Japanese car manufacturer Mazda has announced that it will be offering a hard top option for the MX-5. The hard top option will specifically only be for the Mazda MX-5 Cup racer.

Mazda to offer hardtop option for Mazda MX-5 Cup racer. The MX-5 Cup racer is the racing version of the company's Miata and initially came only in open-top roadster format. Racing series that have regulations that required hardtops were made off limits to the vehicle as a result.

To go around that problem, Mazda officially announced a factory-approved removable hard top for owners of MX-5 Cup racers. This now allows the vehicle to successfully join future races that require a hard top.

Speaking about the new MX-5 Cup hard top option, Mazda Motorsports business development manager David Cook said, "While our first year was spent concentrating on the successful launch of the MX-5 Cup car in our Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires, we knew that was just one arena for customers. Now with an available hardtop, Mazda racers can compete in SCCA and NASA Club Racing and in the Pirelli World Challenge TCA class."

The option will also be available to Miata. Unfortunately, it will not be made available to the standard soft-top version of the vehicle.

It has not been made known how the hard top will affect the MX-5 Cup racer's performance. It is also not known how much it will add to the vehicle's weight of 2,100 pounds.

The hard top will cost an owner of a MX-5 Cup racer US$4,420 which is roughly 18 percent of how much a brand new Miata street car costs. Deliveries of the hard top will begin in April. Orders from current MX-5 Cup racer owners and buyers of the track-only Miata will be accommodated by Mazda.

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