Mazda to pull plug on MRTI

[BrianT1]

https://racer.com/2018/07/31/mazda-t...y-involvement/

[problemchild]

It was a good ride!

The reality is that although hundreds chased that carrot, only a few ever tasted the carrot.

It will be interesting to see how the perception is managed, and the effect it has.
Perhaps race series with programs that cost less than 6 figures will become more relevant. Hmmmmmm..

[Jim Nash]

Thank you Mazda!

[Steve Bamford]

So where does this leave the drivers moving up the ladder & teams who invested in cars/Mazda engines? Honda is busy with F4/F3, will they step up or another manufacture? Is it worth it to a manufacture these days?

[Brian C in Az]

So where does this leave the drivers moving up the ladder & teams who invested in cars/Mazda engines?

The Skip Barber Race Series will fill that void. Their students move into MX5 cars/series already, so Mazda it not losing anything, in fact they are cutting their losses and won't see any loss of market as a result. They may even see an uptick in the sedan sales as they are converted to race the various series. The Skip Barber schools and series have always been a better path to Indy. Over 30% of Indy drivers are Barber alumni, over 25% of Nascar drivers are Barber alumni. This could be a much needed boost for the resurrection of the Skip Barber schools and series. It will be a positive thing for the racing community as a whole.

[Steve Bamford]

Anderson didn’t say he was abandoning the series, Mazda did. He doesn’t make money unless some manufacture fills the void & he keeps the Road to Indy going. Remember he runs 3 series.

think about the teams that bought the new Pro Mazda car & have only one season on it. How about the USF teams that are only in their second season? That’s big coin invested. I’m sure some opinions might be different if that was your money invested.

[reidhazelton]

With 8 IndyLites cars running it's a pretty easy call for Mazda to bail. I think they see the writing on the wall.

[Steve Bamford]

With 8 IndyLites cars running it's a pretty easy call for Mazda to bail. I think they see the writing on the wall.

But hasn’t that been the lights car count for years? Aren’t the lights cars also prepped engines by someone else or has that changed in the last year?

[Lotus7]

But hasn’t that been the lights car count for years? Aren’t the lights cars also prepped engines by someone else ...

yes, and yes (AER engines)

My thought is Dan Andersen will need to find a non-car-manufacturer title sponsor for the series to cover for a few years to allow the Mazda engines to continue to be used, possibly transitioning to another engine later, or worse, fading away....

Verizon Road To Indy ?

[Steve Bamford]

yes, and yes (AER engines)

My thought is Dan Andersen will need to find a non-car-manufacturer title sponsor for the series to cover for a few years to allow the Mazda engines to continue to be used, possibly transitioning to another engine later, or worse, fading away....

Verizon Road To Indy ?

So it is a matter of a title sponsor based on what you write to bring in similar money that Mazda did.

[marshall9]

That's too bad. Another nail in the open wheel coffin.
IndyCar doesn't seem to be doing well. They have been racing here (Phoenix) since CART and aren't coming back. This was their last year. I am assuming there are a lot of racing fans here, because NASCAR comes here twice.
As stated above, I feel bad for those that are heavily invested in the new Pro Mazda car. Hopefully another manufacturer will come along and a simple engine swap will keep the series going. I started watching the Indy lights race today on replay from Mid-Ohio and noticed it was extremely boring with only 8 cars.
Hopefully Honda will step up, I think they would be ideal. A driver could bring engine leases to a team from the ladder.

Maybe somehow F 1600 and F2000 merge with road to Indy and Honda takes drivers from formula f all the way to the Indy 500

[reidhazelton]

yes, and yes (AER engines)

My thought is Dan Andersen will need to find a non-car-manufacturer title sponsor for the series to cover for a few years to allow the Mazda engines to continue to be used, possibly transitioning to another engine later, or worse, fading away....

Verizon Road To Indy ?

Yup, my point was that if the step above the Mazda stuff is dead, what's pulling kids out of the lower series?

[Bob Wright]

This gets interesting... Don't forget that F4 and F3 are Honda engines (as well as F1600). F3 (on paper) is similar performance to the PM-18 Pro Mazda which is as fast or faster than a Swift 016 Atlantic. There are lots of permutations and, I suspect, lots of politics. Remember, the FIA governs racing in the USA through ACCUS (Automobile Competition Committee for the United States)- the members of ACCUS are IndyCar, NHRA, SCCA, USAC, IMSA and NASCAR. Food for thought.

[Robins Ken]

That's too bad. Another nail in the open wheel coffin.
IndyCar doesn't seem to be doing well. They have been racing here (Phoenix) since CART and aren't coming back. This was their last year. I am assuming there are a lot of racing fans here, because NASCAR comes here twice.
As stated above, I feel bad for those that are heavily invested in the new Pro Mazda car. Hopefully another manufacturer will come along and a simple engine swap will keep the series going. I started watching the Indy lights race today on replay from Mid-Ohio and noticed it was extremely boring with only 8 cars.
Hopefully Honda will step up, I think they would be ideal. A driver could bring engine leases to a team from the ladder.

Maybe somehow F 1600 and F2000 merge with road to Indy and Honda takes drivers from formula f all the way to the Indy 500

Appreciation to Mazda but where was that progam going long term re: vehicle sales in North America ?

KR

[Jim Nash]

With 8 IndyLites cars running it's a pretty easy call for Mazda to bail. I think they see the writing on the wall.

And what is the writing on the wall?

Jim

[bill gillespie]

I’m getting my popcorn ready!

[andyllc]

It was a good ride!

The reality is that although hundreds chased that carrot, only a few ever tasted the carrot.

It will be interesting to see how the perception is managed, and the effect it has.
Perhaps race series with programs that cost less than 6 figures will become more relevant. Hmmmmmm..

Who was the last champion of a pro series to spend under six figures in the entire season?

[problemchild]

And what is the writing on the wall?

Jim

They had 25 USF and. 15 PFM cars at Mid-Ohio. All cars are less than 2 years old, and an industry of support is in place. Losing a strong partner will absolutely have some effect, but it is not like 50 cars will suddenly be parked. Perhaps new sponsors will help reduce costs to all teams instead of providing money to just a few winners, and the program will be better overall.

Or perhaps other promoters will try to attract these cars and teams. Or perhaps other promoters will be able to buy into Indycar event schedules. It would need to be a big wall, to write out all the possibilities, but it will probably be a while before much changes.

[Pi_guy]

Who was the last champion of a pro series to spend under six figures in the entire season?

Tim Minor?

Here on LI we had many race shops, now it would be hard to use both hands to count the number.
We have produced many drivers and support people now the numbers are minuscule.
We had a world class track and many other facilities we have one roundy round left and the real estate brokers are circling.
Newsday and the Daily News have not had motorsports columns for years.

It might be hard to read the writing on the wall because nobody is writing anything....

[problemchild]

Who was the last champion of a pro series to spend under six figures in the entire season?

That would depend on your definition of Pro Series. By proper definition, there are no series in the world made up of entirely paid pro drivers. But there are serious "Pro" races out there that don't cost $30-50K per weekend. Brandon Dixon certainly did not spend $100K to win the 2017 F2000 Champoionship, nor I expect, did Bamford, Beasely, or Minor before them. The F1600 kids may have spent more than 6 figures, but that was running more than just one series.

I don't think we need to debate the qualities of USF versus F2000, as they have evolved into different models, but there was an influx of younger racers into F2000 this year. Without the carrot in USF, there may be more that choose the cheaper option going forward.

[Lotus7]

Unless I'm mistaken, the teams own the engines, and I see no reason for AER nor Mazda to stop supplying parts to Knapp to continue to rebuild them to allow the series to continue. Bring in a different title sponsor, and the Andersen / Cooper Tires / (New Sponsor) Road To Indy continues ...

Yes, I am aware that deep-pocket sponsors aren't plentiful, but I'm not sure why the immediate outlook is 'the sky is falling' ?

[Matt Clark]

as mentioned by a couple people a bit, there are a lot of politics involved, but I wonder how the F4 & F3 cars would handle oval racing? do we have an opportunity for some consolidation/reduction of classes here?
wouldn't it be a coup for Honda to get in the "road to Indy" game with their stuff now too after the current cars are phased out.

[FVRacer21]

The Skip Barber Race Series will fill that void. Their students move into MX5 cars/series already, so Mazda it not losing anything, in fact they are cutting their losses and won't see any loss of market as a result. They may even see an uptick in the sedan sales as they are converted to race the various series. The Skip Barber schools and series have always been a better path to Indy. Over 30% of Indy drivers are Barber alumni, over 25% of Nascar drivers are Barber alumni. This could be a much needed boost for the resurrection of the Skip Barber schools and series. It will be a positive thing for the racing community as a whole.

Barber went bankrupt and the NEW Skip Barber school is mostly Mustangs for now - Roos took over many of the formula cars and runs their own series along with the Lucas School. Right now there is no school series with the significance the SBRS had at their zenith.

If it was not for the ovals (safety reasons) - other series could move right up and fill in. There is too much competition and overlap in the different series. We need to shake out and slim down.

ChrisZ

[FVRacer21]

Tim Minor?

Here on LI we had many race shops, now it would be hard to use both hands to count the number.
We have produced many drivers and support people now the numbers are minuscule.
We had a world class track and many other facilities we have one roundy round left and the real estate brokers are circling.
Newsday and the Daily News have not had motorsports columns for years.

It might be hard to read the writing on the wall because nobody is writing anything....

So true. The cradle of racing and the cradle of aviation is now strip malls and parking lots......

But come north to New England!

4 tracks within 4 hours of each other - open land with trees - 2 or more club only tracks. etc.

Better now than ever before but we need more racers....

ChrisZ

[Pi_guy]

So true. The cradle of racing and the cradle of aviation is now strip malls and parking lots......

But come north to New England!

I hang out in Hull

[problemchild]

do we have an opportunity for some consolidation/reduction of classes here?
.

The people that will make the decisions don't care. It is all about their bottom line.

As SCCA members, if we don't care ..... based on the actions of our BOD over the last 4 years .... we clearly cannot expect independent business men to care.

[Matt Clark]

The people that will make the decisions don't care. It is all about their bottom line.

As SCCA members, if we don't care ..... based on the actions of our BOD over the last 4 years .... we clearly cannot expect independent business men to care.

true. I was kinda thinking that if they could/would consolidate cars in the ladder, then they would automatically have a base of X people to start with, plus adding the new teams/drivers that would need new cars anyway. everyone *should* win in that situation, as then the SCCA Pro increases the pool of people than can run with them & also puts their product on the same weekends as the premiere US formula cars, and IndyCar then has a proper FIA feeder that also can feed their top (also FIA-endorsed) series.

[problemchild]

https://racer.com/2018/08/01/indycar...y-lights-plan/

New Indy-lights extension and cost reduction plan announced.