Breaking news
IMSA Daytona 24
Mazda says lessons learned despite Daytona DNFs
Mazda chiefs and drivers say that the mechanical misfortunes that struck its new RT24-Ps in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona would lead to improvements that will be implemented in time for the Sebring 12 Hour race.
David Malsher-Lopez
Edited: Jan 31, 2017, 12:10 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The #55 Mazda of Jonathan Bomarito, Tristan Nunez and Spencer Pigot suffered a radio failure that meant Pigot was penalized for an improper procedure under a full-course caution. Nonetheless it had climbed back to fifth when an oil line failure set fire to the car after 19 hours.
Meanwhile the #70 of Joel Miller, James Hinchcliffe and Tom Long sucked in some debris in the early stages, later required a new rear wing assembly after being struck from behind by the victorious Cadillac of Wayne Taylor Racing and suffered transmission failures twice. The second failure proved terminal with just half an hour of the race to go.
However, Bomarito believes the RT-24P has potential and will suit higher downforce spec.
He commented: “It was really tough race, the roughest 24 Hours that I’ve done, and that’s because of the weather. The temperatures were cool, so it wasn’t as hot in the car, but mentally, it was very taxing.
“I think we definitely learned a lot. There were a lot more positives than things we need to improve, for sure. The guys did a good job, the car ran great.
“I’m already looking forward to Sebring. Once we get to the new Continental road course tires and the higher downforce package, these Mazdas are gonna be something. The car’s great, it’s definitely a driver’s car.”
Added John Doonan, director, Mazda Motorsports of North America: “The goals were to survive until Sunday, and then to lead the last lap. Fortunately, both cars achieved the first, but we didn’t grab the second.
“We had a couple of failures that we learned a lot from. Mazda wins as a team, and we learn as a team. That’s what we need to take away from the weekend. We learned from almost 38 hours of running time with the new cars and we can take that into the next six weeks prior to the 12 Hours of Sebring, a race where Mazda has 13 class victories.
“We hope to hoist the Mazda banner at Sebring!”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Jeff Gordon’s sportscar future unclear despite Rolex win
Next article Richard Westbrook: Good start for Ford, but things can only get better
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
David Malsher-Lopez
Alex Zanardi: The man whose name is a synonym for “hero”
IndyCar
IndyCar
Alex Zanardi: The man whose name is a synonym for “hero”
Remembering Michele Alboreto: F1 ace, Le Mans winner and a good man
Formula 1
Formula 1
Remembering Michele Alboreto: F1 ace, Le Mans winner and a good man
IMSA Laguna Seca: Ganassi Cadillac holds off Porsche for victory
IMSA
IMSA
Laguna Seca
IMSA Laguna Seca: Ganassi Cadillac holds off Porsche for victory
More from
Jonathan Bomarito
Against all odds: How Mazda earned its perfect IMSA swansong
IMSA
IMSA
Road Atlanta
Against all odds: How Mazda earned its perfect IMSA swansong
Holt hails Tincknell after “best drive he’s ever given us”
IMSA
IMSA
Watkins Glen
Holt hails Tincknell after “best drive he’s ever given us”
Tincknell thrilled to win 30 years on from Mazda's LM24 victory
IMSA
IMSA
Watkins Glen
Tincknell thrilled to win 30 years on from Mazda's LM24 victory
Latest news
Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
1 h
Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 2 h
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 3 h
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 4 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe