Mazda to offer factory P2 program

It was made official today.

Utilizing the SKYACTIV-D power plant the manufacturer campaigned in the GX category of this year's Grand-Am season, and a Lola chassis, it is expected SpeedSource will campaign the car next season.

This is the first diesel entry into the new series.

“We feel that this is a great platform to run in the top category, compete for overall wins and show the world what the package is in terms of reliability, durability and quality,” Mazda Motorsports director John Doonan said. “All of those things need to be shown before we can offer customers a package that they’re comfortable with.”

The original plan for Mazda was to offer a customer LMP2 engine program, but this was put on the back burner after the North American sports car environment changed with the merger announcement.

“When the merger was announced in the U.S., I think everybody took a step back and it impacted people’s planning decisions. We were under the gun to do the Mazda6 for Daytona. We kind of put the [LMP2 project] on the back burner temporarily.

“But we’re here, we’re back. It’s a big part of the executive’s plan in the U.S. and Japan to do a customer LMP2 program.”

SpeedSource has taken delivery of two Lola B12/80 chassis, and will be doing private testing leading up to the Roar before the 24 in January.

Driver lineup has yet to be determined.