MAZDA MOTORSPORT READY TO ZOOM-ZOOM AT KILLARNEY
 |
|
Round two of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship will take place at Killarney on 13 March 2010 and Mazda Motorsport are excited about their chances of another good showing in the Western Cape. Heinz Bose has always performed well at Killarney. He has take three podium finishes in the last three races held there and will be hoping to repeat his past performances. “I had a bit of bad luck at Kyalami, but all of the technical gremlins that I experienced seem to have been solved. Our last test session yielded great results and I am feeling confident for the upcoming race,” commented Heinz. It will be George Smalberger’s first race at Killarney in the Mazda 3 MPS, but his consistency and the car’s reliability at Kyalami is extremely positive for the team. George had the following to say; “I felt good in the car at Kyalami and am sure with Heinz’s guidance, I will continuously improve my pace and confidence. I have had some seat time in the car now and can’t wait to get back to the track.” Adding to the team’s confidence is the fact that both drivers will be racing at base weight (1300kgs), whilst the Kyalami front-runners have all gained weight in accordance with Bridgestone Production Car’s performance equalization system. “In this game, you need to every advantage that you can. Although a weight advantage of 20kgs doesn’t seem to be very much, the weight takes a toll on the competitor’s brakes and tyres during the second and third races. The new race day format has caught many teams by surprise because you can’t keep the same aggressive handling set-up. George has shown that we are headed in the right direction,” explained team race technician Trevor Green. Qualifying and all three races will take place on Saturday 13 March and Mazda Motorsport look forward to meeting their fans in the pit complex. Mazda Motorsport would like to acknowledge the following partners: Mazda, MFC, Powerbrake, Supertech Auto, Leatt Brace, Etana Insurance, Autowiel Centurion and Sax Shocks |
 |
|
The Mazda Motorsport duo of Heinz Bose and George Smalberger had a massive change of strategy to implement and assess at the season-opener this past weekend. New race regulations saw a 3 race format take over, this would mean that the teams would have to prepare cars for 2 six lap sprint races and then a 10 lap feature race.
This amounts to a total of 22 laps as opposed to the 16 laps that were raced previously. For a hard charging car like the Mazda 3 MPS this would mean a completely different set-up with the emphasis being moved from outright pace to a more conservative race strategy without any aggressive driving. How conservative? Nobody knew as this was the first time that this format has been run but it was clear that it was more important to be on track at the end of the day than to set the fastest lap in race 1 and not finish the other races. George Smalberger, new to the team, had a baptism of fire. He was still coming to terms with the MFC backed Mazda and relished the power and handling of his new charge. He was still feeling his way though and qualified in 8th place. Heinz Bose looked set for a top 4 qualifying but was hampered when a vacuum pipe split, losing valuable power. Unaware of what had transpired and feeling the drop in performance, Heinz aborted qualifying, worried that the problem was terminal. He therefore only qualified in 11th place. Race 1 saw a steady pace from Smalberger, unfortunately he was stuck behind the Ford of Shaun Duminy and Curt Alchin’s GTI, who were embroiled in a tough battle. George watched the race ahead of him knowing that he would benefit from any mistake from the two drivers ahead. His conservative approach was unrewarded though and he finished eighth. Heinz had a good race though, scything through the field until meeting his team-mate. Not wanting to jeopardise their strategy by attempting a passing move, which could easily hamper both cars, he held station. Race 2 was also fairly uneventful, the Mazda duo finishing seventh and eighth with Heinz moving ahead of George to claim seventh. The feature race saw the demise of Heinz, with a blown fuel pump relay. George battled gamely, finishing in a fighting seventh place just behind the cars of current class T champion Gary Formato and his team-mate Shaun Duminy. “I am thrilled to have completed every lap of the 3 races and can give valuable feedback to the team. The set-up can be a lot more aggressive as we were a little too conservative, worried about our tyre wear. I drove the car smoothly and it showed.” “It is going to be a quick learning curve for us. I was hampered by a few gremlins but this is bound to happen. George’s reliability is encouraging and he will be there to pick up valuable points for the team while I try and get to grips with the pace setting GTIs,” commented Heinz Bose. The team continue their quest for motorsport honours at Cape Town’s Killarney circuit on the 13th March. Mazda Motorsport would like to acknowledge the following partners: Mazda, MFC, Powerbrake, Supertech Auto, Leatt Brace, Etana Insurance and Autowiel Centurion. |
 |
|
Following their third place championship finish last year, Mazda Motorsport are feeling confident for the upcoming Bridgestone Production Car season. The
team will once again contest Class T of the Championship in the Mazda 3 MPS, with the first race of the season taking place at Kyalami on 20 February. Heinz Bose returns to the driver line-up and will be aiming to improve on his third place title. Heinz invigorated the Mazda racing programme last year with two race wins and a further five podium placings. “We did a lot of development on the cars in 2009 and have gained an immense wealth of knowledge on setting up the MPS for every circuit. We were able to improve on the race engineered parts that caused us so many woes in the past. Reliability is going to be paramount to this year’s championship and we will continue to strive for perfection,” commented Heinz. Heinz will be joined by George Smalberger for the 2010 season. George has been racing for over seven years and has three Porsche Challenge Championships to his name. With two years of Production Car racing behind him, George is sure to be an asset to the team. “It is going to take some time to acclimatise to the Mazda, but I am very excited to be joining the team and am proud to represent Mazda,” enthused George. The team will be put to the test in three races at each of this year’s Bridgestone Production Car events. The new race day format will place emphasis on team strategy and vehicle reliability. “We had many reliability problems with our engine management systems last year. We were using standard ECUs and although these are perfect for road going vehicles, we needed something that we could re-programme to meet our performance needs. These cars are run well above acceptable manufacturer levels and so the unit’s safety features would cause the vehicles to go into “safe” mode. We have spent most of the off-season testing and developing racing ECU’s which will eliminate these problems,” explained head technician Trevor Green. The season’s first official practice sessions will take place on Friday 19 February, with qualifying and all three races on Saturday 20 February. |