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Mazda Prototypes Qualify First And Third At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
Tristan Nunez Wins His Second Career Pole Position

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 9, 2016) – Tristan Nunez drove the No. 55 Mazda Prototype to the pole position for tomorrow’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. His teammate Tom Long qualified third in the No. 70 Mazda Prototype. Both cars are carrying the special liveries paying tribute to the 25th anniversary of Mazda’s victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991.

“It’s a little saying we have at Mazda and that’s ‘Never Stop Challenging,’” said Nunez after his pole run. “It’s been in our hearts since the start of the Prototype program, and now that’s really showing off. We had a pole at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at our home track. We learned a lot from that race. Coming into this race – qualifying is good – but we have one focus and that’s to win the race tomorrow and to put both of the Mazdas on the podium. Everyone’s really prepared for that – our engineers and the crew have been training their tails off at the shop to get the pit stops perfect. All of us drivers have been training to be physically fit because this is a very physical track. All of the pieces are in line and we just have to go get it tomorrow.”

This is the second best qualifying effort for the Mazda Prototype team, as they swept the front row at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in April. Nunez will start the race and will be joined by co-driver Jonathan Bomarito, while Long will start the race in the No. 70 with co-driver Joel Miller to follow.

The Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix begins Sunday morning at 11 AM ET. The two-hour, forty-minute race can be seen live on FS1 or streaming on FoxSportsGo.

Mazda Motorsports 

Mazda Motorsports boasts the most comprehensive auto racing development ladder system of any auto manufacturer in the world. The Mazda Road to 24 (#MRT24) program offers a number of scholarships to advance drivers up the sports car racing ladder, beginning with the Global MX-5 Cup series and culminating with the Mazda Prototype team. The Mazda Road to Indy (#MRTI) is a similar program that includes Mazda-powered categories of USF2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights. In grassroots road racing, more Mazdas race on any given weekend in North America than any other manufacturer. Mazda is also the title sponsor of the renowned Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. Follow all of the latest news at MazdaMotorsports.com, @MazdaRacing on Twitter, and MazdaMotorsports on Instagram and Facebook.

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Contact: Jade Gurss, Mazda Motorsports (317) 517-4121 MazdaMotorsports@icloud.com
Dean Case, Mazda Motorsports (310) 318-4582 Mazdaspeed@MazdaUSA.com