In just a few short seasons, Thomas Annunziata has moved up from karts, to taking in a handful of Spec Miata races, then on to Spec MX-5 Challenge, and now to fighting for Rookie of the Year honors in the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich (above, car No. 10).
Mazda Will Discontinue IMSA Prototype Program At The End Of 2021 Season
Photo: Mazda
IMSA is getting beat up in the ring lately. With the collapse of its factory-supported GTLM category, the sanctioning body has already had to pivot its GT classes to a more affordable GTD-based program. Friday’s announcement that Mazda would be ending its DPi program at the end of the 2021 season and would not be pursuing a replacement LMDh program in the future has been a serious hit to the series. This leaves only Acura and Cadillac participating in the class in 2022.
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Mazda has been an integral part of the IMSA prototype class since the merger of ALMS and Grand Am in 2014. The series was so well-meshed with Mazda Motorsports that team boss John Doonan left the Japanese manufacturer to be president of IMSA in early 2020. The Mazda program has not, however, been without difficulties. The team has worked with three different supporting partners, finding success difficult until rec