Mazda Motorsports Confident About 2017 DPi Season

The veil of secrecy surrounding the appearance of the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) cars has finally been lifted. The Cadillac DPi-V.R that Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express Racing will pilot in the coming season was announced last week and Tequila Patrón ESM’s DPi plans were made public back in September, with the team preparing to campaign a pair of yet-to-be-seen Nissan entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

In between the two, Mazda Motorsports revealed its RT24-P at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and we caught up with Mazda North America’s Director of Motorsports, John Doonan, to find out more about the car.

“First off, the launch in Los Angeles could not have gone any better,” began Doonan, who was at Road Atlanta during a two-day test of the new car. “The response we have received globally has been overwhelming, and overwhelmingly positive. We’re excited about the integration of KODO design into the car.”

‘KODO- the soul of motion’ is Mazda’s current basis of road car design, embodying the combination of physical motion and art. With such a specific concept being incorporated into a motorsports platform, there were certainly questions about how the RT24-P would behave. Mixing the viewpoints of the designers with those of engineers from Multimatic Motorsports and Riley Motorsports created an interesting challenge.

“Leading into a process like this, you can imagine the nerves of the staff. Engaging designers, who are essentially artists, along with engineers who are trying to develop a race car that integrates brand design language while also being aerodynamically efficient, effective and competitive – it can be interesting,” Doonan explained. “However, based on all of our testing and simulations, we believe we have achieved that.”

After conducting early testing in North Carolina on top of the two-day test at Road Atlanta, the team is very pleased with the results. The RT24-P has received especially positive feedback from full-season drivers Jonathan Bomarito, Tristan Nunez, Joel Miller and Tom Long.

“From their standpoint, the predictability and confidence of the base (LM P2) chassis, along with the new aerodynamic balance is a significant jump forward from what we experienced with our previous car,” said Doonan.

Despite the car being four inches more narrow and seven inches longer than last year, the car has been reportedly very agile. When asked if the new-found length led to the car feeling as though it had a trailer hanging off the back, Bomarito immediately responded, “No. It just feels so predictable. I’m very excited about it!”

Up to this point, Mazda has been conducting testing with the very same engine that powered the 2016 car. Changes are coming, though, with the 2.0-liter power plant ready to receive numerous updates for the 2017 WeatherTech Championship season. Doonan is confident the engine will contribute to an overall-competitive package, due in large part to IMSA’s DPi launch preparations.

“Candidly, I want to provide kudos to IMSA on the technical side, because they have invested heavily in simulations and wind tunnel testing to gather data on the DPi cars as well as the global LM P2 spec cars,” he said. “They have a significant grasp of the landscape, and through the development process, have given us enough feedback to know how close we are within the performance window. That being said, our focus is fully on what we’re doing, not what the competition is doing.”