 The car's debut race would prove to also be challenging for Mazda, with the #55 car retiring just 4 hours from the finish, after the crew of the #55 had clawed their way up the order to 5th overall, before the car become engulfed in flames in pitlane, due to an oil fire.The sister #70 also encountered a drama-filled race, with the car finishing 197 laps down the leader, after a series of troubles, including a trip to the pitlane on just the second lap of the race, due to a piece of plastic becoming lodged into the air intake, while later in the race, a penalty, combined with a collision with the #10 Cadillac DPi-V.R, necessitated yet another unscheduled trip to the pitlane, in order to repair the rear wing assembly, before the car became beset with clutch and transmission issues, in the 6th hour of the race.At the second race of the season, the 2017 12 Hours of Sebring, the 2 cars came home 8th and 10th during the qualifying session, the #90 Riley sandwiched between the 8th placed #55, and 10th placed #70, with the #70 trailing the pole sitting car by 2.1 seconds, while the #55 1.7 seconds behind, in a much improved showing compared to Daytona.