Mazda Motorsports Director John Doonan responds to the Spec Miata controversy at the Runoffs

The Spec Miata class was struck by controversy at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs earlier this month, when a protest filed against several top competitors in the class led to the top six finishers at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and two others being moved to the bottom of the results for running non-compliant engines.

The SCCA's board of directors is scheduled to meet this Friday to discuss the next steps to address the matter. Ahead of that meeting, Mazda Motorsports Director John Doonan explained how Mazda Motorsports is working directly with the SCCA to resolve the issues raised at the Runoffs.

"Our first step has been to gather as much information as possible on what transpired at the SCCA Runoffs. The next step has been to understand the state of the current environment," Doonan said. "We've been listening to varying interpretations of the rule in question; what it states; what it should have stated; what it should state in the future, if anything different; and why. We are fortunate to have many experts within the Mazda family and within the SCCA family who have helped in all of these discussions.

"In an effort to perform our due diligence, we have formed a team of industry experts including Mazda technical staff to travel this week to Topeka, Kansas where the cylinder heads that did not pass technical inspection at the Runoffs are being stored," he added. "This team of unbiased, industry experts will inspect the cylinder heads to gain a clear understanding of the work performed on them to deduce the functionality, performance benefits, and reason behind it."

Our first step has been to gather as much information as possible on what transpired at the SCCA Runoffs.  The next step has been to understand the state of the current environment. We’ve been listening to varying interpretations of the rule in question; what it states; what it should have stated; what it should state in the future, if anything different; and why. We are fortunate to have many experts within the Mazda family and within the SCCA family who have helped in all of these discussions.

In an effort to perform our due diligence, we have formed a team of industry experts including Mazda technical staff to travel this week to Topeka, Kansas where the cylinder heads that did not pass technical inspection at the Runoffs are being stored. This team of unbiased, industry experts will inspect the cylinder heads to gain a clear understanding of the work performed on them to deduce the functionality, performance benefits, and reason behind it.