Manufacturers have long regarded the racetrack as a testing ground. There’s a good reason for it, too — what better way to test performance technology than to see what it’s made of at the highest levels of speed, pressure, and heat, all against stiff competition? Proven technology then trickles down the ladder from race cars to production cars, and speed junkies like us get to feel like we’re driving a race car between stop lights and past baby-on-board Subarus.
Enter Mazda Motorsport and Chip Ganassi Racing, two manufacturer-affiliated race teams making waves in the United Sports Car Championship series by flipping this formula on its head. Mazda’s Skyactiv-D #70 prototype car and the Ford Riley Daytona prototype both use existing production engines, helping the brands demonstrate the viability and capability of their current technologies, all while gathering data to make future iterations more durable, reliable, and drivable. We visited both racing teams as they prepared for this weekend’s 2014 Detroit Grand Prix on Belle Isle.
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