Mazdaspeed Motorsports: Season Wrapup!

[Antoine]

MAZDASPEED MOTORSPORTS:
2005 RACING SEASON WRAPUP​

IRVINE, Calif. With victories in every one of the professional series in which Mazda competes Grand Am Cup Street Touring, American Le Mans Series LMP-2, Sports Car Club of America SPEED World Challenge Touring Class and the National Hot Rod Association PRO FWD the 2005 season was a very good year for the manufacturer.

"Looking back at the 2005 season, it really was a combination of the highest highs and the lowest lows," said Steve Sanders, manager, MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development and the man responsible for Mazdas North American motorsport operations. "Our teams did Mazda proud every weekend, and my hats off to each and every driver, crew member and team owner for their time, effort and commitment this year. For next year, well defend the championships we won this year, and plan to fight even harder to win the ones we didnt."

The 2005 professional racing season at a glance:

• American Le Mans Series, LMP-2 (Courage/RENESIS rotary engine) With a Courage chassis powered by a three-rotor RENESIS rotary engine derived from the Mazda RX-8 sportscar, B-K Motorsports finished the season in third place. Drivers Jamie Bach and Guy Cosmo were named co-Rookies of the Year for their consistent driving and for one win during the season.
• Grand Am Cup, Street Touring Class (RX-8): With wins at tracks across the country in 2005, SpeedSource repeated last years feat as manufacturers champion, but added team and drivers (for David Haskell) championships.
• Sports Car Club of America SPEED World Challenge, Touring Class (MAZDA 6 , Proteg): With one of the most competitive SPEED World Challenge seasons now complete, Mazda finished second in the manufacturers championship, as teams competed with both MAZDA 6 and Proteg cars.
• Professional Formula Mazda (Star Formula Mazda/RENESIS rotary engine): As this one-make open-wheel series draws to a close, Raphael Matos with four wins this year takes the crown as drivers champion. With grid sizes averaging 40-plus cars, the Professional Formula Mazda series is the largest, most popular open-wheel race series in North America .
• National Hot Rod Association, PRO FWD (MAZDA6): Driver Ed Bergenholtz piloted his 1,200-plus horsepower MAZDA 6 to the drivers championship. The underdog team beat all competitors, including fully funded teams from General Motors.
• MAZDASPEED Miata Cup, Presented by Hankook (Mazda Miata): Justin Hall emerged as champion is this one-make series for first- and second-generation Mazda Miatas.

Looking forward to 2006, MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development intends to continue to be running up-front at tracks across the U.S.

On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. Mazdas motorsport involvement even extends to the nations premier road-racing circuit, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

 

[registering]

Good write-up. My claim to fame: Guy was one of my instructors years ago at the unfortunately now-defunct Justin Bell GT Motorsports Experience at Moroso Motorsports Park in Palm Beach, Florida. Unfortunately the one win he had in ALMS was because every other LMP2 broke, and he even crashed at the end of the race but had more laps than anyone else. He was rather embarassed talking to the cameras, apologizing for a less than spectacular photo-op for a winning car, but as usual he was cheery and friendly as always. I've still got some video of him driving me around in a Z06 at Moroso, almost losing control in the rain, HA. I love the LMP2 Mazda though, gorgeous and LOUD. It seems to suffer from simple lack of power compared to the piston engines.

At Road Atlanta during the Petit Le Mans he also "borrowed" Dodge's hot pit due to I'm sure hot brakes (they pushed him back quickly to make room for the Viper).

 

[kcbhiw]

Mazda indeed had a great season. I kept a close eye on the Courage Mazda for most of the season and fell in love with it when I attended the Petit LeMans event.

I really appreciate how Mazda is supporting the sport of racing, even for the little guys particpating within amature circuits and series'. It really says a lot for their engineering efforts and the company's past time.

Good luck to the Mazda racing world in 2006! Zoom on.

 

[Imp]

I really appreciate how Mazda is supporting the sport of racing, even
for the little guys particpating within amature circuits and series'. It really says a lot for their engineering efforts and the company's past time.

2nded. SCCA Solo-II National Championships, 9 of top 10 in B-Stock were RX8s.

Thank you Mazda Motorsports!

--kC