Mazda MX-5 GT (2011)

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Mazda MX-5 GT (2011) first pictures

By Ben Pulman

First Official Pictures

23 March 2011 16:45

This is the Mazda MX-5 GT, a super-lightweight version of the evergreen roadster that will enter the 2011 Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship.

Mazda MX-5 GT, huh? Let me guess, not much weight but not much power either?

Well, you’re right about the weight. Jota Sport, which will run the car in this year’s Britcar series, has stripped out all the unnecessary extras. The roof has gone for a start, and Jota Sport has used Mazda’s ‘gram strategy’ to trim away excess kilos from every part of the MX-5. The only interior trimmings are a couple of carbonfibre panels, the doors are carbon too, the windows are polycarbonate, and Mazda claims dipping the shell in an acid bath help carve away excess kilos too.

Despite the addition of a roll cage – and Jota Sport spending 400 hours building a shell that’s 17 times stronger than required by the FIA – the MX-5 GT weighs just 850kg, down from the 1165kg of a road-ready MX-5.