For the 2016 season, Mazda Motorsports enters the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship with a renewed enthusiasm for racing. After struggling to be competitive for the last two seasons in Prototype competition with their SKYACTIV diesel motor, they have re-joined with AER to develop the new MZ-2.0T 2.0 liter turbo 4-cylinder motor and have returned with strong ambitions for the future.

According to John Doonan, Director of Motorsports Mazda North American Operations, the ROAR test was a transforming experience for the team. “We came out of that test with a sense of achievement. Now we’re not there yet, but to see our cars at the top of the time sheets was a huge reward for all of the hard and to some degree unrewarded work that we’ve done over the last 2 years.”

“When we huddled together at the ROAR, I told the guys that this year would be different. We’ll be in the fight and that all of the foundation that we’d laid was going to come good for us now. I sensed a bit of a bounce in the step of the guys, we’ve turned the corner and while we’re not there yet, at least we’re in the fight now. The competition is going to be tough, but I fully expect us to be in the hunt everywhere we go.”

Many would look at the lack of on track success from the program over the last few years and label it as a failure. John doesn’t. “From an engineering basis, we were able achieve success from what we learned. In the end, we were able to send the diesel engine back to Mazda R&D in Japan, where they could use what we learned in both development and in competition to better our production cars in the future. I also view it as a success from a team building perspective. It may not show from the results, but I feel that any results we have this season and into the future will because of the effort we’ve put into the program over the last few seasons. I’ve got to tell you though, testing in public is tough. ”

While stories circulated all last season about the new gasoline motor being ready to go, it wasn’t until the offseason that it was given the go-ahead. “We were given the go-ahead in October to proceed and we’ve been testing as much as we can. So far we’ve seen no issues in over 6000 miles of testing, so we believe we’ve got the basis to move forward and be successful. With all of this development, I’m glad we have a fully sorted chassis right now. Multimatic has done us well in assisting with the chassis and I believe it is as good as any that are here competing at Daytona.”

Contrary to common perception, the MZ-2.0T is not the same motor that Mazda raced successfully in the ALMS a few seasons ago. “While the block is close to the same, the rest is completely different. If you want to make comparisons, the current Indy Lights motor is much closer to that ALMS motor. We’ve got an entirely new head, direct injection fuel system as well as exhaust when compared to the other motors.”

As far as moving forward, John is feeling very bullish about this season and beyond. “The plan in 2016 and 2017 is to continue the engine development and work towards returning to Le Mans in 2017. We’ve also got the Mazda specific bodywork for the DPi to work on as well as some customer inquiries for 2017 that we are working on. We hope to have most of this sorted in the next few months.”

One thing that impresses John as the IMSA season kicks of the 2016 season is the effort that they have put forth across the board. “The communication from the series has been fantastic. They have been open in their discussions and have in place all the tools required to fully monitor the performance of the cars. As far as the BOP. I’d never want that unenviable job at all, but I believe they have done a great job entering this season. I’m really proud on IMSA and the job they have done.”

Just recently Mazda announced the Mazda Road to 24, to go along with their Mazda Road to Indy. But it isn’t anything really new, it is merely a refinement of their already existing Mazda SportsCar Racing Academy. Just like the Road to Indy has established a staircase to achieve the goal of racing at Indy, the goal of the Road to 24 hopes to assist in the same manner.

The success of the Mazda Road to Indy is quite staggering, of the 33 entries at Indy in 2015, 23 of them came through the Mazda ladder system. Mazda hopes to recreate that success in sportscars in the future and appear well on their way in doing so. Currently Mazda holds nearly 60 percent market share in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) based on participation and since 2007 has provided more than $12.6 million dollars in scholarships in both the Road to 24 and the Road to Indy.

This grassroots approach is all part of the plan Mazda has “to integrate motorsports to the public. It is something that we’ve never strayed from since the beginning. We have loyal customers both on the street and on the track and it in turn has rewarded us with big sales for parts on the racing side. But not just parts. Cars too. Just for the MX5 Cup we’ve already sold 82 cars so far and we will be at well over 100 by the end of 2016.”

But it goes beyond the track for Mazda. Just before Daytona, Mazda staff, led by driver Joel Miller (above), who is a degreed Mechanical Engineer gave presentations at local schools as a part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) program. This program, which kicked-off in 2014 has reached over 21,000 students nationwide brings home practical applications through RACE (Racing Accelerates Creative Education) based upon racing applications. “The goal here is to challenge students to take seriously what they are taught and to help drive home practical applications of what is presented to them in school. The program has been a big success with not just the students, but also the teachers, many of whom are excited for their students to see that math can be used beyond school.”

From club racing to Le Mans, Mazda has it covered. The company has a long and rich history at Le Mans and come 2017 they hope to add to that history. In the meantime, they have what appears to be a rewarding 2016 coming their way. While outright success eluded them at Daytona, the pace shown in the sessions leading up to the race as well as in the first half of the race indicate they are on the right road to success.

Gary Horrocks