Spirit of Daytona may return with Mazda

Is a Mazda in Spirit of Daytona's future?

Spirit of Daytona Racing could make its return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with a customer Mazda DPi program reportedly currently under discussion for 2020.

Multiple sources have confirmed to Sportscar365 that the Troy Flis-owned team, which has been absent from top-level IMSA competition for more than a year, is working to field a Mazda RT24-P.

It would mark the first customer Mazda DPi, following the recent success by the Multimatic-built prototype, which enters this weekend’s round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on a three-race win streak.

Team owner Troy Flis has yet to respond to Sportscar365’s request for comment, while Mazda Motorsports director John Doonan declined to comment on any specific teams the manufacturer could be in discussions with.

Doonan, however, told Sportscar365 that there are “several interested parties at play" with the customer DPi program remaining “very fluid" at the moment.

While it’s understood a deal has not yet been finalized, a Multimatic-run endurance test at Motorland Aragon, held earlier this week, is believed to have held the dual purpose of evaluating several drivers for the program.