier models still have service manuals available, as of about five years ago, the company stopped publishing them, and the Service Information Web site is the only way to get the information.

Subscriptions start at $19.95 for 24-hour access. The site can be accessed at http://mazdaserviceinfo.com/Default.aspx.

Call 800.435.2508 for more information.

With more than 300 cars on the entry list for the Sports Car Club of America’s BFGoodrich® Tires Atlanta Super Tour at the scenic Road Atlanta, close races were a lock. It happened, and what transpired on Saturday at Road Atlanta for Round Five of the Eastern Conference Majors Tour, in many classes, was the […]”

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