Opinions & Editorials
My Mazda Motorsport Wish List
By By: Chris Stutters
Aug 17, 2004, 06:47

As Mazda grows again in the US and brings new cars to the market, it would be nice to see them move into some of the motorsport events that made them famous in the ‘80s and ‘90s. And even branch into to new areas with some of the newer cars.

The World Rally Championship has been gaining in popularity in the US and Mazda used to have a nice little car in the 323 4wd that won three races in the World Rally Championship back in the ‘80s. The little 323 spawned some nice streetcars in the GTX and GT-R models. However, times have changed. Mazda has evolved the 323 into the Mazda3 and even Mazda has said it carries the heritage of the 323 and the Protegé.

It would be nice to see a WRC Mazda3 running. It shouldn’t be too difficult. After all, the Protegé still had all-wheel drive over in Japan as the Familia up until it was discontinued to make room for the Mazda3. What better way to test a new all-wheel drive system than in a WRC effort with the Mazda3 wagon?

However, rallying isn’t the only place Mazda has made a showing. In the US they have run the Protegé in the SPEED World Challenge, and they have done fairly well. The Mazda6 will be replacing the Protegé this season, hopefully at Sonoma. I wish Mazda would branch out and move to the new World Touring Car Challenge (formerly the ETCC).

The Mazda6 would make a nice competitor there too, but from what I understand those cars are getting smaller. So, maybe a Mazda3 sedan would fit in well. And with a potent 2.3liter development program (something that could be shared with a WRC effort) it could be a competitive car. And it would be fun to see a Mazda3 duke it out with its Ford cousin the Focus in that series.

Since I am on the road racing idea, why not go for the big show and make another run for the 24 hours of Le Mans? Mazda won it in 1991 with the 787B. The rotary has come a long way since then in the RX-8. Plus, Mazda has been working on alternative fuels for running in the current version of the rotary. Once again, it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for Mazda to make the RENSIS into a potent four rotor and make it competitive, powerful and fuel-efficient in a prototype chassis. It would be nice to see the only Japanese manufacturer to have the big enduro to come back and make a run for overall victory again. With the ALMS, it would be more cost effective as they could race the car more than once and have it competitive after a season there.

But, Mazda wouldn’t even have to go to full out like that. Even making a run in the ALMS with an RX-8 would be neat. The RX-7 did well in the old IMSA series, so why can’t the RX-8 make a good run? It would be nice to give those Porsches a run for their money in the GT class.

I like the idea that Mazda is starting to get into things in the US again. They have some RX-8s running in Grand Am, along with a Protegé 5 and hopefully soon a Mazdaspeed Protegé. They’ve been doing well with the Protegé in the SWC, and hopefully that will lead to a successful program with the Mazda6. But, I wish Mazda would get back into the big series that made them famous not so long ago.

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