Mazda Confirms Multimatic Takeover from Joest

Multimatic Motorsports will run the Mazda DPi program from the next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship onward, taking over from Joest Racing.

As first revealed by Sportscar365 in November, Multimatic will assume control of the two-car operation from 15-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joest, which had been running Mazda’s IMSA project since mid-2017.

Multimatic was already involved in the program as a technical partner and was at the forefront of developing the Mazda RT24-P.

The Canadian company was originally expected to take charge starting at Long Beach, however that event was recently canceled due to precautions against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

As things stand, the next round on the WeatherTech Championship schedule is the sprint race at Detroit Belle Isle on May 30.

“Mazda is looking forward to going racing with Multimatic when IMSA resumes racing, with a shared goal of winning the IMSA driver and manufacturer’s championships,” said Mazda Motorsport director Nelson Cosgrove.

“The management and engineering staff at Multimatic is familiar with our team and will continue to elevate our program.”

Mazda’s driver lineups for the rest of the 2020 season remain unchanged despite the switch of program operator.

Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito will continue to share the No. 55 car while Tristan Nunez and Oliver Jarvis will co-drive the No. 77 machine.

Additionally, Ryan-Hunter Reay and Olivier Pla will remain in their positions as additional drivers for the Michelin Endurance Cup events.

Nunez, Jarvis and Pla finished second in the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona while Mazda is currently second behind Cadillac in the DPi manufacturers’ standings.