Months of Preparation Led to Near-Seamless Engine Change For Mazda

Subtitle:No. 55 & 70 Prototypes Aiming For Wins In 2016

Moving to a gasoline-fueled MZ-2.0T engine paid immediate dividends for Mazda Motorsports. The two-car team posted the third- and fifth-fastest times in the Prototype class at the recent Roar Before the Rolex 24, and is now in a position to challenge for the victory in the 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 30-31.

 “Mazdas are designed to put smiles on people’s faces,” said John Doonan, Director of Mazda Motorsports North America. “Without a doubt, there were many smiling faces among the Mazda camp at the ROAR and those watching from afar.”

Joel Miller, Tom Long and Ben Devlin were third-fastest at the Roar with a lap of 1:39.828 in the No. 70 Mazda/Castrol/ModSpace entry. Jonathan Bomarito, Tristan Nunez and Spencer Pigot were fifth-fastest in the sister No. 55 car, with a best lap of 1:39.134.

“Everyone on the Mazda Motorsports team was pleased with our performance at the ROAR test days, and especially with the outlook for our Prototype program for 2016,” Doonan said. “We are very focused on running up front and putting ourselves in a position to win as many race as possible. With consistency, we believe we can contend for the championship. We are simply going to come to the race track each day and do our jobs."

A year ago, the then Diesel-powered Mazdas finished 11th and 12th, with the top car qualifying 20th. The team did manage to lead a lap as a result of the diesel’s superior fuel mileage. The diesels started at the back of the pack in their debut in 2014, finishing 13th and 14th in the Prototype class.

But it was more than merely an engine switch that got the team near the top of the charts, as the team cut a deficit of nearly five seconds seconds to five-tenths of a second. Rather, it was a culmination of hard work and mid-season testing through the latter stages of the 2015 season that is paying dividends.

“It shows how hard the SpeedSource/Mazda Motorsports guys have been working to get the program to the level of being competitive at the front end of the grid,” Long said. “The level of prep has always been there; hard work has never been a question. It’s so good to see the guys excited with both cars in the top five. Seeing all the guys smiling really makes all the hard work worth it.”

Long explained that the switch was more than swapping out engines.

“It involved an incredible amount of work,” Long said. “All the cooling, the plumbing, the electronics all changed for the new engine, so a lot was undertaken. It looked a lot more seamless than all the hard work it really took. It shows how professional a group that SpeedSource is to pull this off. Kudos to Jonathan Bomarito and Tristan Nunez for taking a back seat at the race track and testing, while Joel Miller and I were off racing and representing Mazda. They did an incredible job developing that package.”

SpeedSource owner Sylvain Tremblay has more than a decade working with Mazdas, winning the GT class in the Rolex 24 in 2008 and 2010. After running the diesel in the Rolex Series GX class in 2013 (winning the team and manufacturer championship) and for two years in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, he feels that the hard work making that engine combination work in the Prototype class is paying dividends.

“People might think the engine change was monumental, but if anything, all the gains we’re making now actually started two years ago when we were running the diesel engine,” Tremblay said. “Our diesel power plant was very good at many things. It was very, very good off the corner, but we were lacking on top end. We did an unbelievable amount of work on the chassis, trying to gain every little morsel of speed since we were lacking on top end. Then once we got our new Mazda MZ-2.0T, we definitely have some top end. It’s definitely put us back in the game, back near the top of the time sheets. I’m really proud of the guys, and really proud of Mazda for believing in this program. Hopefully we can repay their loyalty with some race wins.”

Now that the car is proven to be fast, there’s a lot more work ahead.

“This race is not going to be won by what’s under the engine cover,” Long said. “It’s going to be won by the hard work and dedication by the team, teamwork, and who makes the least mistakes. We don’t have any false hopes [by the Roar results], we know that speed is only one factor of many for a 24-hour race.”