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New Entry Point for the Mazda SportsCar Racing Academy March 13, 2014 (SEBRING, Fla.) Mazda announced the latest addition to its driver development program with a partnership with iRacing. Mazda Motorsports has more than 9,000 club racers in the U.S., most of who race MX-5 Miatas. iRacing has more than 50,000 members worldwide, many who […]”

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Company Invests Millions of Dollars to Accelerate Young Drivers’ Racing Careers March 13, 2014 (SEBRING, Fla.) When Mazda created the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Ladder in 2007, the company set out to help drivers manage one of the most difficult hurdles in racing moving up to the series above. Since 2007, Mazda has directly invested millions […]”

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Six Races in Four Series Including a Record MX-5 Cup Field for Mazda March 13, 2014 (SEBRING, Fla.) The annual Mobil-1 12Hours of Sebring race is recognized by sportscar fans around the world. For more than 60 years it has attracted the greatest sportscars and racers from around the world. What is sometimes overlooked is […]”

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Each new season of the SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich® Tires brings new contenders for the championship and the Mazda SportsCar Racing Academy scholarship that goes with it. As the series prepares for its season opener this week at Sebring International Raceway, there are several new faces that have their eyes […]”

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Last season in the Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Pro Challenge was one to remember for me; I learned more than I ever expected to that season. The part that was most beneficial, in my eyes, last season was that I had to set my own car up. Prior to 2013, I had spent some time on […]”

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The definition of success always depends on the goal one starts with. A first down is usually the first step toward a touchdown in football. A touchdown is the first step toward winning the game. Each is a small success on the way to a bigger success. So each TUDOR United Sports Car Championship race […]”

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  Matthew Brabham, seeking to become the first person to win championships on the three steps on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder in succession, got off to a good start in testing for the 2014 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires. As part of the Cooper Tires Winterfest, a mini-series for the Cooper Tires […]”

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Most Club Racers will experience traffic in every race. With multiple classes on the circuit at once, racers are going to be passed by or be passing other cars in different classes on a regular basis. A Spec Miata or STL driver might be on track with Performance Touring A or Touring 2 cars, meaning […]”

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Some people refer to their racecars as hot rods, no matter how far removed from the typical American V8 they may be. There’s no question that racecar owners drive their cars hard like anything built for performance should be. The question is, once off the track, do they baby it like a hot rod? Go […]”

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  Spencer Pigot took his second win of the Cooper Tires Winterfest for Pro Mazda in Round 3 and finished second in Round 4 to clinch the four-race mini-series. Scott Hargrove, the 2013 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda titlist, scored the victory in Round 4 to cement his standing as a contender in […]”

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Michael Epps came into Barber Motorsports Park for the second half of the Cooper Tires Winterfest blazing, but in the end couldn’t keep RC Enerson from leaving with the USF2000 Winterfest title. Englishman Epps not only claimed his first USF2000 victory in Round 4 of the six-round Winterfest at Barber Motorsports Park on Tuesday, he […]”

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The Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda will have a seven-weekend, 14-race schedule in 2014. The ninth season for the series featuring smaller sports racing prototypes with Mazda engines will have doubleheader events at each venue. New to a challenging Cooper Tires Prototype Lites schedule are visits to Kansas Speedway and Watkins Glen International. […]”

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If a Team Support Member wants his contingency money from Mazda Motorsports, he or she not only has to earn it, but represent the brand properly as well. The best – and required – way to do that is with the proper decals. Of course, Mazda Motorsports has bundled the appropriate kits depending on the […]”

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The second event of the SCCA Western Conference Majors Tour took place this past weekend at the Inde Motorsports Ranch, located just outside of Wilcox, Ariz. The four-year-old facility offers pristine support buildings and new on-track challenges for many competitors who have not run here before. The 18-turn, 2.22-mile track sits at 4000 feet above […]”

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  After the first round of races for the 2014 Cooper Tires Winterfest series for USF2000 and Pro Mazda, RC Enerson leads the USF2000 points for Team E Racing and Spencer Pigot heads the Pro Mazda contenders. USF2000 featured three different winners over the weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park, with Enerson, of New Port Ritchey, […]”

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  Matthew Brabham’s white and turquoise United Fiber & Data/MAZDASPEED Andretti Autosport car will carry the No. 83 in his inaugural season in Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires. But the No. 83 and the Brabham name have a connection much longer than the 19-year-old IndyCar hopeful. “The first time I raced go-karts I was […]”

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You’ve built your racecar to be as aerodynamic as possible. Whether you start with an RX-7, Miata, RX-8, MX-5 or something else, you’ve got a pretty good basis and you’ve worked within the rules to make it move through the air as efficiently as it can with the help of air dams and spoilers. But […]”

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Mazda has launched a Web site to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the debut of the Mazda MX-5 (known as Roadster in Japan). The Web site aims to deepen the bond between Mazda and its customers all over the world and express gratitude for the support the model has received over the years. The site […]”

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Start on pole, lead every lap, win the race. Jim Drago got the first and last parts of the instructions for dominance correct, but he seemed to forget the middle part during his quest for a second straight SCCA Spec Miata National Championship. “The week had gone pretty much flawlessly,” Drago says of the 2013 […]”

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Every racer – amateur or pro – has a limited amount of track time that he or she must maximize. No matter how much time it looks like on the schedule, it’s never enough to try every line, test braking points and adjust car setup. So track time missed due to repairs or maintenance can be huge, and also the difference between a great race weekend and one a racer would rather forget. One of the keys to maximizing track time is organization.

“As a club racer, or if you’re going to track days and things like that, you’re spending a proportionally large amount of money for a limited time on track. Maximizing the time that you’re able to spend on track makes the weekend more fun,” says Andris Laivins, team manager for CJ Wilson Racing and owner of Laivins Race Cars in Austin. “When you get to the track and you’re late for a session because things aren’t ready or prepared, you end up not having a good time. If you’re organized, prepared and have a plan, you get to use all the time out on track that you’ve paid for.”

That organization begins before a racer leaves for the track. Having the trailer properly organized means less time hunting for parts and tools later.

“The typical club racer uses up all the time they have before a race weekend working on the car, and then when it’s time to leave, everything gets thrown into crates and stuffed into the trailer. The biggest thing is compartmentalizing. If you have a bunch of parts for transmissions, make sure they’re organized in one bin of transmission parts only. And don’t mix things together, so when you’re in a hurry and you need to find something, it’s all in one place.

“Same with tools and toolboxes,” he adds.“ We have sets of tools that only go the racetrack, so we don’t lose stuff in the shop and it’s missing when we get to the track. The tools that we take to the track just stay in the trailer. They’re always as organized as they can be. It’s very easy to leave stuff behind when you’re taking things in and out of the trailer.”

Laivins acknowledges that leaving a set of tools in the trailer may not be practical for many club racers due to both expense and security reasons. So keeping things in an organized, labeled toolbox that the racer can pick up and put on the trailer will go a long way to making sure things aren’t left behind.

Lists and spreadsheets can help in keeping track of things, but they aren’t as necessary as one might think. While the CJ Wilson team keeps an inventory of everything on the trailer, the list of things that actually gets checked before each outing is much smaller. Spare parts are replaced when they’re used; but the consumables are important to check each time the truck leaves the shop – oil, paper towels, food and drink…the things that make the weekend a little easier.

Being organized is just one more way to get the most out of any race weekend. Knowing what’s in your trailer – and where it is in the trailer – can prevent late night trips to the auto parts store and get a racer up and running again that much quicker.

 

 

  One might wonder what a driver with six SCCA Solo National Championships, two SCCA Club Racing National Championships, four World Challenge GT championships, plus two Rolex 24 at Daytona class victories, is doing in a Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner Mazda MX-5. If he has his way – and he thinks he […]”

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For Spec Miata racers running the original 1990-’93 car, there are few options available for a limited slip differential. The OEM viscous limited slip is one, but is difficult to find. So is the Mazda Competition Clutch Type, which hasn’t been produced in years. Updating to the 1.8-liter Torsen unit is an alternative, but the […]”

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  As Mazda fans worldwide marked the 25th anniversary of the MX-5 Miata’s debut at the Chicago Auto Show on Feb. 9, 1989, some Mazda racers in Louisiana were celebrating in their own special way – by pushing their MX-5s across the finish line first. At the first rounds of the SCCA Mid-States Majors Tour […]”

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  The MX-5 Miata was introduced 25 years ago On Feb. 9, 1989, the world was introduced to the all-new Mazda MX-5 Miata at the Chicago Auto Show. A few months later, it was named as one of the five “World’s Best Cars” by Road & Track and never looked back. Twenty-five years later, MX-5 […]”

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