Daytona 24H: What’s new with Mazda Motorsports? Everything!

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.). Mazda will be seeking its 24th class win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race with three all-new 2014 Mazda6 racecars powered by Mazda’s advanced, 400-horsepower SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine. This will be the first-ever diesel powerplant to compete in GRAND-AM racing. The SKYACTIV-D engines are very much production-based, with more than 60-percent stock components, including the engine block and head.

The Car: Model Year 2014 Mazda6 SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel Racecar

The Engine: A production-based racing version of the same 2.2-liter SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine that will be available in the second half of 2013 for retail sale. The race engine includes over 250 stock components. The block and head are Mazda production parts, identical to that used in their production cars.

The Teams/Drivers:

#70 SpeedSource: Jonathan Bomarito, Marino Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe, Tom Long and Sylvain Tremblay. The two-time GT class winning team (2008 and 2010) will be seeking their third set of Rolex watches.

#00 VISIT FLORIDA Racing/SpeedSource/Yellow Dragon: Joel Miller, Tristan Nunez, Spencer Pigot, Yojiro Terada, and Tristan Vautier. Terada is the veteran Mazda racer who has competed in more than two dozen 24 Hours of Le Mans races, and scored class wins with Mazda at Daytona in 1979, 1982, and 1985 . The others are all racers who have won recent championships within the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Ladder and the Mazda Road to Indy.

In addition to the two SpeedSource cars, there is one customer team, Freedom Autosport with Andrew Carbonell, Tom Long, Rhett O’Doski, and Derek Whitis. Freedom Autosport has been a winning team in the Continental Tire Challenge with Mazda. They are moving up as a complete team.

John Doonan, Director, Mazda Motorsports, Mazda North American Operations -- “This is an amazing moment in Mazda Motorsports history because we are once again bringing innovative technology to the race track to demonstrate the performance, quality, durability and reliability of our brand. While many know us as the ‘rotary engine’ company, and we love that part of our heritage, to race our latest SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel technology in our newest car, in the race where we have scored our largest number of wins, is amazing. To get to this point, thousands and thousands of hours by engineers within Mazda in both Japan and the U.S., along with the amazing team at SpeedSource, has produced what we see as our prime mover for the next decade, SKYACTIV engines for racing.

Sylvain Tremblay, Owner, SpeedSource Engineering, and two-time Rolex 24 GT class winner – “I feel fortunate to have been a part in adding a few pages in the history of Mazda Motorsports. Now I am humbled to be part of a whole new chapter! New engine, new car, new everything, SKYACTIV is the way forward for us at the racetrack, like it is for the 2014 Mazda6, better performance and better fuel economy, what’s not to love about that. Very excited and proud of all the work by Mazda and our team here at SpeedSource in bringing this fantastic program to fruition.”

The Racecar Specs (current as of 1/26/13)

Chassis	SpeedSource Tubular Spaceframe
Engine	MAZDASPEED SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel
Configuration	Inline 4 Cylinder Turbo Diesel
Displacement	2.2L (2191cc) Bore: 86.0 mm Stroke: 94.3 mm
Power	400 hp @ 5000 rpm -- GX class target
Torque	445 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm
Fuel System	Common Rail, Direct Injection
Turbochargers	Series Turbocharged
	Honeywell Turbo Technologies (Garrett) Turbochargers
	GTR3776R Low Pressure Stage
	GTR2560R High Pressure Stage
Transmission	EMCO 46P1 Transaxle
Clutch	Quarter Master
Suspension	Double A-Arm Front and Rear
Dampers	Dynamics DSSV
Brakes	Alcon
	Front: 355mm Disc, Monoblock 4-piston Caliper
	Rear: 328mm Disc, 4-piston Caliper
Wheels	BBS 1-piece Aluminum
Tires	Continental Racing Slicks (GRAND-AM Spec Tire)
	Front: 285/645R18 Rear: 305/645R18
Weight	1111 kg (2450 lb) -- GX class minimum
Weight Bias	50:50
Dimensions	Length: 4935 mm (194.3 inches)
	Height: 1298 mm (51.1 inches)
	Width: 1880 mm (74.0 inches)

Mazda