• mazda's touring car racing version of the mazda 3 hatchback was developed by long road racing for tcr competition.
• it’s powered by a 350-hp turbocharged inline-four paired with a six-speed paddle-shifted sequential transmission.
• mazda hasn't announced pricing yet, but the car will make its race debut in january.

brands like audi, honda, hyundai, and volkswagen have been some of the most relevant touring car racing (tcr) brands since the series' inaugural season in 2015. now, finally, mazda has joined the club with a new customer race car based on the mazda 3 hatchback.

compared with the standard mazda 3 hatchback, the mazda 3 tcr features enlarged fenders, an aggressive aero package with a massive rear wing, a slightly lowered stance, and it sits on volk racing wheels. it’ll make 350 horsepower—almost double the power of the car it's built from—thanks to a turbocharged inline-four paired with a six-speed paddle-shifted sequential transmission that sends power to the front wheels.

the new hatch was developed by long road racing, the manufacturer of the mx-5 cup car, and it is homologated to race in any of the 36 tcr championships around the world. it will make its debut in the 2020 imsa michelin pilot challenge in january with the four-hour endurance race that is part of the rolex 24 at daytona.

pricing has yet to be announced, but for now, we can only hope that this leads to mazda developing a car to compete with the likes of the veloster n, golf gti, and civic type r.