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Mazda6 Skyactiv-D racecar gets first win at Road Atlanta

Mazda has a long motorsports history, and one that is peppered with fascinating cars. The latest chapter in Mazda's racing story has just been written, as Joel Miller and Andrew Carbonell have driven the Visit Florida Racing Mazda6 Skyactiv-D to the car's first ever victory at the Rolex Grand-Am GX race at Road Atlanta. The win marks the first ever for Mazda's diesel-burning, production-car based Skyactiv-D racer, and the first win for a diesel-powered car in a Grand-Am event.
In fact, it was a particularly good day for the Mazda Motorsports team, as a Mazda6 also picked up the third finishing spot at Road Atlanta. Director of Mazda Motorsports, John M. Doonan, said of the racecar, "We've always said that the best street cars make the best racecars, and, with more than half of the components in the race engine being shared with the street engine, this program is a solid proof-point."
SpeedSource Engineering, which helped to build the Mazda6 racer, was greatly heartened by the car's performance in just it's fourth-ever race. Owner Sylvain Tremblay called the victory, "a tribute to the thousands of hours of hard work over many months," continuing, "The normal plan with a new car is to spend the first year in development, the second year seeking race wins, and challenging for a championship in year three. We are already at our year-two status after four races. We can't wait to get to the Belle Isle course in Detroit for round five."

Feds investigating 2010-11 Mazda CX-9 CUVs over braking issues

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 62,000, 2010-2011 Mazda CX-9 models over brake problems. The government safety watchdog says it has received seven complaints of an observed loss of power braking power to stop the crossover, according to the The Detroit News.
The NHTSA complaints say that the problem causes a hard pedal, increased braking effort and reduced braking effectiveness. Some complaints allege that they hear a hissing noise during braking similar to the sound of air leaving the tires. No injuries or crashes have been reported.
"As always, we are fully cooperating with NHTSA on their investigation. We cannot comment further at this time," said Mazda spokesperson Tamara Mlynarczyk to The Detroit News.

Mazda MX-5 GT gets green light

The Mazda MX-5 Miata is as popular around the Autoblog offices as Kate Upton posters are around fraternity houses. Few staffers have much criticism for Mazda's ubiquitous roadster, and fewer still aren't overjoyed when one arrives in their driveway. So you can imagine how a report from Auto Express about a more potent MX-5 model is going over in our offices today.
The new model, which was shown in concept form as the Mazda MX-5 GT at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, has a slight catch, though. First, we have absolutely no idea if Mazda will bring the MX-5 GT to the US. Secondly, and perhaps more problematically, this isn't a production car - it's a kit from the team at Jota Sport.
Now, to be fair, the kit doesn't sound like a bad thing. It bumps the UK-spec 2.0-liter, 157-horsepower engine up to 203 hp thanks to a sports exhaust and a revamped ECU (46 horsepower from an ECU and exhaust in a naturally aspirated car?). To make the little Miata even more agile, Jota has also fiddled with the suspension. AE doesn't mention things like the grippy tires or Recaro seats that were found on the concept, though.