Yahoo Autos Mazda Readies Next-Generation MX-5 Cup Race Car
When Mazda announced its all-new fourth-generation MX-5 Miata, the first question was not whether it would race the little sports car, but where it would race it. The answer is: everywhere that involves turning left and right.
Besides ongoing support of the grassroots, Mazda is revising its MX-5 Cup semi-professional racing series to emphasize identically prepared MX-5 Miata race cars.
ALSO SEE: 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata First Drive
Previously, the spec-racing series featured MX-5s prepared to a specification by owners and teams. The result was similarly prepared cars.
The new 2016 Global MX-5 Cup instead requires cars be purchased from a designated supplier, Long Road Racing, a veteran shop near Statesville, North Carolina, north of Charlotte in the heart of NASCAR country and its extensive motorsports infrastructure.
The objective is to make the new generation of MX-5 Cup cars as closely matched as possible.
Fun for the participants is one objective of the series, but the other part is serious. Mazda Motorsports sponsors a development ladder that prepares drivers for professional racing. The Global MX-5 Cup is one step on one of two paths that lead to the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (the successor of IMSA GTP), Cooper Tires Prototype Lites, and other professional racing series. The MX-5 Cup ladder is an alternative to the traditional ladder of Formula 2000, which Mazda supports in the form of US F2000 and Pro Mazda, both co-sponsored by Cooper Tires.
