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NEWS
Mazda for F1...
... As all-new Mazda6 is announced for next year's Australian Grand Prix Celebrity ChallengeThe all-new Mazda6 made its Australian debut this morning at Albert Park in Melbourne, where it was announced as the vehicle for the Celebrity Challenge at the 2013 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Marking a radical departure from previous Celebrity Challenges – which played host to race-prepped MINI Cooper, Fiat 500 and Lexus CT200h models – next year’s F1 support race will see 20 local identities do battle in automatic diesel-powered versions of the new Mazda6 mid-size family sedan.
The third-generation Mazda6 sedan and wagon were revealed at the Paris motor show late last month and will make their Australian public premiere at next week’s Sydney motor show, before going on sale prior to the F1 GP in the first quarter of next year. Alastair Doak, Mazda Australia's national marketing manager, explained that the high-profile support race was an important component of the new car's launch in the local market.
“All-New Mazda6 is a car which has the potential to re-energize the family car segment here in Australia and the Mazda6 Celebrity Challenge is an important part of our launch strategy," Mr Doak said.
Based on an all-new SKYACTIV platform and powered by an all-new SKYACTIV ‘clean-diesel’ engine, the new Mazda6 returns fuel consumption of just 4.8L/100km in automatic sedan form in Europe – less than Toyota’s Camry Hybrid (5.2L/100km).
While that’s not quite as frugal as the pint-size CT200h hybrid hatch, which consumes 4.1L/100km and contested the last F1 GP Celebrity Challenge held in 2011, the Mazda6 diesel is a much larger, more powerful vehicle.
Celebrities including Olympic gold medal cyclist Anna Meares and Australia’s most successful Paralympian, 11-time gold medallist Matthew Cowdrey, will race the same vehicles released to the public early next year.
"I’ve always dreamt of being involved in car racing. Much like cycling, it is such a technical and mentally draining sport and I have the greatest respect for Formula 1 drivers," said Meares.
"It’s a great honour to take part in a race like this. I’m a very competitive swimmer, and don’t like losing, so expect nothing less when I’m out there on the Circuit," said Cowdrey.
The Mazda variant chosen for the Celebrity Challenge will be powered by a 2.2-litre twin-turbo diesel engine that produces 129kW and 420Nm. The new Mazda6 will also be released here with a new SKYACTIV 2.5-litre petrol engine – again available only with an automatic gearbox – that also comes standard with Mazda’s unique new capacitor-based brake energy regeneration system, i-ELOOP, which Alastair Doak hailed for its fuel-conserving capacity.
"New technology such as i-ELOOP is just one of the many reasons that we feel we’re on to a winner," Mr Doak said. "All-New Mazda6 is the first car to feature i-ELOOP which is the next step in the rollout of our innovative SKYACTIV Technologies designed to improve fuel efficiency and to enhance the joy of driving."
It is the first time Mazda has contested the Celebrity Challenge, but far from its first motorsport foray in Australia, where it most recently competed in the Targa Tasmania tarmac rally in a turbocharged RX-8 and turbocharged Mazda3 MPS.
Various versions of the brand’s iconic rotary-powered RX-7 have also done battle in the former Australian Touring Car Championship (in the hands of Allan Moffat) and in 12- and 24-hour endurance races at Eastern Creek and Bathurst.
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