Mazda MX-5 Crowned 2016 World Car of the Year



Tamara Mlynarczyk, Manager, Public Affairs, Mazda North American Operations

with Mazda Motorsports racer Andrew Carbonell, who helped develop Mazda’s 2016 Global MX-5 Cup Car.

Photography by Bonnie M. Morét

The new generation Mazda MX-5 was crowned 2016 World Car of the Year at the New York International Auto Show.  The Mazda MX-5 beat the Mercedes-Benz GLC and Audi A4.  Mazda's roadster was the vehicle of choice in the World Car Design of the Year category, too.

Andrew Carbonell with Mazda MX-5
Photography by Bonnie M. Morét

Earlier this month, Mazda's Tamara Mlynarczyk, Manager of Public Affairs, introduced automotive media attending the Atlanta International Auto Show to both the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Global Cup Car and Andew Carbonell, the Mazda Motorsports driver who helped develop the car.

 

Andrew Carbonell
Photography by Bonnie M. Morét

 

Carbonell explained, "The 2016 Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car is an incredibly fun and rewarding car to drive that inspires driver confidence around every corner. Mazda has done a great job of bringing back the original sports car feel that millions fell in love with from the first generation chassis known as the “NA.” The NA had a very nimble feel, which made it incredibly enjoyable to drive around the track: it responds to your inputs on demand and does whatever you tell it to, within reason, of course. Now, with the new MX-5 Cup car—the “ND”—I get that same feeling.

 

Andrew Carbonell with Mazda MX-5
Photography by Bonnie M. Morét

Mazda’s SKYACTIV technology has provided us with a lightweight chassis design, a new motor with more usable power due to a larger mid-range and a set of four piston Brembo brakes with incredible stopping power. I can feel these improvements in each segment of the corner. Every brake zone, turn-in point, apex and track out makes me realize just how outstanding this new race car really is. I’ve driven a lot of laps around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Mazda MX-5s, and the ND’s relationship to the NA chassis can really be felt there. Turn six is a quick kink on the way to the Corkscrew, and you can feel just how nimble the ND chassis is through there; you can come in with lots of speed, flick the car into the corner with a large slip angle, and the improved suspension geometry creates a ton of grip right as the car compresses through the dip at the apex, saving you from going off of the track. In fact, the car created so much grip through here that I never felt like I carried enough speed to find my limit!" 

Photography by Bonnie M. Morét

Congratulations Tamara and good luck racing, Andrew! 

For more information about Mazda, visit www.mazdausa.com. 

For more information about Andrew Carbonell, visit Mazda Motorsports.