1
NEWS
Mazda dumps F1
No celebrity appearance for Mazda at 2015 Australia F1 Grand PrixMazda will not return to the Australian F1 Grand Prix in 2015. Australia's number three new car brand and top importer has decided to cease its sponsorship of the event's crash-prone Celebrity Race and says it will look for other motorsport opportunities next year.
Mazda was the event's novelty race sponsor in 2013 and 2014 with a fleet of Mazda 6 and Mazda 3 models competing with celebrity drivers.
Although the events generated significant air time for the brand, the 2013 races (in particular) were marred with numerous crashes. Indeed, every one of the 24 Mazda 6s supplied for the 2013 event was damaged. Eventually Mazda was forced to write-off the full fleet.
Mazda Australia spokesman Steven Maciver told motoring.com.au the company was happy with the exposure the F1 association had generated but had made the decision to "look for other opportunities".
"Mazda Australia still wants to have an involvement in motorsport," he stated.
"There is nothing obvious yet, but we are continuing to examine options," Maciver stated.
Mazda's sportiest models are essentially out of 'circulation' currently. An all-new MX-5 will make its global debut next month, while Mazda Australia boss Martin Benders commented that the brand's MPS high-performance hatch model sub-brand is in "intermission".
Share this article
Written byMike Sinclair
See all articlesOur team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Subscribe todayRelated articles
Disclaimer
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Contact
Advertise with us
Local marketplaces
International marketplaces
Scan to download the carsales app
Want more info? Here’s our app landing page
App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo
are trademarks of Google LLC.