Behind the Zoom - Jonathan Bomarito

The No. 70 Mazda Prototype team has been testing the chassis and a new iteration of the gasoline-fueled Mazda sports car engine. Jonathan Bomarito gives you an inside look at what testing is like for a driver.

As many of you already know, the No. 70 Mazda Prototype that my teammate Tristan Nunez and I drive has not been competing in the last few rounds of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. (We expect to be back in action with the SKYACTIV-D engine at the next race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.) However, we have been doing a lot of testing with a new iteration of the Mazda gasoline engine that was developed for sports car racing. I will give a driver's perspective on what we have been working on during these tests and how the new engine is to drive.

When you start a testing program with new components on the race car, you have to take your time making sure there are no big problems right away. This means we are doing several out laps and then straight back to pit lane where the crew thoroughly inspect the car for any leaks or smells. Once we have done this a few times, you start gaining confidence and build up to three- to four-lap runs where the engineers are zoned in to all the telemetry monitoring the engine. I have been extremely impressed with how little time it has taken to gain confidence in the reliability and to begin testing the overall pace of the racecar.