[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.