If you happened to drive by Daytona International Speedway last week, you may have heard the Mazda RT24-P DPi car turning laps around the 3.56-mile road course.

The car and its drivers turned a lot of laps at DIS last week, then moved a few hours southwest of Daytona to run even more laps at Sebring International Raceway and its legendary, 3.74 miles of bumpy concrete and tarmac.

Mind you, these tests were occurring nearly 90 days before the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opens with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday, Jan. 25, and more than 140 days prior to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday, March 16.

So, a good first question would be why so soon?

“The Rolex 24 is the biggest endurance race in the States, it’s the biggest race on the IMSA calendar and it would just be an absolute dream if we could (win) it,” said Harry Tincknell, who co-drove the No. 55 Mazda DPi to its historic first victory in the 2019 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen alongside Jonathan Bomarito and Olivier Pla.

“I mean, I feel like we have the team, we have the car, we have the engine, we have the drivers,” Tincknell continued. “It’s a reality now. I think in the past, a win at the Rolex has been a dream, whereas now it can be a reality. But it’s obviously going to be an incredibly tough race. It’s absolutely relentless and unforgiving.

“It’s the first race of the season. It’s not like we have two or three races to sort of ease our way into the championship. It’s a really brutal schedule from that point of view, which is why we’re here in October testing and getting the reliability sorted.”

Reliability is the next frontier for the Mazda DPi program.

In 2019, the obvious goal for everybody in the program was to finally get that first victory. They poured everything they had into their pursuit of victory, and were finally rewarded not just at Watkins Glen, but in the next two races as well at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America.

“Everyone says once you get the first one, they all seem to follow,” said Tristan Nunez, who won at CTMP with Oliver Jarvis in the No. 77 Mazda DPi. “Getting three in a row, I think, really showed that and we had strong showings since then. We were really close at [Motul] Petit [Le Mans on Oct. 12], but didn’t quite get there. We had some bad luck at the end.

“But as a whole, we’re there now. We’re in the first with the big teams. I think all the other teams see that. They’re not just seeing us as the Mazdas on track. They see us as a competitor, strong, and I think they’re a little bit worried about what we’re going to show this [2020] season. I think the big pressure’s out of the way now, getting that first win for Mazda. Now, it’s just continuing that momentum, getting podiums, and I think we’re going to go for a championship this season.”

And a key step to achieving that goal is to have a strong 36 Hours of Florida to start the 2020 campaign. Hence the reason they’ve already logged so many testing miles less than a month into the so-called “offseason.”

“I think 2020 is the year that we go for the championship,” Tincknell said. “That’s the year where we match consistency with winning speed. This year, it was gung-ho every race, just try and get a victory. We didn’t really hold anything back. We took a lot of risk to get those victories.

“Whereas, I think in 2020, if we can have a bit more reliability in the first two races and be up there in the championship, then we can maybe just pick and choose our moments a little bit more. Instead of going for gung-ho, 100 percent, maybe just be a little bit more risk averse and just keep scoring the points.

“Because, at the end of the season, that’s what gets you into the title fight is the consistency rather than the big highs followed by big lows. We had some massive highs in 2019 and we also had some lows. We’ve just got to be a little bit more consistent and I think that’s going to be the difference.”

The 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship gets started with the Roar Before The 24 at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 3-5. The 58th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona is set for Jan. 25-26.

Mazda is expected to part ways with Joest Racing following the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, with a mid-season team switch possible for the DPi manufacturer.

Sportscar365 has learned that the German outfit’s contract, which runs through the end of the Japanese business year in March, has not been renewed, leading to the possibility of the factory Mazda RT24-Ps running under two different banners in 2020.

Multimatic, which has served as the program’s technical partner and has been steadily integrated into race operations over the last 12 months, is expected to fully take over the program, beginning with the third round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at Long Beach in April.

When reached by Sportscar365, a Mazda spokesperson said they don’t comment on contracts but did confirm Mazda has a multi-year commitment to its IMSA DPi program.

The legendary ex-Audi LMP1 factory squad, which was brought into replace SpeedSource in mid-2017, played a key role in the turnaround of the factory DPi program, having worked alongside Multimatic and engine tuner AER to deliver three wins this year.

It came, however, after a staff shakeup in the off-season, with longtime Joest managing director Ralf Juttner being re-assigned away from the IMSA program, reportedly following disagreements with Mazda management over the operation of the program.

Multiple sources told Sportscar365 that Multimatic took possession of Mazda’s race cars and equipment following last month’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans, with the Canadian-based firm having since completed tests at Daytona and Sebring with what’s believed to be a new or upgraded engine package.

Former Toyota Racing Development executive Nelson Cosgrove has been named Mazda’s new motorsports director, succeeding John Doonan.

Announced by Mazda North American Operations on Monday, Cosgrove will be responsible for the operational side of Mazda’s racing activities in North America, including its efforts in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the recently announced Mazda3 TCR project in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and the Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup.

Cosgrove had served as TRD’s vice president of Engineering and Vehicle Development prior to previous stints with various NASCAR teams.

“I’m honored and excited to start this new role with Mazda,” said Cosgrove. “Mazda has a storied history in motorsports and a strong presence with IMSA, MX-5 Cup and grassroots programs.

“The brand had a lot of success in 2019, highlighted by the Mazda Team Joest three-race win streak, and I’m very much looking forward to beginning my work with the Mazda Motorsports team and preparing for the 2020 racing season.”

Cosgrove will report to Masahiro Moro, Chairman and CEO of Mazda North American Operations.

“We are committed to continuing to build upon Mazda’s position in North American motorsports,” said Moro.

“Nelson is the right person to steer Mazda Motorsports, as he brings a tremendous amount of engineering and motorsports experience that will enhance the work being done by the Mazda Motorsports team, as well as all of the technical partners across all our programs.”

As revealed by Sportscar365 earlier on Monday, Mazda’s factory DPi program is set to see the exit of Joest Racing following the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring after the German team’s contract was not renewed.

The Japanese manufacturer has yet to officially comment on the matter.

Sports car fans have been guided toward the looming split between Mazda and Team Joest for more than a year.

Parse the quotes from former Mazda motorsports director John Doonan over that time span – especially towards the end of the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season — and the proverbial writing has been on the wall.

Starting at the onset of the most recent season, when asked about the vast improvements to its RT24-P prototypes, the flowery prose was reserved for one vendor.

“Once again. I can’t give it up enough for the Multimatic staff – Raj Nair, now leading that entire organization; Larry Holt; Steven Charsley; the whole vehicle dynamics team,” Doonan said days before the January 4-6 Roar Before the 24.

Asked in a follow-up question if the team’s rapid advancements were a shared responsibility between Joest and Multimatic, Doonan offered a polite correction, naming Multimatic’s Canadian racing outfit and engineering firm as the partner deserving of recognition. The omission of Joest’s name spoke to the German squad’s questionable standing in Mazda’s long-term plan.


Joest Racing, renowned for its rock-solid hands and minds while assembling Le Mans-winning efforts for Porsche and Audi, wasn’t living up to its lofty reputation. Without saying it directly, Doonan’s careful wording implied Mazda was experiencing a heavy dose of deja vu with its latest IMSA race team partner.

Mazda embarked on its DPi program in 2017 with longtime vendor SpeedSource, which worked closely with Multimatic to develop the Riley/Multimatic Mk. 30 LMP2 chassis into the Japanese auto manufacturer’s custom RT24-P model. A lack of pace, driveability, and poor reliability made for a dreadful start to Mazda’s DPi campaign.

The overall task of creating and fielding a competitive DPi effort was too great for SpeedSource, which reflected negatively on the team. It also called Mazda’s decision making into question after placing the DPi project with a vendor whose growing pains with Mazda’s winless LMP2 program from 2014-2016 made for uncomfortable viewing.


By June of 2017, the decision to split with SpeedSource and hire the internationally-renowned Joest Racing team was made. Through a single change, trips to Victory Lane seemed inevitable.

Returning as Mazda Team Joest in January of 2018, it was hard to spot the difference between the old and new partners when the season got underway as many of the same, silly errors that blighted Mazda’s DPi debut with SpeedSource continued. Wheels fell off, mechanical breakdowns were common, and on too many occasions, the all-conquering Joest Racing team was barely recognizable.

The Joest team Mazda thought it was hiring was a thing of the past. Somewhere, members of the SpeedSource team likely had a laugh a Mazda Team Joest’s expense.


Piled atop a spate of engine problems that added to the list of woes, the mood was downright sour as the 2018 season continued its fruitless march towards the final race. Attaching Mazda’s name and a bigger budget to Joest had not delivered on its promise to field a winning effort. Rumors of a possible split with Joest began to circulate as too many failures, mechanical mistakes, pit lane blunders, and lost opportunities through race strategy weighed on the manufacturer.

Despite the desire for an early conclusion to the relationship, it’s believed parting ways with a second race team vendor in consecutive seasons was considered too much for the proud Mazda organization to accept. Mazda Team Joest was kept intact for 2019.

The choice to continue with Joest, however, was not an endorsement of its services.

Mazda’s dissatisfaction with the underperforming Joest group was spoken in strong organizational terms as the new season arrived. If a change in providers wasn’t going to happen, the next best option was pursued by vastly reducing Joest’s day-to-day involvement. Multimatic would fill the void.

At the completion of Petit Le Mans in October of 2018, the changeover from Joest to Multimatic made its greatest step forward. Given full authority over the RT24-P testing and engineering program, Mazda dispatched its cars to Multimatic’s base outside of Toronto where the vehicles underwent teardowns and inspections, in-depth performance analysis, and moved onto an intensive series of track tests before the DPis were sent back to Mazda Team Joest’s shop in Georgia.

The same vehicle handover process took place last month after Petit Le Mans, as will their return to Mazda’s shop near Atlanta before the new year.


As the reconfigured team appeared at the Roar, a staffing change was seen as the two-car RT24-P program was split into separate houses. One car run by Multimatic personnel, and the other by Joest’s crew.

Beyond the reduction to Joest’s physical presence inside the garage, Mazda also handed total control of the program’s engineering responsibilities to Multimatic. Joest technical director Ralf Juttner, along with Joest’s involvement in the vehicle dynamics, development, and race engineering of the RT24-Ps, were cut from the Mazda DPi effort.

Le Mans-winning race engineer Leena Gade was hired by Multimatic and appointed to oversee one RT24-P; Multimatic veteran Dave Wilcock would lead the other; even Multimatic boss Larry Holt got involved on the race engineering side as Mazda expanded its overall commitment to the company.

“But really, I’m pleased with Dave joining as well as Leena and again thankful to Larry and Raj and everybody on the Multimatic side for being willing to invest so much to see this program have success,” Doonan said before the Roar.

Compared to the full-Joest operation in 2018, the message at Daytona was clear: On the mechanical and engineering fronts, Mazda Team Joest was morphing into Mazda Team Multimatic.

Out of approximately 15 seats on the giant Mazda Team Joest timing stand in 2019, only two or three were reserved for Joest employees from Daytona onwards. The majority were taken by Mazda and Multimatic staff; in yet another example, the transition of authority was never hidden from the public.

Intrepid fans will also recall stories over the summer involving Mazda’s search for a new vendor, which included Chip Ganassi Racing as a high-profile option that was explored. Even as the Mazda team went on a three-race winning streak, its Canadian partners received the bulk of gratitude from the brand. Placing the entire program in Multimatic’s care soon became Mazda’s easiest path to follow. It makes the upcoming exit by Joest in favor of Multimatic more of a process foreshadowed throughout the year than a plot twist kept secret until the big reveal. It’s major news, no doubt, but this chess maneuver has been in motion for a good long while.

Formal notice of Joest’s termination is said to have been delivered shortly after the mid-September IMSA race at Monterey. Provided the rumors of a clause requiring a six-month advance notice are true, the split between Mazda and Joest would be pushed to the days following Sebring’s 12-hour race in March.

Assuming Joest wants to continue running the Mazda program for two rounds, rather than accept a buyout, it might come up short on corporate support to complete its contract. Looking at how most major manufacturers racing agreements are formed in North America, budgeting tends to be spread across quarterly payments. Lump sum payments, delivered up front, are a rarity, and that’s what Joest would likely need in this case.

Provided Mazda Team Joest is under that common structure, completing the Roar, Rolex 24 At Daytona, and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring could stretch the team’s bank account to its limits and beyond. Depending on the class, the mandatory Daytona test, plus the combined 36 hours of racing, can absorb a frightening amount of an IMSA team’s budget for the season.

Would Joest come out of pocket to run the cars it will leave behind after the second round? And would Mazda pay the team extra money to get through Sebring? Both scenarios are improbable.

Joest knows it isn’t wanted, which makes turning up on Mazda’s behalf an ugly situation that won’t help in its efforts to find new clients. And in hindsight, Mazda’s signing of a team that proved to be on the decline is also worthy of a rapid conclusion. The divorce is happening; provided they agree to terms, early termination and a swift transition to Multimatic would benefit both sides. Mistakes in faith and performance were made; neither side is clean in that regard.

Once more, it’s the words unspoken that serve as our roadmap to Joest’s pending departure.

The verbal dagger was delivered in September at Monterey, on the one-year mark of Mazda Team Joest’s painful loss at the coastal road course.

“If there’s any golden nugget in any of our success, it’s Multimatic and the engineering support, the investment they’ve made, the simulation, the vehicle dynamics, the testing,” Doonan said. “They’ve just crushed it out of the park in terms of helping this program be successful. In looking at Monterey, throughout the year last year, we had those oh-so-close moments, and the more we’ve involved ourselves with Multimatic, the more success we continue to have.”

Hunter-Reay made his team debut in this year’s round at Mid-Ohio as a substitute for Tincknell, who was on FIA World Endurance Championship duty with Ford that weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.
He effectively replaces former Porsche factory driver Timo Bernhard in the lineup for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener, although with Olivier Pla moving over to the No. 77 entry alongside the returning Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez.

Among the changes in DPi include a 20 kg weight increase for this year’s Rolex 24-winning Cadillac DPi.V-R, although countered with a 0.3 mm larger air restrictor, which is estimated to be a 6 horsepower increase.Mazda’s RT24-P, meanwhile, gets a 5 kg increase in minimum weight, with no performance-related changes to the championship-winning Acura ARX-05 DPi.

the adjustments are relative to last year’s final BoP for Daytona, with the Florida endurance classic remaining with a standalone BoP when compared to the remainder of the season.

According to the sanctioning body, race performance metrics were generated by the best example of each manufacturer’s car in dry conditions in the 2019 season-opener.

Wet weather performance also was analyzed but did not play a role in the 2020 Daytona BoP.

Dyson Racing could make its return to top-level prototype racing as soon as next year, with the longtime IMSA entrant reportedly eyeing a Mazda DPi customer program.

The New York-based squad, which was last seen in IMSA competition in the final year of the American Le Mans Series in 2013 with a Mazda-powered Lola LMP1 entry, is “seriously considering” a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship effort according to Chris Dyson.

Speaking to Sportscar365, Dyson refused to confirm discussions with the Japanese manufacturer, which has opened up its race-winning AER-powered Mazda RT24-P DPi package to customer teams for 2020, although he acknowledged talks are ongoing for a “top category” program.

Should the program get the green light, the former ALMS champion would be reunited with longtime co-driver Guy Smith behind the wheel of the DPi entry.

“I can’t comment on what it would be but we are looking again at IMSA and we think the top category is interesting,” Dyson told Sportscar365.

“We’re going to see. There’s still some things up in the air there. I think we’d love to get back in the right situation.

“I think what’s happening in North America right now with IMSA is really exciting.

“When you look at the series being united with a stable set of rules and you look at the speeds of the cars, it’s intriguing.

“We’ve had some discussions, talking about how we could look to get back in at the top level. We only know how to do it one way and that’s the right way.

“We want to make sure all of the pieces are in place.”

Dyson has essentially ruled out a debut in next month’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, admitting the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic wouldn’t be the team’s first race back “for a lot of reasons”.

He would, however, not give a specific timeline should the proposed program materialize.

The team has largely been inactive from professional sports car racing competition since the end of its factory-supported Bentley GT3 program in Pirelli World Challenge in 2015.

“Every month you wait now pushes you back further into the next year,” Dyson said. “There’s nothing finalized.

“Certainly I think Rob [Dyson] would like to get back and do it again if we could.”

Dyson and Smith have been reunited in this weekend’s 8 Hours of Bahrain at the wheel of Team LNT Ginetta G60-LT-P1 AER, with the pairing slated to contest the remainder of the 2019-20 WEC season.

“Obviously for Guy and I tuned back up in prototypes, it’s helpful if we go down that route,” Dyson said.

“We had some great years there and I think we’re both feeling refreshed.

“Guy has been doing a great job running the WEC and you look at the standard here, it’s not necessarily a light field. This is strong competition.

“I think we’re ready either way. But Rome’s not built in a day and to get back into that game right now, and you can’t underestimate how competitive it is, you’ve got to be on the right footing.

“I think if we were to do it, we’d want to make sure we have enough time to build up.”

In addition to Dyson, Spirit of Daytona Racing had been attempting to field a Mazda DPi, although Sportscar365 believes those hopes have faded in recent weeks.

Mazda Team Joest driver Harry Tincknell set the fastest lap of the first session of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 IMSA pre-season test at Daytona.

Tincknell turned in a time of 1:36.027 behind the wheel of the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P to lead the nine-car DPi class on Friday afternoon.

Second-quickest in the field and seven-tenths down on the chart-topping effort was Renger van der Zande in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R.

Jarvis’ best time of 1:35.989 was 0.418 seconds quicker than the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Jordan Taylor, while Harry Tincknell made it two Multimatic-built prototypes in the top three in the sister No. 55 entry.

Mazda Team Joest finished first and second in the DPi timing sheets as Olivier Pla set the fastest lap on the opening day of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 test at Daytona.

Pla, who shares the No. 77 Mazda RT24-P DPi with Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez, posted a time of 1:35.794 to beat his teammate Jonathan Bomarito in the No. 55 by 0.080 seconds.

Olivier Pla says Mazda has “nothing to hide” after completing a dominant and record-setting Roar Before the Rolex 24.

The Frenchman unofficially became the quickest driver around the Daytona International Speedway oval/road course, clocking a 1:33.324 lap time in Sunday afternoon’s qualification for pit box and garage selections.

Pla’s time was three-tenths quicker than co-driver Oliver Jarvis’ 1:33.685 pole time from last year’s Rolex 24 that broke a 26-year track qualifying record.

With year-to-year gains made in the Multimatic-built and AER-powered DPi package, as well as updated Michelin tires for 2020, Pla feels they head into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener with “more confidence” than ever before.

Mazda Team Joest topped four of the seven test sessions over the course of the weekend in addition to Pla’s Roar pole time.

“We have the same car as last year, like everybody, so we have nothing to hide,” Pla said. “The strategy was to push every time and that’s what we’ve been doing from FP1.

“Every year it seems to be faster. But it’s a combination of things. We have a new Michelin tire for this year so we were expecting to go faster anyways.”

Improvements in reliability, most notably after a challenging Rolex 24 last year that saw the two Joest-run entries retire by the 13th hour, has Pla bullish on their chances this time around.

Mazda is coming off endurance tests at both at Motorland Aragon in October and Daytona in December.

“Twenty-four hour races have always been a concern for us in the past,” Pla said. “Last year we had some small problems that cost us the race.

“We were in a position to do a good result I think in the end.

“The team, Mazda and AER have been working very hard on engine reliability. We did the two endurance tests and we were really focused on that during the winter.

“I think we have a fantastic group of people working on this project. We are making steps every time.

“We hope that it’s going in the right direction and we want to be able to be able to fight for the top position the last few hours.”

Cosgrove: Rolex 24 Win One of the “Things Left to Achieve”

Mazda Motorsports director Nelson Cosgrove believes an overall win in the Florida endurance classic is one of the boxes that still needs to be checked by the Japanese manufacturer.

The program claimed its elusive first overall victory in last year’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, which kickstarted a three-race win streak.

“I think that’s one of the things that’s left to achieve with this program is winning one of these longer events,” Cosgrove told Sportscar365.

“These are the crown jewels. The Rolex [24], Sebring, Petit… it’s important for this program to win one of those at some point.

“I hope we can take advantage of the opportunities when we have them.

“IMSA and the way the racing happens is really about taking advantage of the opportunities and executing when you have those opportunities.”

Pla: ‘No Difference’ in Swap to No. 77 Car

The former Ford GT factory driver, who is returning for the Michelin Endurance Cup races, said the switch from the No. 55 Mazda to the No. 77 entry alongside full-season drivers Jarvis and Tristan Nunez, hasn’t changed his approach.

“Even if I changed cars, it’s not really new,” Pla said. “I’ve known Oliver and Tristan from the past, especially from last year.

“It doesn’t matter about the 55 lineup of 77 lineup, we all have a good relationship.

“To be honest, for me it doesn’t make any difference or change my approach of how I perform and do my job. Everything is really good.

“There’s a good atmosphere in the team. Everyone is focused and working in the same way. At the moment, it’s perfect.”

Two of the three current DPi manufacturers in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship revealed they have no interest in the addition of hybrid powertrains into the next-generation formula, although admitting it wouldn’t be a “dealbreaker” as long as costs remain under control.

Both Mazda and Cadillac have publicly stated their views in IMSA’s planned integration of a spec hybrid powertrain into the so-called DPi 2022 regulations.

It comes following a tender initiated by the sanctioning body for a single-specification system, with costs having been proposed at one time to be in the range of $100,000.

Convergence in top-class prototype regulations would make for a “compelling” reason for Lexus to commit to a DPi program according to Toyota Racing Development president and general manager David Wilson, who has expressed a desire to see the brand take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The luxury automaker, as well nearly a dozen other OEMs, have been part of IMSA’s steering group committee meetings to shape the so-called DPi 2022 regulations, which is scheduled to be finalized in draft form by the end of March.

With IMSA and the ACO reportedly close to an agreement that would see next-generation DPis and Le Mans Hypercars compete in a single class by as early as 2022, TRD’s Wilson is hopeful of the discussions becoming a reality and helping rekindle the past, where the same specification of prototypes were eligible to compete in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

No set timeline has been established on the possible allocation of customer Mazda RT24-Ps, according to Mazda Motorsports director Nelson Cosgrove, who has confirmed that additional chassis are in the build process.

The Japanese manufacturer, under the previous North American motorsports leadership of John Doonan, has been open to customer DPi teams for 2020, although none have yet to formally commit.

Sportscar365 revealed last month that Dyson Racing is working on a Mazda DPi program that would see Chris Dyson and Guy Smith reunited in top-level IMSA prototype racing.

It now appears that deal could be run by Spirit of Daytona racing, but under the Dyson banner that would debut mid-season.

Speaking to Sportscar365 during the Roar Before the Rolex 24, Mazda’s Cosgrove, who joined the company in mid-November, said he hasn’t yet been in dialogue with potential customers but is open to the possibility.

“If we were to do something… I know from a planning perspective, it would be a bit difficult to really determine what the earliest [would be],” he said.

“Not having talked to these guys, I don’t know if they’re looking for running the endurance races or what they want to do. We’ll find out.

“It would be something we’d have to address in the next few weeks. I think we’re open to it.”

Cosgrove indicated that Mazda’s original plan, according to its North American CEO Masahiro Moro, was not to make customer cars available and instead run the program as a full factory effort only.

That philosophy is understood to have changed last year, once the package became a proven race-winner in WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition.

While confirming additional cars in build at Multimatic, Cosgrove wouldn’t say whether they would be used as replacements for the factory Mazda DPis or be made available to customers.

“There’s some cars being assembled right now,” he said. “We bought some new chassis and we’re bringing those online. I don’t really have a plan right now of how those would be deployed.

“These are the cars we’ll have going into [the Rolex 24]. Theoretically, if nothing goes wrong, these will be the same cars that will race at Sebring.”

Cosgrove said the apparent level of interest from customers has shown that the DPi class is “healthy” thanks in part to other manufacturers that have taken a more customer-first approach.

“I think you look at the way the Cadillac program has been run over the years has been very strong and it’s primarily been a customer program,” he said.

“It’s a different way of looking at things and I need to spend a little bit more time working on that.”

Sebring International Raceway has unveiled the official poster for Super Sebring, March 18-21. The doubleheader weekend features the 68th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday, March 21, preceded on Friday by the FIA World Endurance Championship 1000 Miles of Sebring.

The art reflects the unique doubleheader race weekend, with the world’s best cars and drivers competing on the legendary Sebring circuit that originated from a WWII B-17 combat crew training base.

“Artist Roger Warrick has again captured the spectacle of day and night racing at Sebring,” stated Sebring International Raceway President and General Manager Wayne Estes.

“For seven decades the Sebring poster has been a coveted memento for Sebring fans. This year’s poster proudly continues that tradition.”

The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring was recently voted by fans as the Best Motorsports Race in North America in a USA Today Reader’s Choice poll.

In addition to the two classic endurance races on Friday and Saturday, the Sebring weekend will include the Alan Jay 120 Michelin Pilot Challenge race on Thursday, March 19, along with the IMSA Prototype Challenge race.