Video: Spec MX-5 Racing vs. Spec Miata and MX-5 Cup

In this video we watch a Spec MX-5 car in an SCCA Majors race at Circuit of The Americas. The Spec MX-5 Challenge Series was testing potential series tires from Yokohama at this event. Since these are not DOT tires as normally required by SCCA Majors, the Spec MX-5 started from the back of the grid. The video gives some idea of the relative pace of related Mazda race cars. Here you see the Spec MX-5 go from 37th on the grid toward an ultimate finishing position of 11th. The series also ran a Spec Miata and a Global MX-5 Cup car to get reference times on the same track on the same day with known drivers. Looking at the data from COTA, the Spec MX-5 is about 2 sec per lap (2:36 vs. 2:34) slower than the ND generation MX-5 Cup car. The Spec MX-5 is also about 5 sec per lap faster (2:36 vs 2:41) than a Spec Miata at COTA. This pace should make the Spec MX-5 an ideal transition car from SM racing to Global MX-5 Cup or Pirelli World Challenge TCA.