Atlantic Championship
The top step on the open wheel side of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Ladder is the series that began life as “Formula Atlantic” in 1974. Today the series is known as the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda. The series is recognized as North America’s premier open-wheel development series and continues its tradition of superb competition with a host of new and talented drivers. Some of the most talented rising stars of racing from across the globe have joined the series this season for the opportunity to pilot the Swift .016a chassis powered by a 300hp Cosworth Mazda MZR engine while riding on Cooper tires at some of the toughest race tracks in the world.
The new generation of Atlantic stars is hoping to one day follow in the footsteps of some of the biggest names in racing who honed their skills and matured both on and off the track in the Atlantic Championship. Atlantic has served as the proving ground for the best and the brightest in single-seat, open-wheel racing. Celebrating its 35th season in 2008, the Atlantic Championship is the longest-running road racing series in North America.
From racing legends like Gilles Villeneuve, Keke Rosberg, Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan—who began making their names in Atlantic in the 1970s—to Michael Andretti, Jacques Villeneuve, and Jimmy Vasser in the ‘80s and ‘90s and recent rising stars like Graham Rahal, A.J. Allmendinger and Danica Patrick, no other driver development series in North America can boast of more race and championship winners than the Atlantic Championship.
Mazda North American Operations is responsible for the sales, marketing and customer parts and services support of Mazda vehicles in the United States. Headquartered in Irvine, California and selling through more than 700 dealerships across the US, Canada and Mexico, Mazda sells the MAZDA3, MAZDASPEED3, MAZDA5, MAZDA6, MAZDASPEED6, MX-5 (Miata), RX-8, CX-7, CX-9, Tribute, MPV and B-Series truck.
Mazda’s racing heritage goes back to the 1968 Marathon de la Route, a grueling 84-hour endurance race, where a Mazda Cosmo 110-S finished in fourth place. Since then, Mazda or Mazda-powered vehicles have visited victory circle in virtually every major race or racing series around the globe, including road-racing, rallying, drag racing, sprint cars, autocross and drifting. Mazda’s greatest motorsport victory was the winning of the 1991 24-Hours of Le Mans, the only Japanese manufacturer in history to ever achieve such a feat, despite the efforts of other larger and better-funded companies.
Beginning in 2006, Mazda expanded its motorsports participation to include the Champ Car Atlantic Championship. All Atlantics are now powered by identical Mazda-supplied stock block, Cosworth-engineered, 2.3-liter MZR engines producing 300-horsepower. The MZR powers the MAZDA3, MAZDASPEED3, MAZDA5, MAZDA6, MAZDASPEED6, MX-5 (Miata), CX-7, Tribute and B-Series, the Ford Fusion, Focus, Escape and Ranger, and the Mercury Milan. It is indeed versatile, ranging from 1.6-liters and 105-hp as fitted to the B-class MAZDA2, all the way to the 276-hp direct-injection turbo version fitted to the MAZDASPEED6sedan.
The extension of Mazda's motorsports involvement to the Champ Car Atlantic Championship is the highest rung on the company's open-wheel motorsports ladder -- budding drivers can advance through:
- Mazda sponsored kart races
- Skip Barber Racing Series presented by Mazda
- Formula Mazda or MZR-powered Formula SCCA
- Star Mazda presented by Goodyear
- Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Series Powered by Mazda
On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. Mazda’s motorsport involvement even extends to the nation’s premier road-racing circuit, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and the premier driving/racing school – Skip Barber.
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