First 2014 Mazda Motorsports Champions Crowned

With involvement in over a dozen series, late summer and fall are a busy time for races and award dinners for Mazda Motorsports.  This past weekend saw the 2014 season finales for the three Mazda Road to Indy Championships in Sonoma, California, and the clinching of the Cooper Tires IMSA Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda title at VIRginia International Raceway. 

“When Mazda established the MAZADSPEED Motorsports Development Ladder System in 2006, we were seeking to grow the sport by allowing talent to move to the next level.  We’re happy to celebrate the success of Florian, Spencer, Gabby, and Mikhail this season with more championships coming this fall,” noted John Doonan, Director of Motorsports for Mazda North American Operations. 

The Mazda Road to Indy consists of three championships, each a stepping stone on the way to competing in the Verizon IndyCar Championship and the Indy 500.  All three championships concluded with a doubleheader weekend at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California.

  • Florian Latrobbe won the 2014 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda.
  • Spencer Pigot won the 2014 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.
  • Gabby Chaves won the 2014 Cooper Tires Indy Lights Championship. 

Mikhail Goikhberg clinched the 2014 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda title at VIRginia International Raceway with his seventh win of the year. Goikhberg will be officially crowned when the series wraps up at Road Atlanta as a part of the Petit Le Mans week. 

After ten of 12 races completed, Kenton Koch leads the 2014 Mazda MX-5 Cup Championship.  Drake Kemper is the points leader in the Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Pro Challenge Class.  The season concludes with a doubleheader at Road Atlanta as a part of the Petit Le Mans week. 

This coming weekend will be the first of four large grassroots championships.

  • The Eastern States NASA Championships are August 29-31 at Road Atlanta.
  • The SCCA Solo Championships will be held September 1-5 in Lincoln Nebraska.  Mazda racers have scored 213 Solo Championships since 1979. 
  • The largest and most historic annual club racing event will be even more Mazda-esque this year.  The 51st annual SCCA National Championship Runoffs will be held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on October 6-12.  This is the first time since 1968 the event has been held on the West Coast.  Over 120 Mazda racers will be competing in 15 of the 27 race groups.
  • The Western States NASA Championships are scheduled for November 7-9 at Sonoma Raceway 

In the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, The Mazda SKYACTIV Prototype continues to develop in its first season of competition.  The final two races of the season are September 20 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and the season finale Petit Le Mans on October 4 at Road Atlanta. 

In the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Mazda remains locked in a three-way battle with Porsche and BMW for the 2014 Street Tuner Manufacturers championship.  Mazda is represented by Freedom Autosport and CJ Wilson Racing.  The final two races of the season are September 20 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and October 3 at Road Atlanta. 

In the Pirelli World Challenge, Mazda has been represented by multiple racers in the Touring Car, and Touring Car A classes with Adam Poland and Ernie Francis Jr. both scoring wins with MX-5s.  The World Challenge season will conclude on September 13 at the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. 

Finally, in a new twist for Mazda Motorsports, simulator racing plays a part with the creation of the iRacing MX-5 Cup.  The first champion was Evan Maillard, while the second champion will be determined on October 20.

Adam Sinclair