Mazda Secures 2011 American Le Mans and Continental Tire Challenge Manufacturers Championships
As the 2011 racing season winds down, Mazda secured two manufacturers championships and just missed scoring a third by three-tenths of a second. This past weekend, Mazda teams delivered a pair of trophies –manufacturers championships in the American Le Mans Series LMP1, and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner (ST) class.
John Doonan, Director of Motorsports for Mazda North American Operations summed it up; “As any racer will tell you, championships actually take years to accomplish as you need to develop both the people and the products. We can’t thank our partners enough. The collective efforts from Dempsey Racing, Dyson Racing, Freedom Autosport, i-Moto Racing, Racers Edge, SpeedSource, and Team Sahlen has resulted in race wins in three series, a clean sweep of the ALMS titles for drivers, teams, and our Mazda MZR-R engine, and a Continental Tire manufacturers championship. This success was achieved through the same qualities as our street cars – great performance combined with quality, durability, and reliability.”
In the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) Mazda locked up all three 2011 LMP1 championships – manufacturers, team, and drivers, with a second-place finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The Dyson Racing LMP1Lola is powered by a turbocharged 2.0 liter four-cylinder Mazda MZR-R engine against Aston Martin with their V12 prototype. The Dyson team has scored two overall wins including a one-two in Baltimore where they also won the Green X Challenge. The ALMS season will conclude with the ten-hour Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta on October 1st. Read more
Kia Racing Wins First-Ever GRAND-AM Road Racing Championships
After just two seasons and 20 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) races, Kia Motors America’s motorsports program achieved championship status when the No. 10 Infinity Audio Forte Koup crossed the finish line in seventh place and earned Nic Jonsson and Kia Racing the Driver and Team titles, respectively, for the 2011 CTSCC in the Street Tuner (ST) class.
Kia and racing partner Kinetic Motorsports entered the season finale at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with narrow three-point leads in both standings and co-drivers Jonsson and Michael Galati used the Forte Koup’s braking, handling and fuel-efficiency advantages on the 13-turn circuit to battle a field of more than 30 competitors during the 2.5-hour race, propelling Kia to its first-ever GRAND-AM road racing championships.
“Kia Racing recorded a number of historic firsts in 2011 and consistently exceeded everyone’s expectations, and winning our first-ever GRAND-AM championship is an accomplishment the entire Kia Motors organization celebrates and takes great pride in,” said Michael Sprague, vice president, marketing & communications, KMA. ”Congratulations to Nic, Michael and everyone at Kinetic Motorsports whose hard work and commitment to continuous improvement led to the outstanding performance of the Infinity Audio Kia Forte Koups all season and made this achievement possible.” Read more
MAZDASPEED Motorsports Winning on Both Coasts
Mazda has been noting for several years that on any-given weekend, there are more Mazdas road-raced than any other brand. This past weekend both the strength and depth of field was very apparent.
On Saturday, Mazda raced at two of the premier racetracks in three different series with four very different cars, resulting in two wins, and a half-dozen podium finishes.
On Saturday morning, Mazda kicked off the weekend with a one-two finish in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ST class at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It was the Freedom AutoSport Mazda MX-5 of Andrew Carbonell and Rhett O’Doski taking the win over their teammates Tom Long and Derek Whitis. The win moved Mazda into a six-point lead in the manufacturers’ championship battle, with two races remaining. Read more
Actor William Fichtner Wins the 2011 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race
Japanese Drift Racer Ken Gushi Is the Professional Winner
Actor William Fichtner prevailed as the overall winner in a highly competitive race of America’s favorite celebrities from film, television, music and sports in the 2011 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. Japanese drift racer Ken Gushi finished close behind Fichtner to come in second overall and first in the Pro category, followed closely by actor Michael Trucco.
Fichtner, a versatile character actor who has appeared in such big-screen blockbusters as “Black Hawk Down” and “The Perfect Storm,” led the pack as an excited crowd cheered him on throughout the race. From the first laps, Fichtner fought off Trucco, whose high position was a surprise to many, since Trucco had landed in the middle of the pack as a result of the previous day’s qualifying session. Actor–turned–pro driver Frankie Muniz was a contender as well, as he made his way up through the pack. Trucco placed third overall, just two seconds in front of the fourth-place Muniz. For much of the race, the main battle was between Fichtner and Gushi, as they battled it out for the top spot. In the end it was Fichtner who crossed the finish line in his race-ready Toyota Scion tC, just three seconds ahead of Gushi. Read more
Mazda Race Teams Rally to Help Raise Funds for American Red Cross
Teams will Race with Special American Red Cross Decals
Three race teams waving the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development banner will be racing to raise funds for the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief Fund at this weekend’s Grand-Am race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. SpeedSource, Dempsey Racing and Team Sahlen will each carry special graphics on their RX-8 racecars, encouraging race fans to support people affected by the Japan earthquake and Pacific tsunami by texting a $10 donation to REDCROSS at 90999 (message and data rates may apply).
“The devastation in Japan is so overwhelming and we wanted to help in any way we could,” said Sylvain Tremblay of SpeedSource, Inc, who came up with the idea to race with special graphics on the Mazda race cars. “We will be donating all race winnings from Car #70 to the American Red Cross Japan relief efforts.” Read more