The Greatest Manufacturer Influence In Motorsports? MAZDA, Really ... MAZDA!
MAZDASPEED
Motorsport Supported Series - Open Or Closed include; American Le Mans,
Grand American Rolex GT, Grand American, Koni Challenge, SPEED World
Challenge, Mazda MX-5 Cup, Spec Miata, Atlantic Championship, Star
Mazda, Skip Barber, and Karting. Caption and Image Credit: MAZDASPEED
Motorsports
The Greatest Manufacturer Influence In Motorsports? MAZDA, Really ... MAZDA!
To the casual motorsports observer, it is easy to overlook the
influence and participation automobile manufacturers have in the
pursuit of motorsports and to what extent they shape and form
activities that capture our attention on TV or our local track.
Once one learns how to drive, the concept of motosports competition
crosses ones mind and, to some, becomes an obsession. For most, just
beating someone off of the line at a green light on an everyday street
is as deep as this interest goes, but for others, this obsession grows
... first by watching a major race like the INDY 500 or an
international broadcast of the Formula 1 race from the Principality of
Monaco to actually taking a car out on a track for a spin ... at speed.
We may first think about the manufacturer of a particular car as it
relates to motorsports when we begin to recognize what the nameplate on
the car is of our favorite driver. NASCAR is famous for sporting a
manufacturers name on the cars they race, even though the cars they
drive have almost nothing to do with the actual car one would see on
any city or country street ... anywhere.
The cars that NASCAR use for competition are built from the ground up
with tubular metal framing for the chassis, a combination of sheet
metal and composite fiber outer panels for the body skin and decals
located for where the head and tail lights are supposed to be. The
names of Toyota, Ford, Chevy, Dodge adorn the cars but very little in
the way of actual production vehicles are really a part of the process.
In other, more sophisticated forms of motorsports found on the racing
venues around the world, automobile manufacturers do, in fact, give
direct support with engineering, engine development, and actual
platform creation development, and support. However, no other
automobile manufacturer participates directly in the creation and
development of competitive racing series, driver development and
training around the world than ... MAZDA.
At
the beginning of this summer's racing season, the largest gathering of
MAZDA motorsports racing series drivers from all of the supported
series (pictured here at New Jersey Motorsports Park, June 2009) -
Mazda is the brand of choice for road-racers across North America. More
than 9,000 grassroots racers compete in various classes with the Sports
Car Club of America (SCCA) and the National Auto Sport Association
(NASA). Racers who are years away from earning a driver's license can
now begin their professional motorsports careers in the Mazda family. A
driver can begin in karts and progress through the Skip Barber series,
Club Racing Formula Mazda, professional Star Mazda and finally to
Formula Atlantic, all with Mazda. No other car company has ever
connected the dots this way. Caption and Image Credit: MAZDASPEED
Motorsports
This excerpted and edited from the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development website -
On any given weekend, there are more
Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of
vehicle. At the track, you'll see MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA 3, MAZDA 6,
RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has
the Soul of a Sports Car. In fact, the fastest growing road-racing
class in the U.S. is the SCCA's Spec Miata class, with nearly 1,500
first- and second-generation Miatas tearing up America's racetracks,
making it the most-raced production car in the world. Mazda's
involvement in motorsports extends to its relationship with Mazda
Raceway Laguna Seca, one of the world's premier road-racing circuits,
and the Skip Barber Schools for driving and racing.
Over the past decade, Mazda has
developed an increasingly strong presence at road racing tracks around
the nation. At the 2007 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring festivities,
Mazda is represented in five of the eight races, and six of the
thirteen different classes of cars, more than any other brand including
Porsche, Ferrari, General Motors, Ford, Dodge, Toyota and Honda.
Mazda supports anyone who’s racing
his or her Mazda in any sanctioned racing event in the U.S. or Canada.
Mazda supports all types of racing, whether Road Racing, Rally, Drag,
Off-Road or Autocross, as long as your event is sanctioned by a real
racing organization and provides some kind of published racing results.
You need to be a member of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Racing support
program to purchase parts or receive support.
Mazda North American Operations
provides racing support in North America through MAZDASPEED MOTORSPORTS
DEVELOPMENT. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Mazda North American
Operations oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service
support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico
through nearly 900 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda
Canada, Inc., located in Ontario, Canada, and in Mexico by Mazda Motor
de Mexico in Mexico City.
----
MAZDASPEED Motorsports factory-engineered
vehicles, performance parts and accessories, and motorsports programs
are the ultimate expression of our "Always the Soul of a Sport Car"
spirit. MAZDASPEED is the destination for driving enthusiasts who
desire to experience Mazda at the highest, most exhilarating level.
Video Credit: gorotary
MAZDA CONNECTS THE DOTS FOR NORTH AMERICAN MOTORSPORTS LADDER
Up-and-coming race drivers have two
major challenges: winning on the track, and finding the resources to
move up to the next level. Mazda in conjunction with series corporate
partners is making the second task significantly easier for this year's
champion drivers. Mazda will provide a next-level, fully-funded ride in
a Mazda powered car to the 2007 champions of selected Mazda series.
“We are committed to developing the
next generation of racers with a ladder system that provides drivers
with Mazda and Mazda-powered open and closed-wheel cars throughout
their careers,” said Robert Davis, Senior Vice President, Product
Development and Quality, and the man responsible for Mazda's North
American motorsports operations under the MAZDASPEED Motorsports
Development banner. “Similar to our contingency program, these are
performance-based rewards. Too often the cost of racing has meant that
a promising career has stagnated due to a lack of budget. With this
initiative, Mazda changes that.”
Reference Here>>
For more information on a specific series, visit:
... notes from The EDJE
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