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  In 2013, the drivers in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge raced on some tracks that many had not seen before, at least not while driving in the Continental Tire series. Circuit of the Americas, Road Atlanta and Kansas Speedway were all new additions to the schedule. That means new tracks for the […]”

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Scott Hargrove could have almost coasted through both races on the Reliant Park circuit in Houston this weekend and still claimed the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda title, but instead finished on the podium on Saturday to clinch. Although series runner-up Neil Alberico won Saturday’s Round 13, it wasn’t enough to keep Hargrove […]”

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  Mazda Motorsports has a blockbuster weekend coming up on the streets of Texas’s largest city during the Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston. The SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge Championships wrap up their season, two Mazda-powered steps on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder have their finales and the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup […]”

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“We start with a brand-new MX-5 chassis,” says Glenn Long, the principal of Freedom Autosport as he explains how his team turns a road car into a winning Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competitor in the Street Tuner category. “The car is very well engineered as it sits. So things like the engine location – […]”

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As I was trying to write this blog entry to introduce myself and outline my career and my relationship with Mazda, I got stuck with a blank page for a couple of days. I really didn’t want to start out with the cliché: “Hi, my name is Peter Portante,” although I suppose I just did. […]”

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Multiple Grand-Am Honors for Mazda6 SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel

October 1, 2013 (New York, New York) After closing out a dynamic 2013 Rolex Grand-Am GX season with nine-straight wins, the Mazda Motorsports team proceeded to New York City for the annual post-season awards celebration. Mazda teams and racers received multiple awards and recognitions during the Grand-Am awards gala, highlighted by Mazda winning the 2013 Grand-Am GX Manufacturers Championship.

In twelve races, the SpeedSource Mazda team scored nine wins, five for the #00 VISITFLORIDA.com Mazda6 and four for the #70 Castrol Edge Mazda6. The season highlights were many:
• First diesel to compete in Grand-Am competition
• First diesel to win in Grand-Am competition
• First diesel to ever win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Winner – North American Endurance Championship Presented by VISITFLORIDA.com (GX Class)
• Winner – Grand-Am Manufacturers Championship (GX Class)
• Sunoco Diamond Performance Award for most laps led during the season – #70 Mazda6
• TOTAL Performance Lubricants Pole Award – Tom Long with seven (7) pole positions
• Monticello Motorsports Club Grand-Am Rookie-of-the-Year – Joel Miller
• Rolex “Moment of the Year” Finalist

In accepting the GX Manufacturers Trophy for Mazda, John Doonan, Director of Mazda Motorsports for Mazda North American Operations, noted that; “The story of Mazda’s 2013 GX Manufacturer’s Championship began with our colleagues in Hiroshima, Japan who had the courage to design and build an amazing SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine that will allow Mazda to be the first Asian automaker to bring modern clean diesel cars to the U.S. market. The vision of our management in the U.S. and Japan led us to take the very first five engines off the assembly line and ship them to our partners at SpeedSource Race Engineering to be built into race engines…with more than 50% of the stock engine still being used for the race engine….and to align this race program with the launch of our new Mazda6 road car.

The final part of our 2013 story is the conviction of everyone at SpeedSource, led by Sylvain Tremblay. There were many long hours by everyone in the engineering department and the race shop to develop the engine and the Mazda6 platform into a race winning package in the toughest environment possible. And for sure the driver line-up…all of whom have come up through the Mazda ladder system – Sylvain Tremblay, Tom Long, Tristan Nunez, Joel Miller, and Andrew Carbonell, who brought the cars home every race without a scratch on them.

We are grateful to all of our partners…especially BOSCH, Castrol, Continental Tire, and VISIT FLORIDA who have supported our vision, fought through early challenges with us, and celebrated our nine race wins alongside us. We are already planning for a great 2014 season in the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.”

The all-new SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine in the all-new Mazda6 is a true production based engine. The engine is 51% stock by parts count, and 63% stock by weight. Mazda chose this path as it is the most honest way to demonstrate the quality, durability, and reliability of Mazda cars.

Mazda scored its ninth GX win of the final Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season with its Mazda6 SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel racer at Lime Rock Park as the season came to a close. The win, scored by the No.70 Castrol Edge SpeedSource Mazda6 driven by Sylvain Tremblay and Tom Long, gave Mazda the manufacturers title […]”

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Joel Miller and Tristan Nunez pulled double duty in Grand-Am competition at Lime Rock, racing not only in the Rolex Sports Car Series GX class in the Mazda6 SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel, but also running an MX-5 in the Continental Tire Sports Car Series race on Friday afternoon. Miller and Nunez won the Street Tuner class. […]”

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For many years, racers and fans alike decried the lack of a proper ladder system to guide young racers to the top of U.S. open wheel racing. Mazda, by consolidating and endorsing the Mazda Road to Indy, went a long way toward answering those complaints. There is now a clear path to the IZOD IndyCar […]”

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Hello, My name is Patrick Gallagher and I am a driver for CJ Wilson Racing in the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup. I started racing quarter midgets and karts when I was six and since then I have driven numerous racecars. Last year I was fortunate enough to drive for JAY Motorsports in the U.S. F2000 […]”

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“If someone comes from Spec Miata, they’re used to momentum driving,” says Ernie Francis Sr., who runs the most successful TCB team in Pirelli World Challenge, where his son Ernie Francis Jr. is leading the points in his Mazda2. “You have to be on the gas so much sooner than any other car. It’s hard […]”

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Every year, the Sports Car Club of America’s top Club Racers gather at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs to prove who is the best of the best. The 50th edition took place this past weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., with a near-record entry of more than 700 cars. Out of 28 SCCA […]”

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Mazda Once Again Tops the Charts at Americas Largest Club Racing Event September 23, 2013 (Elkhart Lake, Wisc.) There is no single event that better represents Mazda Motorsports than the annual SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Marking their 50th anniversary this year, the celebration was extra special. After a week of competition with over 700 racers […]”

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After a day of practice and three days of qualifying, the 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs races are ready to get underway at Road America for the 50th Anniversary edition. Eight Mazda drivers claimed pole positions for the races, including those in all-Mazda or Mazda-powered classes. All pole times were set on Tuesday, as rain […]”

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The spec formula idea has been around almost as long as the formula car – a single-make chassis with only one engine choice, often built and sealed by a single supplier. It’s an especially successful concept when that spec car is built around a reliable Mazda rotary engine. The Pro Mazda Championship’s beginnings date back […]”

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The 2013 SCCA Tire Rack Solo National Champions were crowned at Lincoln, Neb., on Sept. 3-6, and nine Mazda drivers were among them. The Solo National Championships are the culmination of the Sports Car Club of America’s Solo program each year that includes ProSolo, Championship Tour and Match Tour events, plus hundreds of regional events […]”

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It’s no secret that some tracks favor certain cars and drivers, and vice-versa. Some circuits are handling tracks, some are horsepower tracks, and some have elements of both. Sometimes a team will hit a sweet spot at a particular racetrack and find something that no one else has. Still, to finish one-two at a given […]”

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My name is Yago Cesario. I am 17 and my dream is to be a professional racing driver in the IndyCar Series. I had my first contact with a racecar when my father took me to the raceway on a Sunday and I drove my friend’s kart. The same day, I asked him if I […]”

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The 2013 National Auto Sport Association (N.A.S.A.) Championships Presented by Toyo Tires took place Sept. 5-8 at Miller Motorsports Park, and five Mazda racers left Tooele, Utah, with championship titles. Dennis Holloway has been racing in N.A.S.A. for several years; as it turns out, this was his year to win the Performance Touring C class […]”

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With only the doubleheader on the streets of Houston to go, Matthew Brabham has destroyed Pro Mazda Championship records on his way to winning the title and claiming the scholarship package from Mazda to race in the Indy Lights series. He clinched the championship with a commanding double win on the streets of Trois-Rivieres in […]”

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The B-Spec class in SCCA Club Racing and the corollary Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car B Championship have been gaining momentum and popularity. One of the more popular weapons chosen for the racing class designed to be low-cost and great for beginning racers is the Mazda2. No team has used the Mazda2 to better effect […]

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The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion regularly attracts the best cars and most famous drivers to its celebration of all things motorsports history at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, so it’s a natural for Mazda to bring some of the finest examples of its racing past to the event. This year’s gathering, held Aug. 16-18, was no […]

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Twenty-nine Mazda racers claimed titles in four conferences after the Sports Car Club of America U.S. Majors Tour season concluded in August. The U.S. Majors Tour is a collection of National-level SCCA Club races designed to elevate the racing experience for participants and serves as the top tier of National Championship racing. Events are held […]

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