Industry leaders come together to offer complimentary racing and vehicle dynamics coaching. To see the webinar schedule (scroll down) and sign-up, go here.
How many racing series help teach you how to improve your lap times, race craft, understanding of braking, suspension, and data? Typically, it takes hiring a pro coach or a team to work with you. The results can be well worth it, if you have the funding and knowledge of who the right coaches and teams are.
Mazda Motorsports will tell you that Tom Long (pictured in black, above) and Andrew Carbonell are two of the best, which is why they were chosen to race as factory drivers for Mazda and are still contracted to help coach the Mazda racers at the SCCA Runoffs and other events (they also are staples for Mazda as judges for the annual MX-5 Cup Shootout). If you run with Hixon Motor Sports in the Idemitsu MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires, for example, Hixon brought on Andrew Carbonell, so you’d get to work with Andrew at those events.
But if you don’t work with a top team or hire a top coach, it’s tough to self-teach, efficiently and effectively.
That’s why Mazda Motorsports and the Spec MX-5 Challenge Series presented by Toyo Tires teamed up, contacting Racers360, several pro drivers and coaches such as Tom Long and Andrew Carbonell, as well as industry experts AiM Sports (for data), PAGID Racing (for braking fundamentals), and Penske Racing Shocks (for suspension) to help coach our racers virtually and at the racetrack.
Throughout the year, this team will offer complimentary coaching to Mazda racers and Racers360 members via a series of webinars and in-person coaching at many of the Spec MX-5 Challenge Series races.
Mazda coaches:
- Aaron Jeansonne, Mazda Motorsports scholarship driver
- Andrew Carbonell, Mazda Motorsports factory driver
- Chris Nunes, Mazda Motorsports scholarship driver
- Jared Thomas, Mazda Motorsports scholarship driver
- Michael Carter, Mazda Motorsports scholarship driver
- Tom Long, Mazda Motorsports factory driver
In-person coaching:
- Many of the Spec MX-5 Challenge Series events will have a Mazda pro coach on-hand to work with the drivers, reviewing AiM data, on-board video, and more (Utah, Buttonwillow, Sonoma, Road Atlanta, Road America, and more to be announced)
Webinars:
- 18 of the 23 Spec MX-5 Challenge Series events will receive a virtual, corner-by-corner track breakdown within two weeks of the event at tracks such as VIR, Road Atlanta, and Watkins Glen. All drivers will benefit even if they are not planning to compete at this track. Key learnings will be applicable to all tracks.
- At least three additional webinars will be offered, one from each: AiM Sports, Penske Racing Shocks, and PAGID Racing.
To see the webinar schedule (scroll down) and sign-up, go here.
For more about Spec MX-5 Challenge Series: THE Driver Development Series – go to SpecMX-5.com.
To purchase a build kit from Mazda Motorsports (best discounts end March 31, 2021), call Mazda Motorsports at 800.435.2508 Monday-Friday, 9:30 am – 6:30 pm ET or check out more info here.
About Spec MX-5: Mazda Motorsports has combined decades of key learnings supplied by thousands of racers at every level of grassroots and pro racing to create Spec MX-5. We’ve applied these learnings into four key pillars: affordability, reliability, tech-ability, and really fun to drive. We’ve considered every facet of Spec MX-5 – from the car spec, the suppliers and partners, the rule set, the schedules and tracks, the ease of maintenance and repair, fun and fair competition, prizes and awards, and more. Building on the abundance of already fun third generation NC (2006-2015) MX-5s, Mazda Motorsports has developed a race kit with nearly every necessary part to convert the road car into the Spec MX-5 race car, intended for everyone from novices looking to make a long-term stay in club racing, to those aspiring to ascend to MX-5 Cup. The focus of the support program is to enable excellent sprint and endurance club racing competition through transparency, parity, rewarding racers with the best contingency awards in club racing, the best parts pricing, and assistance from Mazda Motorsports’ experts on everything from assembly, to set up, and driving. Spec MX-5 is club racing done right. The Spec MX-5 Challenge Series is THE Driver Development Series.
Parts for the Spec MX-5 kit are shipping, so call Mazda Motorsports at 800.435.2508 now.
PAGID Racing is the exclusive motorsport brand of the TMD Performance. As a member of the TMD Friction Group, TMD Performance is the worldwide sole distributor of PAGID Racing products and high-performance brake pads for street legal cars. The brake products are designed to produce the highest possible performance levels over a wide range of operating conditions, and are available in many different material formulations.
They fit most popular racing and high-performance calipers and may be fitted as an upgrade to many standard calipers for high performance cars. In addition, PAGID Racing brake products are fitted as original equipment to some of the most prestigious and powerful production cars in the world including Audi, Bugatti, Ferrari and Porsche. With the facilities in Leverkusen & Essen (Germany) and Troy (USA), TMD Performance is one of only a small number of companies capable of developing and manufacturing brake friction solutions according to customer-specific technical requirements in a short time.
Penske Racing Shocks is the world leader in suspension technology. Penske Racing Shocks strives to supply the latest technology to all forms of auto racing. We are major suppliers in the world’s largest markets. From asphalt road racing at its highest level in F1, NASCAR, or IndyCar, to the dirt tracks across the USA, Penske Racing Shocks is the industry leading manufacture. More champions choose Penske Racing Shocks over any other brand. Our engineering staff and industry leading technical support have lead us to numerous championships in all forms of motorsports.