Blog
Coaching, Testing, Racing: All in One Week
Memorial Day weekend was a busy one for racing around the world. I stayed local, coaching some SCCA Spec Miata racers at Carolina Motorsports Park. I’ve worked with Ashton Harrison and Ben Rooke before, and both of them had been to CMP earlier in the season. We picked...
Development driving with Andrew Carbonell
This week we’re doing more testing of the 2016 Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car, and this time Andrew Carbonell will be joining me to drive the second development car. Andrew also drove it at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca two weeks ago, and it’s great to be working with him...
A Warm Welcome for the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Car
With the public debut of the 2016 Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last week, the MX-5 Cup competitors as well as the race fans in attendance got to see the car up close, poking their head under the hood and even sitting in the car. That was...
Busiest Race Weekend Ever? Driving Three Mazdas at Mazda Raceway
Mazda Raceway proved to be a really busy and exciting event for me, as I had anticipated. The test day started with the public debut of the 2016 Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car. The MX-5 Cup competitors got to see the car up close for the first time during an introductory...
First Full Test for the 2016 Global Mazda MX-5 Cup Car; Public Debut this Week
Last week I was excited to participate in our first full day of testing for the 2016 Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car. It went extremely well and was very productive – it was a lot of fun, too! We had a smooth day and we learned so much. We were able to try a lot of...
Forward Momentum at the Long Beach Grand Prix
What a fabulous event the Long Beach Grand Prix is! Last weekend was a great experience. The whole team was excited to be there, and the increased performance over last year of our SKYACTIV Mazdas was fantastic. Having Southern California’s sandy beaches just outside...
Track Debut for the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Global Cup Car!
Last week was the initial track run for one of our 2016 Mazda MX-5 Global Cup cars. While it was a great opportunity to take the car onto the track for the first time, it was a short test to ensure that several key components were working correctly. For one thing, we...
Seat Fittings: Why Every Racer Needs the Right Fit
I’ve done a couple of seat fittings lately, both in the new Mazda Global MX-5 Cup car and the SKYACTIV Prototype. Having a seat that has been properly fitted is an important aspect of racing, but one that many racers, unfortunately, overlook. There are a number of...
Coaching and More Cold at Carolina Motorsports Park
After Sebring, I had another local coaching opportunity, this time with SCCA at Carolina Motorsports Park. Once again I was coaching Ashton Harrison in her Spec Miata endeavors. Ashton hadn’t been to CMP in a year, so getting her reacquainted with the circuit and all...
12 Hours of Sebring Recap
The 12 Hours of Sebring is always exciting, and this was my second time driving in the main event. It was really a smooth weekend up until the race – we had a productive week with SpeedSource and the SKYACTIV Mazda prototype, and all of the drivers were really happy...