The Mazda 3 sedan (Axela) equipped with a 3-rotor 20B engine will compete in the opening round of the Belgian Touring Car Series (BTCS), held at the Zolder circuit in Belgium from Saturday, April 9thto Sunday, April 10th.

The Mazda 3 is being entered by Belgian Mazda dealer, Garage van Herck, and has been fitted with a 3-rotor 20B engine and converted to front-engine, rear-wheel drive configuration by Netherlands based VA Engineering. Van Herck has raced rotary-engined cars for a long time, and competed with an RX-7 until two years ago. The BTCS is a popular touring car series featuring cars such as the Renault Megane, VW Scirocco, and Volvos, the Thierry Boutsen Energy team have also competed in the series with an RX-8 equipped with a 20B engine.

The opening round of this year's BTCS will be held on the same day as the FIA GT1 World Championship race, with large crowds expected to be in attendance. The spectators are sure to be thrilled on hearing the car's unique high-pitched exhaust note.

Mazda 3 sedan, BTCS Specifications
Suspension: Power Product with Moton dampers, Engine: CLR Motorsport 3-rotor engine (440PS), ECU: MoTeC, Gearbox: 6-speed sequential, Brakes: AP disks with ABS.