Two Top Fives at Long Beach!

Holding down 2nd in the opening laps!

After a busy week of traveling abroad with the Friends of MX-5 event in Barcelona, I was ready to get back at it in the Mazda Prototype at Long Beach. The Long Beach Grand Prix is an historic event, and it’s a really intense environment for endurance sports car racing because it’s the shortest event of the year at 100 minutes. It’s really just a flat out sprint race!

We knew from our previous experiences there that the track surface is really bumpy, which is not the most ideal situation for the P2-style chassis. But through hard work from the team with simulation and development, we arrived with an improved package that we hoped would be competitive.

After the first practice, we saw that certainly was the case, with Mazda leading practice for the first time in this program’s history. Qualifying was nothing less than exciting with a stack-up in the hairpin, where it’s nearly impossible for drivers to see around the corner – it’s a 25mph U-turn! With just minutes remaining in the qualifying session, the green flag waved again and we were off for a one-time flyer to fight for a better starting position. The lap worked out and we managed to grab third place in our No. 70 Mazda, which is my best qualifying to date in that car. Getting a second-row starting position was a satisfying result and gave the team great momentum and encouragement.

Running nose-to-tail…

We all figured it was going to be an interesting start, and our intuition was correct as the front row had some contact, which allowed us to slip through to second place. Maintaining second through the opening stages of the race was very intense and exciting, and it was like doing one qualifying lap after another because of the pace. Traffic was an extra factor on that circuit, too. I definitely learned a couple of lessons throughout my opening stint about navigating traffic and exchanging positions with the other prototypes.

…while leading laps thanks to a great fuel strategy.

We were able to outlast the competition on fuel mileage and took the lead, with Mazdas going one-two for several laps before making our pit stop.

As the race came to the closing stages and the leaders cycled through, we found ourselves on the heels of a podium position. Our No. 70 Mazda finished fourth and the No. 55 was fifth, which is the best result in the program’s history. We’re certainly excited about that, but it definitely leaves us hungry for more when we go to Mazda’s home track of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in two weeks.

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Simulating Sebring

Sebring race week is here, and this will be the third time our SpeedSource Mazda Prototype has competed at the 12 Hours of Sebring. It’s such an exciting chance to race in the beautiful spring weather in sunny Florida. We’re also excited about the pace that we had in Daytona, along with the time we’ve had to continue developing our new engine package, the MZ2.0T.

Also new for Sebring this year will be our co-driver Keiko Ihara from Japan; she will be the first female driver with our program. Keiko is a very experienced sports car driver and has competed in the World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of LeMans. She is also an advocate of the FIA Women in Motorsports Commission, which Mazda Japan supports. You can read more about Keiko in this announcement from Mazda Motorsports.

To help Keiko get more comfortable with both our Mazda Prototype and Sebring, we were fortunate enough to utilize the “DIL” simulator owned by our technical partner and chassis supplier, Multimatic. The simulator is at their training center in Toronto, and it is state-of-the-art, allowing drivers to get the most realistic experience possible without actually being in the car at the track!

The simulator includes math models that characterize proper grip levels of the track, tires, and any other setup changes that a team might make, such as spring rate, damper changes and even preload and differential adjustments.

After two days of rigorous testing, we traveled to the SpeedSource shop, where we created the proper seat inserts to make all of the drivers comfortable – there is a one-foot difference between the tallest and the shortest drivers in our No. 70 Mazda!

A tremendous amount of preparation has gone into both this opportunity for Keiko and the upcoming race. I know the team is excited about the race, and I’m looking forward to making my third 12 Hours of Sebring start! Be sure to tune in to Fox Sports 1 or IMSA.tv Saturday morning at 10:30 for race coverage.

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A Look Back at the 2015 Season

The 2015 season has been a great –and busy – one for me. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for: I was fortunate to be involved in a lot of motorsport activities, including the factory Mazda Prototype program with SpeedSource, being a development driver for the Mazda Global MX-5 Cup car, and a lot of fun and unique driver coaching opportunities.

The racing this season in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with SpeedSource and the factory Mazda Prototype program was intense and exciting, and it was another season of both development for Mazda’s road car engines and teambuilding for the much-anticipated 2016 season.

We had a lot of exciting moments throughout the year, starting at Daytona, where I was fortunate enough to be the driver in the car for Mazda’s first overall lead at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. It was also the first time in Daytona’s history that a diesel-powered car had led the race!

This season also saw the team’s first top-five Prototype finish for the diesel program, which happened at Watkins Glen. Certainly SpeedSource is accustomed to winning races and championships, and we’re excited about the 2016 season ahead and all the potential of the new package we’ve been testing.

This year was also my first opportunity to be a development driver on such a grand scale as the Mazda Global MX-5 Cup program. We had a fantastic and reliable platform from the beginning, which made the process so enjoyable. After all of the simulation testing and on-track miles, we’re really pleased with the final result.

Just recently, the Mazda Road To 24 Shootout participants had the opportunity to be the first competitors in the new car. Congratulations to Glenn McGee on being the winner in the closest competition in Shootout history – he’ll have a $100,000 scholarship for the 2016 Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup Championship.

The next step for the MX-5 will be its toughest test yet: Robert Davis Racing (RDR) will run a fleet of four of the new cars at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill this weekend. They are the first four production cars to come off the assembly line at Long Road Racing. You can follow their progress in the race at MazdaLIVE.com.

Coaching Ashton at the SIC at Roebling.

One of my passions is the opportunity to coach drivers, whether they are developing a racing career or simply driving enthusiasts who want to hone their skills. My clients, many of whom I’ve mentioned on this blog throughout 2015, come from different backgrounds and have different goals, and it’s been an exciting opportunity to work with them all year. I’m looking forward to continued success for them in the upcoming season!

2016 is shaping up to be another exciting season for me. I look forward to bringing you all of the updates here, so stay tuned!

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Daytona Test and a Happy Thanksgiving

Our Mazda prototype had crossed French and American flags in tribute to those lost in the Paris attacks.

The off-season is a busy time for testing, and last week we had one of our SpeedSource Mazda Prototypes at Daytona International Speedway to further develop the program going into 2016. It was exciting because not only was it my first time getting to drive the new gas-powered engine we’ve been testing, but we also had Spencer Pigot, who is the 2015 Indy Lights Mazda Road To Indy champion, joining us for his first time behind the wheel of the Mazda Prototype.

My initial impressions of the engine were incredible. The car is a lot of fun to drive and it’s really gotten us excited for the 2016 IMSA season! Just like any development that we do, teething and fine-tuning are always critical components to a successful program. Of course, SpeedSource always rises to the challenge when it comes to development.

With the winter ahead, the SpeedSource team will be hard at work doing further development as we approach the Roar Before the 24 test days at Daytona, which will be here before we know it. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving! I certainly have a lot to be thankful for!

Watch Sylvain Tremblay talk about the new car to Racer, and ride onboard for a lap of Daytona with Tristan Nunez.

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Prototype Progress in Canada

Mazda has continued to make progress with the SKYACTIV-D prototype, and we got our best result of the season with sixth this past weekend.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport) is a curvy, fast-flowing, handling type circuit, which suits the LMP2-type cars, rather than a track that’s better for Daytona Prototypes. Getting to drive the car at Watkins Glen in a high-downforce environment was a good buildup because Mosport is even more of a high-downforce track. You don’t even touch the brakes until turn three, so it feels like you’re defying the laws of physics.

We had a really smooth couple of days in practice and qualifying, and it’s too bad our No. 70 couldn’t capitalize on that in the race. We ran every lap of practice, so we got a lot of valuable track time and the car ran really well. These were the most well-balanced, mechanically strong cars we’ve had all season.

It was another personal growth weekend for me because I’m learning to trust the car’s high-speed downforce capability even further. It’s an incredible feeling coming down the back straight and turning into turn 8 flat out, only touching the brakes as the corner tightens up. For comparison: in an ST car, you brush the brakes and downshift.

Overall, a top finish for the team was great, even if it wasn’t our car up there in sixth! We beat our projected best lap times, so we did accomplish quite a bit, and we can really see the hard work turning into forward progress.

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From an MX-5 to a Prototype at Mosport

I’m really excited to get back to Canada for some racing this season. I’ve had a lot of success at some of the other Canadian tracks in recent years, like at Trois-Rivieres in Quebec, but I haven’t been to Mosport in Ontario since 2008. That was Freedom Autosport’s first year in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Series, back when it was called KONI Challenge!

Prior to that, my first visit to the track was in 2005 with the MX-5 Cup Series. In fact, every time I’ve been there, it’s been in a Mazda. Mosport is such a fast, daunting track that it demands a lot of respect and gets your attention. I think racing there this weekend in the Mazda SKYACTIV-D prototype is going to be a much-welcomed eye-opener. The fastest car I’ve driven at Mosport had a couple hundred horsepower, and now, the prototype has double that plus far greater top speed and downforce.

I’m doing my homework by reviewing data and videos from previous years: prototype lap times are impressive there – just over one minute to cover the 2.5 miles – so it gives us an idea of the lap times we need to aim for. With the track’s speed, the elevation changes and the history of the circuit, it’s exciting to think about getting back there for this weekend’s event.

Follow me on Twitter at @TomLongRacing to keep up with this weekend’s race! Check out the event page to get details and watch the race live on Fox Sports 1 at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.

 

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Racing a Mazda Prototype in 2014!

Mazdaspeed Motorsports announced some really exciting news today during the Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway. Read the press release below, or click here to check out the article at sportscar365.com. I’ll post about our weekend at Daytona in a few days! 

Mazda Ready to Roar at TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Test — Mazda Announces Driver Line-up and Talks Specs 

January 4, 2014 (DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.) — Mazda has long believed in promoting from within, including filling those rare ‘factory team’ driver slots. Mazda Motorsports will field a pair of factory-backed SKYACTIV Technology-powered prototypes in the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Behind the wheel will be the four drivers who delivered nine race wins and the 2013 Grand-Am GX Manufacturers Championship for Mazda. Sylvain Tremblay and Tom Long will share the #70 car while Joel Miller and Tristan Nunez will co-pilot the #07. The team took their first public laps at the annual pre-season “Roar Before the 24” test at Daytona International Speedway yesterday. The test concludes tomorrow with the season opening Rolex 24 Hour race on January 25-26. 

“There is no shortage of great racing talent in America”, noted John Doonan, Director of Motorsports for Mazda North American Operations. “The decision for this year was relatively simple though as our 2013 line-up excelled both on and off the track. Sylvain, Tom, Joel, and Tristan are all talented behind the wheel, but just as importantly, they act as a true team, supporting everyone at Mazda and SpeedSource. Our objective is to demonstrate Mazda SKYACTIV Technology to both hardcore racing fans and the mainstream public. With so many changes in 2014, including the new series itself, there will be a steep learning curve for everyone and we needed the best students in the sport. We’ll announce our third drivers for the Rolex 24 at a later date, but rest assured they all fit the same mold of being team thinkers and both will have Mazda heritage in their blood.” 

As part of its challenger frame of mind, Mazda is the only car company racing in the TUDOR Championship with a diesel engine. The SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel race engine is a true production-based engine and a carry-over from the development work done with the Mazda6 GX-class racing cars. The engine is 51 percent stock by parts count, and 63 percent stock by weight. Mazda chose this path as it is the most honest way to demonstrate the performance, quality, durability and reliability of Mazda powerplants. 

2014 Mazda Prototype Specifications
Engine Displacement: 2,191 cc (133.7 in3)
Bore x Stroke: 86.0 mm x 94.3 mm (3.39 in x 3.71 in)
Engine Weight: 143 kg (315 lbs)
Horsepower: 336 kW (450 bhp)
Torque: 786 Nm (580 lb-ft)
Max. Engine Speed: 5,200 rpm
Engine Block: Production Mazda SKYACTIV (Aluminum)
Camshaft: Dual Overhead
Valves: Four Valves Per Cylinder
Cylinder Head: Production Mazda SKYACTIV (Aluminum)
Valve Train Components: Production Mazda SKYACTIV
Pistons: Mahle (Steel)
Connecting Rods: Carillo Forged Alloy (Steel)
Crankshaft: Pankl Alloy (Steel)
ECU: Bosch Motorsport MS 15.2
Intake Manifold: SpeedSource Race Engineering
Exhaust Manifold: SpeedSource Race Engineering
Turbo and Wastegate: Garrett Motorsports, air-to-air Intercooler, Tial wastegate
Fuel Injectors and Pump: Bosch Motorsport
Fuel Rail: Bosch Motorsport
Oiling System: SpeedSource Race Engineering
Cooling System: SpeedSource Race Engineering
Transmission: Xtrac 6-speed sequential with paddle shifters
Chassis: Carbon-fiber monocoque coupe
Weight: 900 kgs (1984 lbs) – Without driver or fuel
Length: 4,634 mm (182.4 in)
Width: 1,990 mm (78.3 in)
Wheelbase: 2,890 mm (113.8 in)
Top speed: Approximately 300 kph (186 mph) — in Daytona aero trim
Brakes: AP carbon drilled discs
Suspension: Independent double A-arms
Tires: Continental Extreme Contact 
Front: 320/650/R18
Rear: 325/710/R18
Wheels: Motegi EVO 14 Technomesh, Forged Aluminum
Fuel: Dynamic Fuels Renewable Diesel
Fuel Capacity: 73 liters (19.3 gallons)

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