senor honda

[h=2]INDYCAR to sanction Mazda MX-5 Cup Series[/h] RACER Staff

Mazda Motorsports and Andersen Promotions have reached an agreement for INDYCAR to sanction the Mazda MX-5 Cup series, the signature spec series for the Mazda Road to 24 sports car counterpart to the Mazda Road to Indy, beginning with the 2017 season.


In both programs, series champions earn a Mazda Motorsports scholarship to advance their racing careers. The MX-5 Cup season champion earns a $200,000 scholarship. New for 2017, the MX-5 Cup Rookie of the Year will earn a $50,000 scholarship. In total, MX-5 Cup pays more than $500,000 dollars in prize money and scholarships.
"This sanctioning agreement with INDYCAR for the Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires is based upon our long and productive relationship with Dan Andersen, Andersen Promotions and INDYCAR," said John Doonan, director of motorsports at Mazda North American Operations. "We have worked closely with them to grow the Mazda Road to Indy into the finest open-wheel ladder in the world. Now, we are striving to grow this series, which is the first step of our sports car ladder known as the Mazda Road to 24. In only one year, we have sold more than 120 of the newest generation of MX-5 Cup cars and have seen starting fields of up to 40 cars. By teaming with INDYCAR, we believe the series will thrive. Mazda strives to provide value to our customers, and to present our race teams with this race schedule today is a big step forward. They will have the opportunity to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, plus other iconic circuits in the U.S. and Canada."
In 2017 the MX-5 Cup will consist of a 12-race schedule held on a total of six event weekends, plus the second annual Global MX-5 Cup Invitational, a non-points-paying event for Mazda racers from around the world. Four of those event weekends will be held during Verizon IndyCar Series events: Barber Motorsports Park (April 20-23), Road America (June 23-25), Toronto (July 14-16) and Watkins Glen International (September 1-3). The series will also compete on the road course of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the SVRA event (June 15-17) and twice at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (Sept. 22-24 and the Global Invitational, Oct. 13-15).
"The Mazda MX-5 Cup race car is such a terrific package and the MX-5 Cup championship already has shown what great racing this car and its drivers can provide," said Dan Andersen, CEO of Andersen Promotions, which will oversee operational aspects of the series. "Andersen Promotions is very excited to expand its Mazda involvement and move into the Mazda Road to 24 sports car ladder to complement what the Mazda Road to Indy open-wheel ladder has already accomplished. We are all about developing drivers for careers in racing, and we expect to bring our experience to MX-5 Cup and enhance the training that drivers receive to better enable them to climb the sports car ladder. INDYCAR is the best sanctioning body and has such exciting events on its calendar, and I can't wait to add MX-5 Cup to some of these weekends and wave the Mazda flag even more."
The MX-5 Cup series is considered the best value in sports car racing. The cars are sold as a ready-to-race, turnkey package for $58,900. Because of the parity of the cars, the racing is always close, hard-fought and great fun for fans. The series is entering its twelfth season of action.
"When Mazda approached us regarding MX-5 Cup, we felt it would be a great opportunity for INDYCAR to expand upon what we're already doing with our involvement in the Mazda Road to Indy," said Jay Frye, INDYCAR president of competition and operations. "This agreement also allows us to enhance our overall platform with Mazda Motorsports and Andersen Promotions, who have been great partners of INDYCAR."

senor honda

[h=2]PRUETT: IndyCar's new Mazda matrix[/h] Tuesday, 01 November 2016


Marshall Pruett

A quiet announcement from Mazda on Friday made me smile. The brand's pride and joy, its Global MX-5 Cup series, will shift from 11 years under the SCCA Pro Racing banner to sanctioning by IndyCar and with the move, America's defining open-wheel series will have a stellar sidekick to open the show at nearly 25 percent of its events.
For those who haven't seen the MX-5 Cup cars in action, think of everything that makes the Mazda Road to Indy training series such an awesome spectacle – the youth, talent, optimistic passes – and add fenders. The bravery that comes from having (and using) those fenders to move forward...a tap here, a nudge there...is a wonderful thing.
Buzzing MX-5s, like tiny four-cylinder bowling balls, have generated incredible highlight reels since the series broke cover in 2006, and with the relaunched "Global" version in 2016 using the newest MX-5 model, more than 120 race-prepped machines have been sold. The smallest cars have become big stars, and they're headed to ramp up the entertainment between IndyCar and MRTI sessions.
Packed fields of drivers who straddle both sides of talent and aggression, and others who are learning with every lap, provide great springboards for those interested in careers outside of IndyCar, and with a similar MX-5 Cup advancement prize system to the one offered to USF2000, Pro Mazda, and Indy Lights champions, racing fans will get to watch young drivers move up a different Mazda ladder.
The first season of combined IndyCar and Global MX-5 competition will have series attached to four weekends (Barber, Road America, Toronto, and Watkins Glen) and it will also make its debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the Brickyard's massive vintage racing event with the SVRA.
MX-5s won't replace IndyCar's longstanding relationship with the Pirelli World Challenge series, which is also great news, but the dynamic could steer toward an increased presence by Mazda's sports car feeder series in the years to come.
PWC has been on a slow (but intentional) move toward independence in the sports car marketplace; it will continue to join IndyCar at St. Pete, Long Beach, Barber and Road America (along with MX-5 Cup), Mid-Ohio, and Sonoma, but it wouldn't be hard to imagine the built-in relationship between IndyCar and Mazda pushing MX-5s to a position where it becomes the preferred sports car property on the calendar.
As an admitted fan of all three series, having IndyCar, PWC and MX-5s together (in concert with IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Robby Gordon's Stadium Super Trucks) at select rounds should present fans with the best ticket in North American motorsports.
Of the many things IndyCar has gotten right this year, welcoming Global MX-5 Cup to the family might not stand out among the other headlines, but this one deserves some praise.