Mazda Targeting Customer DPi Program

Mazda RT24-P

Mazda Motorsports Director John Doonan told sportscar365 of ambitions of offering the Mazda RT24-P to customer teams in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, potentially by as early as the end of next year.

“My goal is to show some reliability in the engine front and then I’d love to see the opportunity to run customers down the road," Doonan told Sportscar365.

“I don’t know if it will be during this season or 2018, but everything Mazda does from grassroots-up is customer-based and that’s what I’d love to see us do."

Doonan said Mazda’s 2017-spec MZ-2.0T engine, which made its on-track debut in Tuesday’s IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona, features updates focused largely on improving reliability.

“Assuming everything works out, we could put forth a reliable, competitive and championship-winning package, then I’d be real comfortable [providing customer cars]" Doonan added.