HM Racers
Molten inks technical partnership agreement with Hiroshima Mazda HM Racers
Molten Corporation has entered into a technical partnership agreement with the Hiroshima Mazda HM Racers, which is currently competing in the 2019 Pirelli SuperTaikyu Series.
The first four parts to be supplied under the new agreement will be front and rear lower arm bushings, stabilizer bushings, and torsion beam arm bushings, all suspension parts that will increase cornering performance. The parts will be used in the redesigned Demio that HM Racers will be racing for the first time in the Super Tec 24-hour Race, the third race of the series being held at Fuji SpeedWay in Shizuoka Prefecture in May 2019. Under the agreement, the company will supply a variety of functional parts going forward.
Tetsuya Matsuda, Chairman and CEO of Hiroshima Mazda Co., Ltd., and Kiyofumi Tamiaki (right)
Hiroshima Mazda HM Racers
The team placed third at the Global MX-5 Cup Japan in 2017, its inaugural year. Then last year, its second, the team competed with two cars, one driven by Kota Sasaki and the other by Soichiro Yoshida. Sasaki won the fourth race in the series, and Yoshida the fifth, as the team finished second overall and advanced to the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Challenge, the final race in the series at Sebring International Raceway in the U.S. This year, its third, the team will compete with the Demio for the first time in the Pirelli SuperTaikyu Series as it looks to advance to a new stage of its journey.
(Official website: http://www.hiromaz.co.jp/hmracers/)
Pirelli SuperTaikyu Series
The SuperTaikyu Series, which was created in Japan in 1991 as a race for stock vehicles, is one of Japan’s largest and longest running touring car races. The series, which is held every year, is divided into multiple vehicles classes based on displacement and drive type. Pirelli became the official tire supplier in 2018, and the series changed its name to the Pirelli SuperTaikyu Series.
(Official website: https://supertaikyu.com/)
Comments by Tetsuya Matsuda, Chairman and CEO of Hiroshima Mazda Co., Ltd.
HM Racers, Hiroshima Mazda’s racing team, was created in 2016. The team competed in the Global MX-5 Cup Japan, which was launched in 2017, and steadily increased their skills while amassing a track record of success. In 2018, HM Racers won two of the five races in the series (Race 4 at Okayama and Race 5 at Fuji).
Eager to evolve in new directions, the team will compete in the 2019 Pirelli SuperTaikyu Series, where they will look to take things to the next level.
It will be a great pleasure to race with parts from Molten while developing a vehicle capable of winning, which is no simple task. We look forward to undertaking this journey together and sharing the laurels with such a reliable partner.
Comments by Kiyofumi Tamiaki, President and CEO of Molten Corporation
We were pleased when Hiroshima Mazda asked us to develop parts for the car it’s racing in the 2019 Pirelli SuperTaikyu race. Molten has developed and manufactured automotive parts since 1958, and in recent years we've invested heavily in technology for controlling sound, vibration, and airflow (SVF). Recognizing the offer as an excellent opportunity to strengthen our development efforts as an automotive part manufacturer while gaining information about how parts perform under extreme conditions and what demanding drivers require by participating in endurance racing as a technical partner, we immediately accepted. Although it is the first experiment of its kind for us, we look forward to marshaling Molten’s resources as we embrace the challenge of victory together with Hiroshima Mazda.
Inspired by its brand statement of “Fun and Functional,” Molten has been building automotive parts for 60 years. Going forward, the company will continue to develop functional parts that let customers experience joy.