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It’s been a while since we’ve written about Mazda Motorsports. We have some really exciting news to share with all of you! Olly Jarvis, the Number 77 Mazda RT24-P driver broke a long standing record at Daytona International Speedway! Keep reading to learn more! more Qualification Rounds During the qualification rounds at Daytona International Speedway for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Olly Jarvis went around the track faster than any other car in history! Jarvis earned the pole position and broke a 26 year old course record for the 3.56 mile road course. How amazing is that? Record Time Jarvis broke the record on his fourth lap with a time of 1:33:685. That broke the record of 1:33:875. He held that time to the end of session. Jonathan Bomarito is the driver for the number 55 Castrol Mazda RT24-P. His time was 1:34:212 which earned him fourth position. Pole Position Jarvis’ time made this the first overall pole position in Mazda Motorsport history at the Rolex 24 in Daytona. It was also the first pole position in IMSA for Jarvis, as well as for the Mazda RT24-P. Beginning forty years ago with a 1-2 finish for the Mazda RX-7 in the GTU class, Mazda has earned 22 class wins. Proud Achievement Here’s a quote from John Doonan, Director of Mazda Motorsports: “Everyone at Mazda is appreciative of IMSA to give us the chance to showcase our brand here in this championship. It’s been a good month. The Roar was good and today was good, but this weekend is what it’s all about and we hope that it can be a great end to what has been a good month. Everyone involved with Mazda Team Joest – Multimatic, AER, and these drivers – have been absolutely non-stop and we are very, very proud of the results we are seeing from their effort. All that effort has resulted in Mazda’s first pole position at this race. We have been in touch with the Gurney family since we unofficially went under the track record at the Roar Before the 24, and we are really pleased to honor them with this track record.”

Mazda Motorsports Update Do you follow Mazda Motorsports? If not, you're really missing out on some awesome racing. Keep reading for all the details about the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Championships! more 2017 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Championships The season is already half over for the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Championships. The Mazda team racers are off to a really strong start. Making its debut in the TCA class (Touring Car A) is the fourth generation MX-5 race car. Already it has achieved five wins in the first six races. All total, the Mazda team claimed 16 out of 18 podium positions thus far in the TCA class. They are also the leading drivers, team and manufacturers championships just after six of 12 races. Racing Teams Setting the pace are S.A.C Racing teammates Elivan Goulart and Matt Fassnacht. Dean Copeland from Copeland Motorsports and Eric Powell from Tech Sport Racing are quickly closing the gap. Having opened the season with an ideal birthday weekend at VIR, Fassnacht scored two pole positions and two wins. By doing that, he took the early points lead. After that, he scored a second and third places for a grand total of six podium finishes in the first six races. Goulart, who is the defending TCA Champion, completed races in second, fourth, second and second places before obtaining two wins at Lime Rock Park. He's also the points leader among all the racers. Copeland won at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Powell has two podium finishes and hasn't been lower than sixth place in any race. “Thanks to all of the Mazda teams for a great start to 2017.  Seeing the Global Cup car debut in PWC has been a fantastic addition for our customers,” said David Cook, business development manager, Mazda Motorsports. “We expect a great battle for the championship in the second half of the year and can’t wait to see who will be crowned as champion when we get to Mazda Raceway in October.” Remaining Schedule The Remaining 2017 Pirelli World Challenge (TC/TCA/TCB) Race Schedule: Aug 11-13 – Utah Motorsports Campus – Tooele, Utah Sept 1-3 – Circuit of the Americas – Austin, Texas Oct 13-15 – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – Monterey, California Each event is a double-header, with two races per weekend, for a 12-race season. Visit Beach Mazda Beach Mazda is happy to provide the very best Mazda Motorsports updates. We may not have race cars on the lot, but we do have some seriously awesome Mazda vehicles. Keep checking back for more updates soon!

3 rd Annual Touge California rally How about some more Mazda racing news? Mazda just announced that, once again, it’s partnering with Japanese Nostalgic Car to sponsor the 3 rd annual Touge California rally. That’s pretty cool! Japanese Nostalgic Car is the largest U.S. based online magazine. It covers vintage cars and Japanese automotive culture. This will be the 2 nd year Mazda is the title sponsor. This sounds like a really cool event! more Rotary Engine This year’s event will honor the 50 th anniversary of Mazda’s very first sports car. Do you know what car is it? The Cosmo Sport 110S, powered by a Wankel rotary engine. Much like it does today, Mazda used the knowledge of its engineers to develop distinctive technologies that set Mazda apart from the rest of the automotive field. Mazda is known for its rotary engines, of course. But, back in the 60s, other vehicle manufacturers held patents to build a rotary engine. Fortunately for Mazda, none of the other automakers were ever successful in making the technology work. Mazda has, time after time, challenged regular thinking. Vintage Vehicles The determined spirit of innovation will be on display on July 15 th in Southern California. The Touge California acts as host to vintage Japanese vehicles from across the United States. Several vintage vehicles from Mazda’s own Heritage Collection will also be present. “We created Touge California three years ago to provide a Mille Miglia-style road rally for owners of Japanese cars,” said Ben Hsu, founder and editor of Japanese Nostalgic Car. “Our focus was to embrace and celebrate the cars we might have grown up with or may have been forbidden fruit, growing to legendary status in their Japanese home market.” “Touge” (toe-geh) is a Japanese word meaning “Mountain Pass”, synonymous with the spirited driving styles adopted throughout hilly Japanese expanses. Fun Event It sure does sound like this is going to be a seriously fun event. All of us here at Beach Mazda are looking forward to hearing all about it! Stay tuned for more great Mazda racing info, of course. IN the meantime, stop by Beach Mazda. We have a terrific selection and brand new and pre-owned Mazdas on the lot. Definitely, give us a call today. Sooner or later, you're going to want a Mazda for yourself!

Mazda Motorsports Update Here's some pretty awesome Mazda Motorsports racing news! Thanks to Mazda driver development scholarships, two young men will have the opportunity to race for Cape Motorsports. They will drive Mazda Soul Red cars. It's not often that we get to write about Mazda Motorsports. This is some pretty terrific news! more Anthony Martin Anthony Martin, 22, of Kalgoorlie, Australia, makes his Pro Mazda debut this year after a six-win season earned him last year’s USF2000 championship. Martin won the title with Cape, and will stay with the team for the next step of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder. Looks like he's headed to the top! Oliver Askew Oliver Askew, 20, of Jupiter, Fla., began racing karts at age seven. He burst upon the open-wheel racing scene last year being selected for the Team USA Scholarship. He utilized that scholarship in order to finish 2nd in the prestigious Walter Hayes Trophy Grand Finale at Silverstone, England. The Team USA honor also qualified him for the $200,000 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout, a competition among championship-winning drivers from around the world. Askew won the event, thus earning a Mazda scholarship for his first full season in the USF2000 series. Success “The success of the $200,000 Mazda Road to Indy Shoot-out was way beyond our expectations,” said Mazda’s Doonan. “We knew we were breaking new ground by bringing drivers from all over the world and that it would be good… but it turned out to be fantastic. Everyone at Mazda was blown away by it, and especially Oliver. “We’re proud to welcome him to the Mazda family. With the new Tatuus USF-17 chassis debuting, the 2017 season is very much up for grabs, but by choosing to compete with Cape Motorsports, Oliver has put himself in a position for early success. Based on nearly three dozen of the new USF-17 cars being sold, the entire Mazda Road to Indy is in for a real treat in this championship.” “It is a great honor to have both scholarship drivers compete on behalf of Cape Motorsports,” Dominic Cape said. “The support that Mazda gives young drivers is truly remarkable, and we would like to thank Mazda and John Doonan for establishing the scholarship programs. There is nothing quite like this anywhere in the world.” Mazda Motorsports Mazda Motorsports has the most comprehensive auto racing development ladder system of any auto manufacturer in the world. The Mazda Road to 24 program offers a number of scholarships. The Mazda Road to Indy is a similar program that includes Mazda-powered categories of USF2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights. Did you know that more Mazdas race on any given weekend in North America than any other manufacturer? Mazda is the title sponsor of the renowned Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, as well. Follow all of the latest news at MazdaMotorsports.com, @MazdaRacing on Twitter, and MazdaMotorsports on Instagram and Facebook. Call Beach Mazda You can also check back here on the Beach Mazda Blog for all sorts of updates. Interested in learning more about Mazda's awesome vehicle line up? By all means, give us a call today! We may not carry any Mazda race cars, but we can definitely help you get behind the wheel of your own awesome Mazda vehicle! Mazda's MX-5 Miata may be just what you're looking for! Give Beach Mazda a call today before you miss out!

It’s pretty well known that Mazda offers some pretty cool cars for the road. But, are you aware of the long Mazda racing history? more Mazda Racing: It all began way back in 1968 when two Mazda Cosmo 110 Sport Coupes were entered into the grueling 84-hour Marathon de la Route at the Nurburgring in Germany. The two Cosmo Coupes were running in fourth and fifth places in a field of sixty total race cars. In the 82nd hour, on Cosmo was damaged. The remaining Mazda Cosmo continued on to finish the race in a very respectable 4th place. It was only out-raced by pair of Porsche 911s and a Lancia Fulvia. It was an incredible feat  against the established opposition. At this point, the world knew the rotary engine had made its mark. Ten years later, in 1978, the Mazda RX-7 was born. It was quickly embraced by the motor racing community. Seeing its potential, Scottish racer Tom Walkinshaw entered the RX-7 into the extremely competitive British Touring Car Championship. With driver Win Percy at the wheel, the Tom Walkinshaw Racing Teach was victorious. They won the championship in both 1980 and again in 1981. What was even more impressive was the outright win in the 1981 Spa 24 Hours, driven by Pierre Dieudonne and Walkinshaw himself. In 1983, Mazda brought the racing team from Tokyo back to its headquarters in Hiroshima. This was done in an effort to help Mazda’s factory racing endeavors. It was also here that MAZDASPEED was created. The Mazda RX-7 was even more successful in the IMSA racing series. It took the top two spots in the GTU class on its 2nd outing in the Daytona 24 Hours in 1979. In response, the IMSA required the RX7s to carry extra weight. This caused them to miss the championship. However, when IMSA reversed its decision, Mazda won the manufacturers’ title in 1980. This turned out to be the beginning of a long period of dominance. This dominance even extended to the more powerful GTO class. By 1990, the RX-7 had won over 100 races. It had become the successful car in IMSA GT Championship history. Mazda is the only Japanese automaker to ever take overall victory in the Le Mans 24 Hour race. This happened in 1991 and is all thanks to the astounding Group C Mazda 787B. Two other Mazda teams also finished in the top 10 that year. The Group C cars were the fastest ever to race at Le Mans. Unfortunately, there was a change in racing regulations and rotary engines were banned from competing there. Unable to race Mazda's trademark rotary engine in the world's most renowned racing venue, MAZDASPEED began to focus on the business of motorsports. It began to develop and create aftermarket parts and accessories. In 1999, Mazda Motor Corporation took full control of MAZDASPEED. Since then, it has used its expertise to provide racing parts. It has also served as an umbrella for all of Mazda's motorsports activities. The natural extension of this was to serve the Mazda street enthusiast as well. MAZDASPEED has done just this with the enlargement of its parts catalog and now the introduction of MAZDASPEED -factory-engineered models sold in Mazda showrooms. Regular everyday drivers now have the ability to experience MAZDASPEED and Mazda racing for themselves. Mazda vehicles like the MAZDA6 and the MAZDA3, it’s unmistakable that Mazda creates their vehicles with the heart of a sports car its core. If you want to test drive a new Mazda vehicle and feel that same Mazda racing power, give Beach Mazda a call today!