Inaugural MAZDASPEED Cup Race Breaks Record at World Famous Laguna Seca

MONTEREY, Calif., June 10 -- Rounding out a full day of Championship Auto Racing Team (CART) competition, MAZDASPEED made its official 2002 motorsports debut with the Inaugural MAZDASPEED Cup race. Breaking all previous racer/driver records for the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca and the Spec Miata Series, track officials reported an all-time high of seventy participants for the Mazda Miata race.

Hometown favorite Ken Dobson took the checkered flag finishing the race in 30:18.4, posting his best lap time of 1.49, and completing the renowned road course in 15 laps. Sharing the spotlight with Dobson were Barry Hartzel (30:18.6) and Marc Kriberg (30:19.4) placing second and third respectively.

"To win the first MAZDASPEED Cup is a really big deal," said Ken Dobson. "It's great to win it at my home track in front of my family and friends. Racing is serious business to me and this has been a fantastic opportunity for me."

The MAZDASPEED Cup race was a coming out party for Mazda North American Operations to support the continued launch of MAZDASPEED. Building off of the successful Spec Miata Series, the MAZDASPEED Cup featured identically built and tuned Mazda Miatas battling head-to-head.

"Motorsports is a key component to MAZDASPEED and there is no better place to showcase our program than at our own track, Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca," said Robert Davis, vice president of product development, Mazda North American Operations.

Mazda North American Operations is responsible for the sales and marketing, customer parts and services support of Mazda vehicles in the United States. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., MNAO has more than 700 dealerships nationwide.