The 2021 Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BF Goodrich was a single-make motor racing championship, the 17th season of the Mazda MX-5 Cup and the 1st under a new sanctioning agreement with the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The series began on January 28 at Daytona International Speedway, and concluded on November 12 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after 14 rounds. Gresham Wagner won the driver's championship, earning Spark Performance the entrant's championship as well. Sam Paley won the Rookie of the Year championship with McCumbee McAleer Racing.
Schedule
The schedule was initially announced on October 28, 2020, and features 14 rounds across seven double-header weekends.[1] On December 17, 2020, the schedule was revised, along with the 2021 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
On January 6, 2021, the St. Petersburg event was rescheduled from its March date to April 23–25, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
On February 8, 2021, IMSA announced an additional double-header event to be held during the 12 Hours of Sebring event weekend in March. Rounds 3 and 4 at Sebring will serve as a replacement for a future race venue to be announced at a later date. Thus, the 2021 MX-5 Cup Championship will still be composed of 14 rounds at seven tracks.[4]
On April 7, 2021, the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park event scheduled for July 2-4 was cancelled due to COVID-19 quarantine requirements.[5]
All races are 45 minutes in length.
| Rnd. | Circuit | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daytona International Speedway (Road Course) |  Daytona Beach, Florida |
January 27-29 |
| 2 | |||
| 3 | Sebring International Raceway | Sebring, Florida |
March 17-19 |
| 4 | |||
| 5 | Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida |
April 23–25 |
| 6 | |||
| 7 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
May 14–16 |
| 8 | |||
| 9 | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
August 6–8 |
| 10 | |||
| 11 | WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California |
September 10–12 |
| 12 | |||
| 13 | Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia |
November 10-12 |
| 14 | |||
| Source:[6] | |||
Confirmed Entries
All competitors utilize the Mazda MX-5 Cup car, modified to their homologated racing specification by Flis Performance.
| Team | No. | Driver | Rounds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carter Racing Enterprises |
08 | Michael Carter |
All | |
| Copeland Motorsports |
4 |  Bryan Ortiz |
1–8 | |
| 26 | Peter Atwater |
R | 1–2, 5–8 | |
| 38 | Daniel Williams |
R | 1–10 | |
| 41 | Luca Mars |
R | All | |
| 43 | Joey Atanasio |
R | 1–2 | |
| 51 | Dean Copeland |
11–12 | ||
| Hixon Motorsports |
37 | Sabré Cook |
R | 1–2 |
| 42 | Preston Pardus |
1–2 | ||
| 47 | Bryan Hixon |
1–12 | ||
| 63 | Savanna Little |
R | 1–10, 13–14 | |
| 72 | Hannah Grisham |
R | 1–2 | |
| Connor Zilisch |
R | 13–14 | ||
| 73 | Dan Moen |
3–4 | ||
| 87 | Selin Rollan |
All | ||
| 92 | Loni Unser |
All | ||
| 98 | Derek Ware |
1–2 | ||
| 11 | Andrew Carbonell |
9–10 | ||
| 22 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Alex Berg |
R | 13–14 | |
 Irish Mike's Racing |
95 | Todd Buras |
3–4 | |
| JTR Motorsports Engineering |
32 | Chris Nunes |
R | All |
| 96 | Jared Thomas |
All | ||
| 82 | Woody Heimann |
R | 7–14 | |
| 26 | Peter Atwater |
R | 9–14 | |
| 97 | Daniel Williams |
R | 11–12 | |
| 69 | Anthony McIntosh |
R | 13–14 | |
| McCumbee McAleer Racing |
13 | Jenson Altzman |
R | All |
| 28 | Sam Paley |
R | All | |
| 31 | John Jodoin |
R | 3–4, 8–12 | |
| 48 | Zachry Lee |
3–8,11–12 | ||
| 55 |  Moisey Uretsky |
All | ||
| 89 | Justin Piscitell |
All | ||
| Provision Motorsports |
24 | Aaron Jeansonne |
R | 1–14 |
| 99 | Drake Kemper |
1–8, 13–14 | ||
| 43 | Joey Atanasio |
R | 3–4 | |
| 99 | Drake Kemper |
1–8, 13–14 | ||
| Bruno Carneiro |
11–12 | |||
| Slipstream Performance |
12 | Mike Globe |
3–4, 7–10, 13–14 | |
| 20 |  Hernan Palermo |
1–4, 7–14 | ||
| 33 | Alex Bachoura |
All | ||
| 36 | David Staab |
All | ||
| Spark Performance |
5 | Gresham Wagner |
All | |
 Team Guatemala Racing |
59 | Juan Hernandez Leiva |
R | 1–8 |
| Sources: [7] | ||||
R = Eligible for Rookie's Championship
Race Results
| Rnd. | Circuit | Winning Driver | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Hard Charger |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daytona | Gresham Wagner |
Gresham Wagner |
Gresham Wagner |
Jenson Altzman |
| 2 | Michael Carter |
Gresham Wagner |
Preston Pardus |
Hernan Palermo | |
| 3 | Sebring | Selin Rollan |
Gresham Wagner |
Chris Nunes |
Todd Buras |
| 4 | Gresham Wagner |
Sam Paley |
Michael Carter |
Todd Buras | |
| 5 | St. Petersburg | Selin Rollan |
Michael Carter |
Michael Carter |
Aaron Jeansonne |
| 6 | Michael Carter |
Michael Carter |
Selin Rollan |
Alex Bachoura | |
| 7 | Mid-Ohio | Selin Rollan |
Michael Carter |
Selin Rollan |
Luca Mars |
| 8 | Chris Nunes |
Gresham Wagner |
Hernan Palermo |
Luca Mars | |
| 9 | Road America | Selin Rollan |
Selin Rollan |
Gresham Wagner |
Michael Carter |
| 10 | Michael Carter |
Gresham Wagner |
Michael Carter |
John Jodoin | |
| 11 | Laguna Seca | Gresham Wagner |
Selin Rollan |
Selin Rollan |
Alex Bachoura |
| 12 | Gresham Wagner |
Selin Rollan |
Bruno Carneiro |
Moisey Uretsky | |
| 13 | Road Atlanta | Gresham Wagner |
Gresham Wagner |
Connor Zilisch |
Chris Nunes |
| 14 | Jared Thomas |
Selin Rollan |
Jared Thomas |
Luca Mars |
Championship Standings
Points System
Championship points are awarded at the finish of each event according to the chart below.
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 or below |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 350 | 320 | 300 | 280 | 260 | 250 | 240 | 230 | 220 | 210 | 200 | 190 | 180 | 170 | 160 | 150 | 140 | 130 | 120 | 110 | 100 | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | 50 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 10 |
For each race, bonus points are awarded for the following:
| Award | Points |
|---|---|
| Pole Position | 10 |
| Most Race Laps Led | 10 |
| Fastest Race Lap | 10 |
- The ten (10) additional points for achieving pole position are not awarded if the starting grid is determined by “Other Means”.
- In the case of a tie for the most laps led, the Competitor that finishes the highest in the running order is declared the winner.
- In the case of a tie for the fastest Race lap, the Competitor that first achieves the fastest Race lap is declared the winner.
Driver's Championship
IMSA recognizes Driver champions based on the total number of championship points earned during the season.
| Pos. | Driver | DAY | SEB | STP | MOH | ELK | LGA | ATL | Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||||
| 1 | Gresham Wagner |
1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 120 | 4330 |
| 2 | Michael Carter |
9 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 100 | 4240 |
| 3 | Selin Rollan |
6 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 110 | 4150 |
| 4 | Chris Nunes |
4 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 3430 |
| 5 | Sam Paley |
2 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 3410 |
| 6 | Luca Mars |
13 | 9 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3210 |
| 7 | Justin Piscitell |
5 | 6 | 4 | 25 | 19 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 2980 |
| 8 | Aaron Jeansonne |
8 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 13 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 22 | 0 | 2800 |
| 9 | Jared Thomas |
3 | 2 | 25 | 8 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 24† | 22 | DNS | 5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 2750 |
| 10 | Jenson Altzman |
16 | 25 | 27 | 6 | 4 | 17 | 11 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2560 |
| 11 | David Staab |
22 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 22 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 2190 |
| 12 | Alex Bachoura |
18 | 24 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 21 | 20 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 2120 |
| 13 | Moisey Uretsky |
24 | 21 | 19 | 26 | 16 | 13 | 19 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 21 | 11 | 0 | 2040 |
| 14 | Hernan Palermo |
27† | 14 | 11 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 21 | 8 | 19 | 11 | 21 | 10 | 1900 | ||
| 15 | Bryan Hixon |
14 | 19 | 15 | 17 | 13 | 14 | 22 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 0 | 1820 | ||
| 16 | Loni Unser |
25 | 26 | 18 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 23 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 14 | DNS | DNS | 0 | 1760 |
| 17 | Bryan Ortiz |
11 | 11 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 12 | 0 | 1740 | ||||||
| 18 | Daniel Williams |
21 | 22 | 14 | 12 | 22† | 8 | 10 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 1740 | ||
| 19 | Drake Kemper |
19 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 17 | DNS | 25† | 8 | 18 | 14 | 0 | 1540 | ||||
| 20 | Peter Atwater |
15 | 17 | 8 | 19 | 21 | DNS | DNS | 17 | 15 | 17 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 1490 | ||
| 21 | Savanna Little |
23 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 20 | 23 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 0 | 1440 | ||
| 22 | Zachry Lee |
9 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 1390 | ||||||
| 23 | Juan Hernandez |
17 | 27 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1320 | ||||||
| 24 | Woody Heimann |
20 | 17 | 13 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 0 | 1230 | ||||||
| 25 | John Jodoin |
10 | 23 | 21 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 990 | ||||||||
| 26 | Mike Globe |
22 | 21 | 24 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 0 | 880 | ||||||
| 27 | Joey Atanasio |
10 | 15 | 24 | 20 | 0 | 550 | ||||||||||
| 28 | Preston Pardus |
7 | 7 | 20 | 500 | ||||||||||||
| 29 | Todd Buras |
8 | 5 | 0 | 490 | ||||||||||||
| 30 | Andrew Carbonell |
6 | 19 | 0 | 370 | ||||||||||||
| 31 | Sabré Cook |
12 | 13 | 0 | 370 | ||||||||||||
| 32 | Connor Zilisch |
22 | 5 | 10 | 360 | ||||||||||||
| 33 | Alex Berg |
16 | 13 | 0 | 330 | ||||||||||||
| 34 | Anthony McIntosh |
15 | 16 | 0 | 310 | ||||||||||||
| 35 | Hannah Grisham |
20 | 20 | 0 | 220 | ||||||||||||
| 36 | Bruno Carneiro |
22 | 21 | 10 | 200 | ||||||||||||
| 37 | Derek Ware |
26 | 18 | 0 | 180 | ||||||||||||
| 38 | Dean Copeland |
21 | 23 | 0 | 180 | ||||||||||||
| 39 | Dan Moen |
21 | 27 | 0 | 140 | ||||||||||||
| Pos. | Driver | DAY | SEB | STP | MOH | ELK | LGA | ATL | Bonus | Points | |||||||
Bold = Pole Position
Italics = Fastest Race Lap
Underline = Most Laps Led
† = Post-race penalty; moved to back of class
Entrant's Championship
Each Entrant receives championship points for its highest Car finishing position in each class in each race. The positions of subsequent finishing cars from the same entrant are not considered in the results and all other cars are elevated in the finishing positions accordingly.
| Pos. | Entrant | DAY | SEB | STP | MOH | ELK | LGA | ATL | Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||||
| 1 | Spark Performance | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 120 | 4450 |
| 2 | Hixon Motorsports | 6 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 140 | 4350 |
| 3 | Carter Racing Enterprises | 9 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 100 | 4280 |
| 4 | JTR Motorsports Engineering | 3 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 4040 |
| 5 | McCumbee McAleer Racing | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 3950 |
| 6 | Copeland Motorsports | 10 | 15 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3600 |
| 7 | Provision Motorsports | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 3500 |
| 8 | Slipstream Performance | 19 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 3280 |
| 9 | Team Guatemala Racing | 17 | 27 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1860 | ||||||
| 10 | Irish Mike's Racing | 8 | 5 | 0 | 510 | ||||||||||||
| Pos. | Entrant | DAY | SEB | STP | MOH | ELK | LGA | ATL | Bonus | Points | |||||||
Bold = Pole Position
Italics = Fastest Race Lap
Underline = Most Laps Led
Rookie's Championship
Rookie points are awarded based on the Car’s finishing position for each Rookie Driver, with the finishing positions of Cars without Rookie Drivers not considered in the results and all other Cars with Rookie Drivers elevated in the finishing positions accordingly.
| Pos. | Driver | DAY | SEB | STP | MOH | ELK | LGA | ATL | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |||
| 1 | Sam Paley |
2 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 4290 |
| 2 | Chris Nunes |
4 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4250 |
| 3 | Luca Mars |
13 | 9 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4140 |
| 4 | Aaron Jeansonne |
8 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 13 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 22 | 3920 |
| 5 | Jenson Altzman |
16 | 25 | 27 | 6 | 4 | 17 | 11 | 27 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 3720 |
| 6 | Daniel Williams |
21 | 22 | 14 | 12 | 22† | 8 | 10 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 2870 | ||
| 7 | Savanna Little |
23 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 20 | 23 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 2740 | ||
| 8 | Peter Atwater |
15 | 17 | 8 | 19 | 21 | DNS | DNS | 17 | 15 | 17 | 12 | 20 | 2390 | ||
| 9 | Juan Hernandez |
17 | 27 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 2030 | ||||||
| 10 | Woody Heimann |
20 | 17 | 13 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 1930 | ||||||
| 11 | John Jodoin |
10 | 23 | 21 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 1490 | ||||||||
| 12 | Joey Atanasio |
10 | 15 | 24 | 20 | 990 | ||||||||||
| 13 | Connor Zilisch |
22 | 5 | 520 | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Sabre Cook |
12 | 13 | 520 | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Alex Berg |
16 | 13 | 470 | ||||||||||||
| 16 | Anthony McIntosh |
15 | 16 | 460 | ||||||||||||
| 17 | Hannah Grisham |
20 | 20 | 440 | ||||||||||||
| Pos. | Driver | DAY | SEB | STP | MOH | ELK | LGA | ATL | Points | |||||||
† = Post-race penalty; moved to back of class
References
- ↑ "Mazda MX-5 Cup Unveils 2021 Schedule with New Partner IMSA". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ↑ "IMSA West Coast Swing Moves to September for 2021". IMSA. December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ↑ "Mazda MX-5 Cup Set for New Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Date". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
- ↑ "Sebring added to MX-5 Cup schedule, Daytona openers on TV". RACER. February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
- ↑ "Mazda MX-5 Cup Removes Canadian Tire Motorsport Park from 2021 Schedule". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
- ↑ "Schedule". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ↑ "Pre-Event Entry List" (PDF). IMSA. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.