A trio of Mazda MX–5s is to take on Britain's top 24 hour race at Silverstone, with three factory backed cars entered in the Britcar 24 Hours.
The manufacturer entered two of the cars in the twice-around-the-clock race last year and in 2011 the Britcar paddock has regularly hosted two MX-5 – one example of the GT and one of the production based car – doing battle against rivals in Lotuses, SEATs, BMWs and Ginettas.
Three of the regular drivers from the season will share the MX-5 GT, a car which holds the accolade of being the world's fastest and lightest MX-5 at 850kg. Mike Wilds, Owen Mildenhall and Mike Ticehurst taking control of the car for what is expected to be 1,000 racing miles around the 3.66 mile Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone.
Two production cars, based around the 2.0i Soft-top Sport Tech, will be shared by two 'visiting' quartets of drivers.
The first will be shared by a team of journalists, freelancers Jethro Bovingdon and Andrew Frankel joining Autosport scribe Ben Anderson and Autocar writer Matthew Prior.
The second car will be driven by a team raising the profile of several British Armed Forces charities – The Not Forgotten Association, Help for Heroes, the Army Benevolent Fund, Forces Children’s Trust and Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
After seven rounds of the Britcar season the MX-5 GT lies fifth overall and third in class, the production example is fourth in its class.
“In just our first year of racing the MX-5 GT race car we are currently fifth overall in the championship which has included two podiums and we are third in class. The Britcar 24hr race will be a true test of our award winning roadster's ability,” said Graeme Fudge, PR Director, Mazda UK.
The Checkered Flag will be delivering full live coverage from Silverstone throughout the Britcar 24 Hours.
