News Releases
MONTEREY, Calif. (October 6, 2016) – It is fitting that the final professional sports car race-weekend of 2016, the Pirelli World Challenge season finale, will take place at iconic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. There are 21 Mazda racers entered in three Touring Car classes, competing for multiple driver, team, and manufacturer championships. Entering the weekend, Mazda has already clinched the Touring Car A (TCA) manufacturer championship, but that is just one of eight possible championships. Due to a mid-season schedule change, and an optional race at Lime Rock, some drivers will double-count their Mazda Raceway scores. Most of the championships will likely be determined during the final race on Sunday morning.
John Doonan, director of motorsports, Mazda North American Operations, said, “Our success in the Pirelli World Challenge is due in part to the many great customer teams that have chosen to race with Mazda. With 15 wins, we’ve had outstanding performances by the Atlanta Motorsports Group, BERG Racing, Black Armor Helmets, Breathless Racing, Doghouse Performance, Hale Motorsports, S.A.C. Racing and Tech Sport Racing. To close out the year at our home track makes it even more special.”
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTES:
- A total of 21 Mazdas are entered in the three Touring Classes competing at Mazda Raceway. Seven are entered in the Touring Car (TC) class, ten in Touring Car A (TCA) and four in Touring Car B (TCB).
- In the first ten races of the season, Mazda racers have scored three wins in TC, seven wins in TCA and five wins in TCB.
- Manufacturer Championships:
- Mazda leads the TC Manufacturer Championship over BMW, Honda, Nissan, and Porsche.
- Mazda has clinched the TCA Manufacturer Championship over Kia, Honda, and Nissan.
- There is no TCB Manufacturer Championship.
- Driver Championships:
- TC — Patrick Gallagher is the leading Mazda racer in TC. Gallagher sits third in points but will score double points this weekend as he did not compete at Lime Rock.
- TCA — Elivan Goulart, who has scored five wins in TCA, leads fellow Mazda racers Joey Bickers, Eric Powell, Matthew Fassnacht and Kevin Anderson for a Mazda 1-2-3-4-5 in the driver championship.
- TCB — Three Mazda racers are in the top-six in points, led by 16-year old rookie Henry Morse. Morse is just 13 points behind the TCB leader.
- Team Championships:
- TC – BERG Racing is the highest ranked Mazda team, currently third in team points.
- TCA – S.A.C. Racing leads Tech Sport Racing and the Atlanta Motorsports Group for a Mazda 1-2-3 with two races remaining.
- TCB – With four race wins, Hale Motorsports leads the TCB team championship.
- The Touring Car races will take place on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. PT and Sunday at 8:45 a.m. PT. The races can be viewed live at world-challenge.com
- Some of the Mazda racers will be stopping in at the SPCA for Monterey County, directly across the highway from Mazda Raceway, at 3:30 p.m. PT on Thursday, October 6. This has been an ongoing partnership between Mazda and the SPCA and has resulted in over $100,000 in donations to help provide shelter for homeless animals.
MAZDA ENTRIES AT MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA
| Car # (Class) Driver/Hometown | Team/Car/Sponsor | |
| # 5 (TC) | John A Weisberg | BERG Racing Mazda MX-5 Power Brake / REDCOM / |
| Webster, NY | Red Line Oil / Powerflex / Mann’s / MCS | |
| # 9 (TCA) | Forest Landy | Atlanta Motorsports Group |
| Great Falls, VA | Excitations.com | |
| # 14 (TCB) | Henry Morse | Hale Motorsports Mazda2 |
| Redondo Beach, CA | MorseGPS powered by CalAmp / Rolling Hills Prep School | |
| # 16 (TCA) | Jay Salinsky | BERG Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup |
| Miami, FL | Fuse Lenses/Regenexx Cayman/Red Line Oil/REDCOM | |
| # 17 (TC) | Randy Hale | Hale Motorsports Mazda MX-5 |
| Haddam, CT | TransAero, Inc | |
| # 21 (TCA) | Perry Richardson | Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup |
| Los Gatos, CA | ||
| # 22 (TCA) | Warren Dexter | Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup |
| Central City, NE | Tech Sport Racing COTA | |
| # 23 (TCA) | Eric Powell | Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup |
| Orlando, FL | Tech Sport Racing | |
| # 33 (TC) | Adam Poland | Doghouse Performance Mazda MX-5 |
| Ft. Worth, TX | Edge Addicts | |
| # 36 (TCA) | Daniel Williams | S.A.C Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup |
| Scottsbluff, NE | Daniel Williams | |
| # 48 (TCA) | Mason Filippi | Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5 Cup |
| Alamo, CA | ||
| # 49 (TCA) | Joey Bickers | Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5 Cup |
| Moorpark, CA | ||
| # 50 (TC) | Dinah Weisberg | BERG Racing Mazda MX-5 |
| Webster NY | REDCOM Laboratories/Red Line Oil/Power Brake | |
| # 54 (TC) | Patrick Gallagher | Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5 |
| Thornville, OH | Howard Concrete Pumping | |
| # 55 (TCB) | James Wilson | Black Armor Helmets Mazda 2 |
| Kyle, TX | Black Armor Helmets | |
| # 65 (TCB) | Will Rodgers | Hale Motorsports Mazda2 |
| Murrieta, CA | Solvang Brewing Co. / Kelly Benefit Strategies / Family 1 | |
| # 68 (TCB) | Ted Hough | Breathless Racing Mazda 2 |
| Farmington, MN | ||
| # 69 (TC) | Anthony Geraci | S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5 |
| Glen Head, NY | S.A.C. Racing / European Granite & Marble Group, Inc. | |
| # 70 (TCA) | Elivan Goulart | S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup |
| Shelton, CT | S.A.C. Racing / SCDA1.com | |
| # 73 (TC) | Daniel Moen | S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5 |
| Rindge, NH | S.A.C. Racing | |
| # 74 (TCA) | Matthew Fassnacht | S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup |
| Madison, NJ | S.A.C. Racing / Equity Residences |
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
