Bradley got a win in only his second Spec Miata race weekend!
In the past week I’ve spent time at both Carolina Motorsports Park and Road Atlanta. First up was our final test with the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car at CMP. We were finalizing the specs for the ECU. It went very well: we were able to validate that everything worked as we anticipated, and we were able to build in some neat features that the MX-5 Cup competitors and car owners will have available to them in the near future.
After two days of testing, I stayed at CMP so I could coach 16-year old Bradley Zilisch during an SCCA club race. I’ve worked with Bradley before, and he’s a local racer from the Charlotte area who is transitioning from karting to car racing. This was only his second race weekend with his Spec Miata.
Bradley grew up racing on the karting track at CMP, but this was his first race event on the car track there. On Saturday morning, in Spec Miata qualifying, he turned the quickest lap to earn the pole. He had an extremely exciting race with some really experienced Spec Miata racers. He ran at the front, and on the last lap he pulled out to pass for the lead. He made it stick, and he took the win in only his second Spec Miata race weekend! Bradley is planning to run the SCCA Majors at Virginia International Raceway in a few weeks, where the competition will be fierce. I’m wishing him the best of luck!
Ashton’s new GMX5 all painted up & ready for the season!
From CMP, I traveled to Road Atlanta for a Chin Motorsports lapping day so I could work with Ashton Harrison. It was her first time driving her brand-new Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car on the track, and she loved it. We had a beautiful day, and we accomplished all of the goals that we had at the outset. She learned a lot about the car, including setup and driving style techniques. In a few short weeks she will be at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the first two rounds of the series during the IMSA race weekend!
It was also good to catch up with some other coaching clients while at Road Atlanta – everyone is getting on track after the off-season, and it was great helping them get their 2016 season off to the right start!