Mazda Drops Daytona Prototype

Mazda Daytona Prototype

Making its debut at the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Mazda RT24-P is the Japanese automaker’s latest campaign in the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The two-car program will be campaigned by SpeedSource Race Engineering. The drivers will be Jonathan Bomarito, Tristan Nunez, Tom Long and Joel Miller.

Mazda Daytona Prototype

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“This is a huge moment for Mazda Motorsports and the entire Mazda family,” said John Doonan, director of Mazda Motorsports North America. “To have a car which features Mazda design language at the top level of our motorsports program is meaningful for us as a brand. We believe we have the right team, the right drivers and the right chassis to win races and championships.”

The Mazda RT24-P packs a 600-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The chassis, a Riley/Multimatic designed specifically for Mazda, will wear styling that takes heavy cues from the automaker’s commercial KODO design language.

Mazda Daytona Prototype

“KODO design is at the heart of any vehicle that carries a Mazda badge, and that is very evident in the design of the 2017 prototype,” said Ken Saward, senior manager of design at Mazda Design Americas. “We considered the two main parameters of designing a successful race car for this series: aerodynamic performance and the new-for-2017 technical regulations. Working with Multimatic’s aerodynamicist and engineers, we discovered that applying the KODO design philosophy to the surfaces and the silhouette of the car enabled us to create a dynamic, purposeful-looking design and a very aerodynamically efficient one.”

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Mazda Daytona Prototype

The Mazda RT24-P will make its debut late next month at the 55th Rolex 24 at Daytona, which begins Jan. 28.