MX-5

Joshua Allan and Lee Papageorge have taken two different routes to NASA’s PTD class, both with positive results. For any given destination there are multiple paths. Some are more scenic, some are more interesting and some are just, well, faster. Joshua Allan and Lee Papageorge both race Mazdas in the National Autosport Association’s (NASA) Performance […]”

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Jonathan Goodale’s 12A-powered GT-Lite MX-5 carried him to a podium finish at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. One of the great things about SCCA’s Grand Touring classes, more commonly known as GT, is the versatility. With tube frame chassis covered by fiberglass, aluminum or carbon fiber body panels, the cars can be chameleons – one kind […]”

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Taking an MX-5 into Pirelli World Challenge’s new TCA class proved a wise move. Pirelli World Challenge created its new “A” classes with the idea of bringing more privateers into its series; it seems to have worked. Ernie Francis Jr. made the jump from a TCB – World Challenge’s B-Spec class – Mazda2 to a […]”

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2016 Mazda MX-5 Cup will include series in North America, Europe and Asia with an end-of-season shootout at Mazda Raceway. When the wraps came off the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 recently, most racers knew that it would eventually be the basis for the Mazda MX-5 Cup that began with the third generation of the MX-5 […]”

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November 4, 2014 (LAS VEGAS) – The Mazda MX-5 Miata is the best-selling roadster in history, and the most road-raced car in the world.  With the recent unveiling of the fourth generation MX-5, the most frequently asked question is “Where will it race?”  Mazda gave the first part of that answer at the Specialty Equipment […]”

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Mazda racer Jason Cherry, whose brother is on the autism spectrum, seeks to raise funds through his racing. My name is Jason Cherry, and in 2014 I raced an MX-5 in the TCA class of Pirelli World Challenge. My initial introduction to the professional racing world was my debut in the World Challenge Series at […]”

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Nearly 130 Mazda racers head to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to seek a Club Racing National Championship. Much has been made of the fact that, for the first time in 46 years, the SCCA National Championship Runoffs will be west of the Mississippi in California. And certainly many are celebrating the fact that the event […]”

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Mazda teams look for victory in Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge finale at Road Atlanta. The 2014 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge season is drawing to a close this weekend. The CJ Wilson Racing and Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 teams in the Street Tuner category are looking for strong performances to finish out the season, give […]”

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Ernie Francis Jr. has a shot at the Touring Car A title in his MX-5. The Pirelli World Challenge concludes its 25th anniversary season with a return to Miller Motorsports Park, where five of the six championships are set to be decided. One Mazda driver has an outside shot at claiming the title in his […]”

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Switching from car to car doesn’t have to be dramatic, says club and pro racer Andrew Carbonell. Andrew Carbonell has driven a variety of MX-5s. In addition, he has some karting and formula car experience plus some time in the GX-class Mazda SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesels that ran in the Rolex Sports Car Series last year. […]”

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Mazda drivers claim titles in SCCA’s championship event for autocrossers. The 2014 SCCA Solo National Championships have wrapped up four days of competition at Lincoln Airpark in Lincoln, Neb. A record 1185 competitors tackled two different courses, with about half taking to the two courses on Tuesday-Wednesday and the bulk of the eight Mazda Solo […]”

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Mazda will show the next generation at 6 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday, Sept. 3. Mazda fans and racers have been less-than-patiently waiting to see the fourth generation of MX-5 ever since Mazda previewed the SKYACTIV chassis at the New York International Auto Show in April. Well, the wait is over. Mazda will hold simultaneous global […]”

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MX-5 racer takes two wins in World Challenge TCA. After winning at Barber Motorsports Park early in the season, Ernie Francis Jr. had been searching for another win in Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car A, the class for non-professional drivers. He finally found the formula at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota in Rounds 11 and […]”

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Compared to blasting through narrow gaps in trees on a motocross bike, shoving an MX-5 in between a competitor and the apex of a corner is a piece of cake. Jason Cherry has done both. The young racer started out in motocross and enduro racing/hare scrambles. He thought the next step was going to be […]”

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Is it possible to start with a $5000, flood-damaged car and win a Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Championship race? Adam Poland says yes, and backed it up by winning Round 8 at Road America in his Eastex Motorsports/Poland Construction Mazda MX-5. “We stumbled across that car for a really good price,” Poland said at […]”

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The last nine months have been full of highs and lows for Adam Poland. He won the Texas Mazda Teen Challenge Championship, which made him eligible for the Mazda Club Racer Shootout – a high. However, he missed making it to the finals of the Shootout, and any chance at the $75,000 scholarship to compete in […]”

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For the first time this season, Kenton Koch and John Dean II didn’t split wins during a Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich® Tires doubleheader. At the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston, Koch, of Glendora, Calif., took the victory in both races and took over the points lead in the process. In the […]”

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Modern auto racing is a team sport. While most of the competing is done by a single driver at the controls, there are countless hours of work put in behind the scenes, away from the racetrack and the crowd. Those hours spent away from the limelight make it possible for the driver to put in […]”

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Adam Poland, of Mt. Vernon, Texas, took his first Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car victory in the second of two races at Road America on Friday, after finishing third in the wet first race earlier in the day. Poland dominated the late afternoon Round 8 driving the No. 11 Eastex Motorsports/Poland Construction Mazda MX-5. He […]”

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SCCA’s largest Club Racing event outside the National Championship Runoffs, the Chicago Region WeatherTech June Sprints, went off under mostly sunny skies at Road America this past weekend. For the first time, the event was a doubleheader as are all the SCCA Majors events. The June Sprints was Rounds 5 and 6 of the Northern Conference Majors Tour.

Saturday’s races were 10 laps, as opposed to the usual timed races, and Sunday’s were scheduled for 13 laps of the 14-turn, 4.0-mile circuit.
Danny Steyn was just one leader among eight drivers in contention for Spec Miata early, but the race came down to three top drivers sorting out the final laps alone. With the laps winding down, Todd Lamb was sandwiched between teammates Jim Drago and Craig Berry, left with the nearly impossible decision of going for the lead and falling to third, or staying in second to the checkered flag. Practically attached at the bumper for the final two laps, Drago was watching his mirrors while Berry looked for any opening to move around Lamb. None of the three drivers made a dramatic move, and crossed the finish line with Berry’s No. 2 East Street Racing Miata at the front followed by Lamb and Berry.

The Formula Mazda field was small at the June Sprints, but that didn’t lessen the excitement in the battle for the lead. Dale VandenBush led the opening lap, sneaking around teammate and polesitter Jason Vinkemulder. Vinkemulder found his way back around on lap two, with VandenBush leading laps three and four. Vinkemulder was back in front on lap five in his No. 10 Lake Effect Motorsports Formula Mazda, and edged just in front of his teammate. With clean air, Vinkemulder held the lead for the last half of the race and took the checkered flag.

Jim Drago, fresh off the Spec Miata win, couldn’t get his No. 2 East Street Racing Mazda Miata to fire on the grid. As the field rolled past him, his Super Touring Lite machine roared to life, and he caught the end of the field just before turn 12 on the pace lap. Drago worked through the field, and moved around then-leader Breton Williams’ No. 00 First Wealth Financial Group Mazda RX-7 on lap five to move into the lead and get clear, taking the checkered flag and sending his crew off to replace the battery in the Mazda.

Daniel Bender held off Jim Ebben for the Touring 4 win in the tightest race of the run group. Bender’s No. 10 Bravo Trailers/Autobarn Mazda Mazda MX-5 set the pace and kept in front of Ebben’s RX-8, eventually creating a gap by the checkered flag.

The racing saying “cautions breed cautions” was fresh in Lamb’s mind during a lap 10 restart of Sunday’s Spec Miata race, and knowing that helped him to a win.

With nine cars in the lead pack early in the race, a two-car incident near Turn 7 dislodged the tire barrier and brought out a full course caution. Steyn lost the lead immediately in the first race when his restart speed allowed the cars behind him to get a head of steam and draft by him going into Turn 1. When he brought the field single-file to the restart on lap 10, Steyn used a slower approach up the hill to try to hold the lead.

Unfortunately, rather than following the field to the green flag, drivers in the middle of the pack tried to anticipate the restart going through Turn 13. Eight cars were collected in the carnage and scattered throughout the Kettle Moraine countryside, all before the green flag came out. Unaware at the time of the extent of the damage, Steyn took the lead through Turns 1, 2 and 3, with Lamb’s No. 80 Cahall/Driving Coach/Hawk Performance Miata drafting down the hill toward Turn 5. Steyn left the door open to the inside, and Lamb went past. Lamb completed the move just before the full course caution flags came back out, freezing the field and bringing out the checkered flag early to complete clean-up. Lamb took home the winner’s trophy, with Steyn second and Eric Stearns third.

Some drivers seemed to exorcise some recent demons this weekend with sweeps in the Production classes. Jim Daniels had been bitten by enough little mechanical issues at Road America, both at the June Sprints and previous SCCA National Championship Runoffs, but recovered this weekend with a pair of victories. Daniels’ No. 176 WebLaps.com Mazda MX-5 pressed the pace from start to finish, running early with Joe Moser in a battle for the lead. Moser pulled off course early, with Daniels well ahead of Jon Brakke’s Miata, and Daniels pushed to the finish.

Ken Kannard swept F Production at his home course in the No. 51 Northwest Cable Construction/Hoosier Mazda Miata. The wins will help make up for five years of Road America Runoffs disappointment for Kannard, who had a series of issues that kept him from his true potential at the event.

All of the front running machines in the big formula group went out on rain tires, as the race began wet after a brief 15-minute shower. However, the strategy all changed late in the race when the sun came out and the track started to dry. Fabio Castellani led the opening 11 laps in the wet, and continued to get quicker as the race went on. His problem, though, was that by lap 10, when a clear, dry line began to appear, Sedat Yelkin’s No. 75 Everclear/K-Hill Swift 016/Mazda was going even faster. Yelkin moved around Castellani on lap 12 and looked clear, until he realized that Conner Kearby’s No. 56 GK Motorsports Swift 016/Mazda was even quicker by that point. Kearby closed a second-and-a-half on the final lap, getting to the gearbox of Yelkin at the checkered flag, but probably falling one lap short of challenging for the lead.

Bender (T4) and Drago (STL) completed their sweeps, as did GT-3 driver George Cichon, who took two victories in his Hoosier/MAZDASPEED/Cichon Racing Mazda RX-7.

The Northern Conference Majors Tour continues July 12-13 with Rounds 7 and 8 at GingerMan Raceway. The next U.S. Majors Tour events are the BFGoodrich® Tires Watkins Glen Super Tour at Watkins Glen International, in the Eastern Conference, and Portland International Raceway, in the Western Conference, both July 4-6.

SCCA Mid-States Conference Majors Tour

Rounds 5 and 6

Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

June 14-15, 2014

Round 5 Mazda Winners

Class Driver Hometown Car
E Production Jim Daniels Germantown Tenn. Mazda Miata
F Production Ken Kannard East Troy Wis. Mazda Miata
Formula Atlantic Conner Kearby Corpus Christi Texas Swift 016/Mazda
Formula Mazda Jason Vinkemulder Spring Lake Mich. Formula Mazda
GT-3 George Cichon Jr. Rockton Ill. Mazda RX-7
Super Touring Lite Jim Drago Memphis Tenn. Mazda Miata
Spec Miata Jim Drago Memphis Tenn. Mazda Miata
Touring 4 Daniel Bender Northbrook Ill. Mazda MX-5

Round 6 Mazda Winners

Class Driver Hometown Car
E Production Jim Daniels Germantown Tenn. Mazda Miata
F Production Ken Kannard East Troy Wis. Mazda Miata
Formula Atlantic Sedat Yelkin Austintown Ohio Swift 016/Mazda
Formula Mazda Dale VandenBush Green Bay Wis. Formula Mazda
GT-3 George Cichon Jr. Rockton Ill. Mazda RX-7
Super Touring Lite Jim Drago Memphis Tenn. Mazda Miata
Spec Miata Todd Lamb Atlanta Ga. Mazda Miata
Touring 4 Daniel Bender Northbrook Ill. Mazda MX-5

All wins are special; A few are magical. Thanks to outstanding performances by Freedom Autosport and CJ Wilson Racing, it was the second straight Mazda MX-5 Miata 1-2-3 podium sweep in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Street Tuner race at Lime Rock Park on Saturday after a similar sweep at Mazda Raceway earlier in the […]”

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May 24, 2014 (LIME ROCK, Conn.) – All wins are special. A few are magical. Thanks to outstanding performances by Freedom Autosport and CJ Wilson Racing, it was the second straight Mazda MX-5 Miata 1-2-3 podium sweep in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Street Tuner race this weekend. The magical part relates to the winning […]”

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What happens when a father with a love for sports cars, a just-turned-16 son and a concern for that son getting in over his head with those sports cars come together? First a session at the Skip Barber Racing School; then, perhaps, a lifelong obsession. “Lucas had just turned 16. I had a couple of […]”

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