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    Categories: ChampionshipsRacing

Mazda Motorsports: 2016 Pirelli World Challenge Season Preview

Mazda Motorsports © Mazda Motor Corporation

Twenty-four Mazda race cars are ready for the season opening rounds of the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, on March 3-5. Independent Mazda racers will be challenging for drivers championships in the Touring Car (TC), Touring Car A (TCA) and Touring Car B (TCB) classes.

John Doonan, director of motorsports, Mazda North American Operations said, “Thanks to great customer support, our Mazda entries have doubled since last year. With the launch of our new Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires, for the fourth generation MX-5, the TCA class looks to be the ideal place to race the third-generation MX-5 Cup cars.”

Notes from the Mazda paddock include:

  • With 24 entries in the three touring car classes, Mazda outnumbers competitors BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Kia, Mini, Nissan and Porsche.
  • 2015 PWC race winners Ernie Francis Jr., Adam Poland and Joey Jordan are returning, each with an eye on the TC Drivers Championship.
  • Adam Poland and his family team have moved their shop to Dallas and have rebranded the EASTex Motorsports team as Doghouse Performance.
  • Led by the husband-and-wife team of John and Dinah Weisberg, BERG Racing has grown to a three-car effort with the addition of driver Dr. Jay Salinsky.
  • Former PWC TC Championship-winning team Atlanta Motorsports Group returns to the series full-time for 2016 with former Mazda Road to 24 Shootout winners Joey Bickers and Patrick Gallagher in the TCA class.
  • After scoring the final five TCB wins in 2015, Joey Jordan is moving up to the TC class with Hale Motorsports.
  • The youngest driver in the field will be 15-year-old rookie Henry Morse.
  • Former Teen Mazda Challenge racer Will Rodgers will be making his professional race debut with Hale Motorsports.
  • Several of the Mazda race cars at COTA will be carrying artwork for the Austin Humane Society. Thanks to Roger Beasley Mazda, the Austin Humane Society (AHS) will be raffling off a 2016 Mazda MX-5. Additionally, the AHS will have shelter staff at the track selling tickets.
  • The 2016 season will conclude at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Car # (Class) 


Driver/Hometown


Team/Car/Sponsor

# 5 (TC)


John A Weisberg


BERG Racing Mazda MX-5 Power Brake / REDCOM /


 

Webster, NY


Red Line Oil / Powerflex / Mann's / MCS


# 14 (TCB)


Henry Morse


Hale Motorsports Mazda2


 

Redondo Beach, CA


MorseGPS powered by CalAmp / Rolling Hills Prep School


# 16 (TCA)


Jay Salinsky


BERG Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup


 

Miami, FL


Fuse Lenses/Regenexx Cayman/Red Line Oil/REDCOM


# 17 (TC)


Randy Hale


Hale Motorsports Mazda MX-5


 

Haddam, CT


TransAero, inc


# 21 (TCA)


Drake Kemper


Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup


 

Toluca Lake, CA


Parliament Dallas


# 22 (TCA)


Kevin Anderson


Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup


 

Huntington NY


Tech Sport Racing COTA


# 23 (TCA)


Eric Powell


Tech Sport Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup


 

Orlando, FL


Tech Sport Racing


# 33 (TC)


Adam Poland


Doghouse Performance Mazda MX-5


 

Ft. Worth, TX


Edge Addicts / Majestic Pet Products


# 36 (TCA)


Daniel Williams


S.A.C racing Mazda MX-5 Cup


 

Scottsbluff, NE


Daniel Williams


# 37 (TCB)


Blake Thompson


Black Armor Helmets Mazda 2


 

Racine, WI


 

# 47 (TC)


Joey Jordan


Hale Motorsports Mazda MX-5


 

Fallbrook,CA


TransAero, inc


# 49 (TCA)


Joey Bickers


Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5 Cup


 

Moorpark, CA


 

# 50 (TC)


Dinah Weisberg


BERG Racing Mazda MX-5


 

Webster NY


REDCOM Laboratories/Red Line Oil/Power Brake


# 54 (TC)


Patrick Gallagher


Atlanta Motorsports Group Mazda MX-5


 

Thornville, OH


Howard Concrete Pumping


# 55 (TCB)


James Wilson


Black Armor Helmets Mazda 2


 

Kyle, TX


Black Armor Helmets


# 64 (TC)


Austin Snader


Snader Racing Mazda MX-5


 

Fulshear, TX


Mazdaspeed/SR Enterprises


# 65 (TCB)


Will Rodgers


Hale Motorsports Mazda2


 

Murrieta, CA


Solvang Brewing Co. / Kelly Benefit Strategies / Family 1


# 68 (TCB)


Ted Hough


Breathless Racing Mazda 2


 

Farmington, MN


 

# 69 (TC)


Anthony Geraci


S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5


 

Glen Head, NY


S.A.C. Racing / European Granite & Marble Group, Inc.


# 70 (TCA)


Elivan Goulart


S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup


 

Shelton, CT


S.A.C. Racing / SCDA1.com


# 73 (TC)


Daniel Moen


S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5


 

Rindge, NH


S.A.C. Racing


# 74 (TCA)


Matthew Fassnacht


S.A.C. Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup


 

Madison, NJ


S.A.C. Racing / Equity Residences


# 75 (TCB)


Steve Taake


Black Armor Helmets Mazda 2


 

Houston, TX


 

# 98 (TC)


Ernie Francis, Jr.


Breathless Racing Mazda MX-5


 

Dania, FL


 

 The 2016 Pirelli Wold Challenge (TC/TCA/TCB) Race Schedule: 


  

March 3-5     


Circuit of The Americas           


Austin, Texas             


May 19-22    


Canadian Tire Motorsport Park   


Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada                      


June 23-26    


Road America                               


Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin                    


July 29-30      


Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course         


Lexington, Ohio                      


Aug 12-14    


Utah Motorsports Campus             


Tooele, Utah              


Oct 7-9         


Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca      


Monterey, California


Each event is a double-header, with two races per weekend, for a 12-race season.

Steve Allen: