Quote:
Originally Posted by Maelochs
Yeah, that warehouse-engined Mazda ... lasted pretty well at Daytona. And was pretty fast.
No idea how the car will fare at Sebring ... but the chassis is proven and the engine should be up to the task. Whether the cars will be competitive, who knows?
Mazda is pretty serious about this effort ... they wouldn't have been dumping money into the cars for so many seasons if they weren't serious. Pretty sure they are already looking ahead to 2017---and they still spent a lot on this year's car. Not saying Mazda is going to sweep the series or anything, but they were on pace at Daytona.
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"Lasted pretty well..." ???
May I remind you of the achieved "Mazda" total lap counts at Daytona
2014 - 814L (DNF/445+DNF/369)
2015 - 546L (DNF/348+DNF/198)
2016 - 338L (DNF/327+DNF/11)
That reliability improvement line sure has been steady!
And 'dumping money' into cars, is that a joke? It's old camouflaged Lola with no updates or aero, and the only thing carrying Mazda name is the old engine they used in LMP1 years ago (now that the diesel has been finally dumbed for good). And the operation itself, outsourced to small Speedsource subsidiary and now seemingly also funded by amateur drivers.
That being said, I think they'll do okay later in sprint races, particularly when the field consists only of few leftover DPs, Shank and DW.