Mazda Motor Corp. said one of its diesel-powered Mazda6 sedans won the Rolex Grand-Am GX race at the Road Atlanta race track. The GX class is a new category in Grand-Am racing in which showroom-style cars compete with relatively few modifications.
GX cars also showcase new technological developments that often make
their way into road cars, making the class especially interesting for
tech-minded racing fans. Mazda’s win reflects advances across the auto
industry that have turned once-sluggish diesel engines
into high-performance power plants.
The first-place Mazda was powered by a turbocharged diesel engine based
on the one used in the production diesel Mazda6. Mazda said its car is
the first diesel to win a Grand-Am event. The #00 car, sponsored by
Visit Florida, took first place and a similar Mazda finished in third.
Second place went to a Porsche Cayman.
While we don’t typically associate diesel sedans with racing, Mazda was
far from an underdog in the Grand-Am event. The company has been
developing the Mazda6 racer for years and has a long history of success
on the track, from an overall win at the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1991
to decades of competing with its road cars in numerous Sports Car Club
of America classes
.
Courtesy of Wall Street Journal Blogs.
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