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Mazda Motorsports Weekend Recap
UPDATES FROM PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE TOURING CAR AND GRAND PRIX DE TROIS-RIVIÈRES

IRVINE, Calif. (August 15, 2016) – Mazda racers had another successful weekend at both the Pirelli World Challenge and Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. At the Pirelli World Challenge, 20 Mazda racers competed in the three touring car classes and scored a combined two wins and 10 podium finishes at the Utah Motorsports Campus. Mazda now leads the manufacturer’s championships in both Touring Car and Touring Car A classes. In Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Clark Toppe inched closer to the Driver Championship lead with a clean sweep of the two Mazda Prototype Lites presented by Cooper Tires rounds at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières.

PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

Touring Car (TC):

  • Adam Poland returned to the series and scored a win Friday afternoon in his Doghouse Performance Mazda MX-5 Miata.
  • John Weisberg scored a dramatic last-lap, last-turn win on Saturday afternoon in his BERG Racing REDCOM Laboratories Mazda MX-5. Weisberg was in third place entering the final turn. When the battle for first went wide, he dove into the lead. The margin of victory was .055 seconds, the closest finish in Pirelli World Challenge history.
  • Patrick Gallagher started first in both races in his Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5 and added two podium finishes to close the points gap for the championship.

Touring Car A (TCA):

  • Joey Bickers scored a pair of podium finishes, second place on Friday and third on Saturday, in his Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5.
  • Elivan Goulart had third- and fourth-place finishes to maintain his TCA points lead. With five wins from the first 10 races, Goulart and his S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5 have been the team to beat in TCA.

Touring Car B (TCB):

  • Henry Morse scored a pair of third place finishes in his Hale Motorsports Corksport Mazda2. Morse leads the TCB championship heading into the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca finale.
  • Ted Hough scored a close second place during the Saturday race in his Breathless Racing Mazda2.

GRAND PRIX DE TROIS-RIVIÈRES WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

  • Clark Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, shaved Austin Versteeg’s championship point lead to a mere two points with victories in Rounds 8 and 9 on the 10-turn, 1.5207-mile (2.433 km) temporary street circuit. The fight for the title will continue in the five remaining races in 2016.
  • The two wins for Toppe in the No. 10 machine extended an impressive streak for Minnesota-based JDC Motorsports, as the team has won 27 consecutive Prototype Lites races dating back to August 2014. 

About 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 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 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:
Dean Case, Mazda Motorsports  – (310) 318-4582
mazdaspeed@MazdaUSA.com

Jade Gurss, Mazda Motorsports – (317) 517-4121
MazdaMotorsports@icloud.com