Strange clutch noise when releasing in neutral
 

I am hearing a strange noise, best described as a clunking sound, when releasing the clutch in neutral. Sitting still, engine running in neutral, depress the clutch and no noise. Release the clutch and a clunking sound is heard when the pedal is about half way up. If it is released quickly the noise is loud. When I release it very slowly no noise is heard.

I took this to a Mazda tech and he wasn't sure about it. Maybe the throwout bearing was his guess. I am not convinced and plan on visiting another dealer next week but wanted to see if anyone else had any experience with this type of noise.

There is nothing on this forum about this except very early pressure plate failures which keeps haunting me.

The car shifts and drives fine. Part of me says just forget it until something fails, but I just can't seem to do that.

The car is a 2011 with 61000 miles.

Thanks,