Project Yellow Light Video Contest Winners For 2013 Announced

Project Yellow Light is a scholarship competition designed to bring about change. As an applicant you have one clear mission: encourage your peers to develop and embrace safe driving habits. For both the high school and college contests, the first-place winner will receive a scholarship in the amount of $5,000. Second-place finisher will receive $2,000. Third-place finisher will receive $1,000. Mazda Motorsports is a major supporting partner. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Project Yellow Light Video Contest Winners For 2013 Announced

An important part of the process of being a participant in the Mazda Motorsports Ladder System for driver development is to be an advocate for safety in automobile operation.

Kenton Koch, an 18 year old Glendora High School student and Mazda Ladder race car driver, finds time to give safe driving education at high schools near race day locations throughout the country - as do many of the drivers associated with Mazda Motorsports. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

As a component of this outreach agenda, ladder participants/alumni Ben Albano, Kenton Koch, and Elliott Skeer acted as judges in the second annual Project Yellow Light scholarship contest supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Mazda Motorsports, the Ad Council and the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS).

Project Yellow Light is a film competition for high school seniors and college students designed to create compelling video stories that will convince their peers to develop safe driving habits.  The project was created by Julie, Lowell and Alex Garner in memory of their son/brother, Hunter who died tragically in a car crash in 2007. Each year the winner of the film competition receives The Hunter Garner Scholarship.  Project Yellow Light/Hunter Garner Scholarship is a non-profit organization that began in Hunter’s school, Riverbend High in Fredericksburg, VA, with aspirations to inspire and motivate youth all over America.  The program is designed to give young adults a voice and a role in reversing the number of car crashes — the number one killer of teenagers and young adults in the U.S.

Grand-Am Series GX Class race winning race car driver, Joel Miller enjoys sharing a moment with the media about the outreach activities of Mazda on behalf Project Yellow Light at the 2013 Mazda Motorsports media day last month. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

As part of Global Youth Traffic Safety Month, entrants were asked to develop and produce a short video that would depict for their peers the dangers of risky mobile behavior on our Nation’s roadways.  The high school grand prize was awarded to Brittany Devasure, a senior from North Carolina, for her video, and, for the first time, the contest was open to college students. Rachel Hall, who studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, was recognized as the grand prize winner for her video.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2011, eleven percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes. This age group has the largest proportion of driv­ers who were distracted.

"Distracted driving is a national epidemic, and our youngest drivers are particularly at risk," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "We know that young drivers listen to their friends, which makes the Project Yellow Light ads so powerful.  Today’s scholarship winners have helped raise awareness of the dangers of texting while driving, and are potentially saving the lives of other teen drivers as well."

The ladder development racers Mazda Motorsports have dubbed the "MAZDASPEED 7"- with Bryan Hixon, Peter Portante, Patrick Gallagher, Matthew Brabham, Stevan McAleer and Yago Cesário along with the engineering and drivers of Sylvain Tremblay's SpeedSource. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

"As racers we know about driver safety and take the subject very seriously.  With our extensive team of teenage race drivers, and our longstanding partnership with the Skip Barber Racing School, active support of Project Yellow Light was a natural fit for Mazda Motorsports." said John Doonan, Director, Mazda Motorsports, Mazda North American Operations. "Everyone at Mazda was impressed with both the quality and quantity of entries this year, and we were happy that our support allowed the Project Yellow Light team to add a category for college students."

This year’s contest ran from November 2012 through March 2013 and received nearly 500 submissions. 

Second place prizes were awarded to high school senior Sophie Koorhan of Pennsylvania and Katherine Duffy, a student at the University of Southern California. Third place prizes were given to high school senior Joanne Ly of California and Rahul Sharma, a college student at New York University.

All of the winners will receive college scholarships and One-Day Teen Survival Skills Classes at the Skip Barber Racing School, provided by Mazda Motorsports. Additionally, the first place winners’ videos will be digitally distributed to air as Public Service Announcements (aka PSAs) by the Ad Council to their network of more than 1,500 TV stations nationwide.

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Mazda's New SKYACTIV-D Technology Sets First Racing Mark

Visit Florida Racing Mazda6 takes Grand-Am GX win at Road Atlanta as Mazda's SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine technology occupies P1 and P3 on the podium. Image Credit: Mazda Motorsports

Mazda's New SKYACTIV-D Technology Sets First Racing Mark

The fruits of real-time, in-season race development program become realized after only four races into the first Grand-Am GX Class season. The all-new Mazda6, powered by a production-based SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine, scored a win in the Rolex Grand-Am GX race at Road Atlanta.

#70 Mazda6 with the SKYACTIV-D turbo diesel showcar where the two turbo assist devices are used primarily to cool the engine as opposed to directly add to the development of power or torque. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

In 2013, the Grand-Am racing series for full-bodied GT cars added a new class of racing platform to its field of formally pedestrian but hardened sedan cars that can be purchased from dealerships around the country. The GX Class will have 13 models from 12 different manufacturers to choose from, based on the list of cars eligible for the new GX class in the Rolex Sports Car Series. Eligible cars announced for the class include the Lotus Evora GX, Porsche Cayman, Mazda6 with the SKYACTIV-D turbo diesel, Audi TT, BMW 1 Series, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus (four door), Hyundai Genesis, Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S, Nissan 370Z or Altima, and Volkswagen EOS.

SpeedSource engineering improvements to the factory SKYACTIV-D clean diesel engine include changes to the crankshaft, fuel intake manifolds and pistons. Images Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Joel Miller and Andrew Carbonell drove the #00 Visit Florida Racing Mazda6 to the win, with team-mates Sylvain Tremblay and Tom Long finishing third in the similar #70 SpeedSource Mazda6 SKYACTIV-D.  It was a three-way battle for most of the race with a Porsche Cayman splitting the two Mazdas.

This win represented a day of firsts for Grand-Am competition and for Mazda Motorsports.  This is the first-ever win for a diesel-powered car in Grand-Am competition.  It also marked the first win for the all-new Mazda6 in any race series.  It was the first Grand-Am race win for drivers Joel Miller and Andrew Carbonell.  Miller is a former Mazda Motorsports Scholarship winner, having won the Skip Barber National Championship in 2007.  Carbonnell has been racing Mazdas with Freedom Autosport for many years, and was part of the team that delivered the 2011 Continental Tire ST Manufacturers Championship to Mazda.  Carbonell was substituting for Miller’s usual teammate, Tristan Nunez, who had a schedule conflict with another race in Long Beach.

GX Class Mazda6 driver Joel Miller (r) discussed how driving a diesel-powered race requires a different, "more loving" feel in acceleration and shifting than other gasoline fueled race cars. It is kinda like "hyper-miling" for the race track because the strongest power band on diesel performance is a little tighter with lower RPM at the top of the range. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

"The new Mazda6 prepared by SpeedSource ran perfectly," said Joel Miller, co-driver of the #00 Visit Florida Racing Mazda6 in a post race interview. "The torque of the SKYACTIV-D pulled up the elevation changes around Road Atlanta circuit strongly and the Mazda6 handled beautifully. During the course of the race we attacked when needed and paced ourselves when required. The event had only one caution during the two-hour and 45 minutes race, thus there was hardly any time to relax. The SpeedSource crew was in constant communication with myself and co-driver Andrew Carbonell as we worked through traffic. Bringing home the victory for the SpeedSource crew who worked so hard on this program brings great joy and I cannot wait to continue the [development] program. Over the past eight years Mazda has taken me from karting through their ladder program. I’m proud to be racing the Mazda6 and to be a part of Mazda history in gaining the first SKYACTIV Technology victory."

Joel Miller is the Southern California driver who's mother gave title to a 2011 documentary featuring the Star Mazda Series, an open-wheel driver development series that has since changed its banner to the Pro Mazda Series. "Driven To Race" was billed as a documentary film effort about what it takes to win which garnered several film festival awards when it was debuted.

Sylvain Tremblay, owner of SpeedSource Engineering, explains what changes were made to the Mazda6 SKYACTIVE-D clean diesel engine pistons for racing in the Grand-Am GX Class at the Mazda Motorsport 2013 media kick off meeting. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

The truth behind this new Mazda6 SKYACTIVE-D development and win in the Grand-Am GX Class can be summed up by the owner of SpeedSource Engineering (the engineering firm behind the race tuned Mazda effort), Sylvain Tremblay. "While Joel and Andrew sprayed the champagne, this win truly defined the expression, ‘team work.’ The victory is shared with everyone at SpeedSource, Mazda North American Operations and Mazda Motor Corporation, and is a tribute to the thousands of hours of hard work over many months," said Sylvain. "After that rough debut at Daytona, everyone stepped up to make sure we had a fast, reliable car as soon as was humanly possible. 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."

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Mazda And SpeedSource Bring Something New To Race At The 51st Rolex 24

The trio of SpeedSource-built, Mazdaspeed Motorsports-manned, twin-turbo, 2014 SKYACTIV Diesel Mazda6 GRAND-AM Road Racing fighters, looking hungry for GX-class competition in this weekend's Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona! Image Credit: Via Facebook - Faulkner Mazda

Mazda And SpeedSource Bring Something New To Race At The 51st Rolex 24

Last year, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) introduced a new approach to the engineering design of engines and transmissions designed to gain torque and miles per gallon ratings of their automobiles. This approach is marketed under the overall name of SKYACTIV and has two engine types that will be for sale to the public by the end of 2013 - SKYACTIV-G (for gas) and SKYACTIV-D (for diesel).

Mazda Motorsports will be using the 51st Rolex 24 at Daytona to preview a new racing platform that uses the revolutionary SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel technology engines with added racing technology to bring them up to producing 400 hp @ 5000 rpm from a 2.2L displacement inline 4 cylinder turbo diesel block.

Mazda will be seeking its 24th class win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race with three all-new 2014 Mazda6 race cars powered with the SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine. This will be the first-ever diesel power plant to compete in GRAND-AM racing. The SKYACTIV-D engines are a majority production-based employment, with more than 60-percent stock components, including the engine block and head.

Cars line up to run first practice session laps for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The historic #00 Mazda6 SKYACTIV-D gets pushed into line at far right. Mazda makes a statement for clean diesel technology and their SKYACTIV approach by placing three cars in the field for the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend. Image Credit: Via Twitter @michaellgoodwin

This excerpted and edited from Mazda Motorsports -

WHAT’S NEW WITH MAZDA MOTORSPORTS?  EVERYTHING!
New car, engine, fuel, teams, and drivers join Mazda and SpeedSource at Daytona
By Mazda Motorsports - January 25, 2013 (DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.)

The Car: Model Year 2014 Mazda6 SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel Racecar

The Engine:   A production-based racing version of the same 2.2-liter SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine that will be available in the second half of 2013 for retail sale.  The race engine includes over 250 stock components.  The block and head are Mazda production parts, identical to that used in their production cars.

The Teams/Drivers:

#70      SpeedSource: Jonathan Bomarito, Marino Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe, Tom Long and Sylvain Tremblay.  The two-time GT class winning team (2008 and 2010) will be seeking their third set of Rolex watches.


#00      VISIT FLORIDA Racing/SpeedSource/Yellow Dragon (Video Laps): Joel Miller, Tristan Nunez, Spencer Pigot, Yojiro Terada, and Tristan Vautier.  Terada is the veteran Mazda racer who has competed in more than two dozen 24 Hours of Le Mans races, and scored class wins with Mazda at Daytona in 1979, 1982, and 1985 .  The others are all racers who have won recent championships within the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Ladder and the Mazda Road to Indy.

The Freedom Autosport #25 Mazda6 with SKYACTIV-D power takes to the track during opening day practice at the 51st Rolex 24 at Daytona. Image Credit: Via Twitter @michaellgoodwin

In addition to the two SpeedSource cars, there is one customer team:

#25      Freedom Autosport with Andrew Carbonell, Tom Long, Rhett O’Doski, and Derek Whitis.  Freedom Autosport has been a winning team in the Continental Tire Challenge with Mazda.  They are moving up as a complete team.

The Soundbites:

John Doonan, Director, Mazda Motorsports, Mazda North American Operations -- "This is an amazing moment in Mazda Motorsports history because we are once again bringing innovative technology to the race track to demonstrate the performance, quality, durability and reliability of our brand.  While many know us as the ‘rotary engine’ company, and we love that part of our heritage, to race our latest SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel technology in our newest car, in the race where we have scored our largest number of wins, is amazing.  To get to this point, thousands and thousands of hours by engineers within Mazda in both Japan and the U.S., along with the amazing team at SpeedSource, has produced what we see as our prime mover for the next decade, SKYACTIV engines for racing."

Sylvain Tremblay, Owner, SpeedSource Engineering, and two-time Rolex 24 GT class winner – "I feel fortunate to have been a part in adding a few pages in the history of Mazda Motorsports. Now I am humbled to be part of a whole new chapter! New engine, new car, new everything, SKYACTIV is the way forward for us at the racetrack, like it is for the 2014 Mazda6, better performance and better fuel economy, what’s not to love about that. Very excited and proud of all the work by Mazda and our team here at SpeedSource in bringing this fantastic program to fruition."

Streaming Video to Complement TV Coverage:

To complement the SPEED TV coverage, Mazda will be providing a ‘second screen’ of coverage via streaming video from onboard the Mazda cars as well as some behind-the-scenes access to the Mazda teams.  Mazda fans can log on at www.MazdaUSA.com/motorsports at anytime during the race.

SPEED, SPEEDTV.com and the Motor Racing Network will combine to provide 25 hours of flag-to-flag coverage.  SPEED’s Rolex 24 coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 26, with a 30-minute pre-race show preceding the 3:30 p.m. waving of the green flag. When SPEED signs off on its opening day coverage at 11 p.m., SPEED.com will stream feeds throughout the night, including a rooftop camera, in-car cameras and radio calls by the Motor Racing Network.  SPEED returns at 9 a.m. on Sunday, with coverage including a 30-minute post-race show following the checkered flag at 3:30 p.m.  All 25 hours will be streamed live at www.grand-am.com and www.MotorRacingNetwork.com

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** Article first published as Mazda and SpeedSource Bring Something New to Race at The 51st Rolex 24 on Technorati **