Before the start of the race in France today, +Mazda USA announced that it would be offering a racing version of its new SkyActive-D diesel engine for use at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Until now only +Audi International and +Peugeot have raced diesels at Le Mans and only in the top LMP1 class. These have all been dedicated racing engines in factory built cars.

As it has so often in the past, Mazda is taking a different path. Its new diesel will be conform to the lates LMP2 rules that require less expensive production-based engines. If this engine is successful we could see quite a few more diesels at the French enduro next year.

I'll be curious to see if Dyson Racing switches over to the Mazda diesel next year for its ALMS machines. For the past several years, Dyson has run Mazda-powered Lola coupes running on biobutanol.

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