Photos: Geoff Ridder (except where marked)
Mazda’s MX-5, the world’s best-selling sports car may be over 30 years old, but it’s still popular, and proving quite appealing in, of all places, Palmerston North. Well, Manfeild, to be precise.
Last weekend, the two-day final of the 75th Anniversary of Manawatu Car Club at Circuit Chris Amon, attracted more than 150 entries across ten categories, including the one-make NZ MX-5 Cup, for 1.6-litre NA model Mazdas.
All MX-5s run the same equipment, with strict rules and regs, so racing is easy, cheap to buy and cheap to run. Fast and durable Hankook RS4 tyres, coil-over suspension, control exhausts and engines, and all basically the same sub-900kg agile and fun roadsters.
Running for a decade, numbers have steadily increased, with cars costing around $7000 to put on the grid, including roll cage, seat and safety gear.
Last weekend was the biggest field ever with 26 cars entered – including our very own JPS-liveried DRIVEN MX-5, with thanks to Mazda NZ for the tow BT-50 Limited with canopy. Read about its towing credentials here.
The fourth and final round of the Winter Series was part of a big two-day event, broken down into a qualifying session, race, reverse grid and then reverse handicap race, which sets a reverse grid order based on fastest lap times, with cars released in 4-5 groups, five seconds apart. The theory being that by the end, all the cars are racing together.
With backing by local and national business, from Hankook Tyres, to Fielding Auto Electrical and Tremaine Energy Centre, racers come from as far as Christchurch, the home of MX-5 specialist and series supporter/racers, Garage5.
There are no big names here, there is no TV, most race coverage is via on-board GoPros and social media, and getting photographs is a bonus, but there are some very quick drivers. Markku Braid carried the #1 into this season, as the 2021 champ. Toyota 86 championship top-fiver Justin Allen was quick, and Jeremy Hoskins’ pink MX-5 is always fast, setting pole position with a 1m:25.0sec time.
But it was championship contender Jack Cleland who took a wet race 1 win, ahead of Justin Allen, with main championship rival Nick Cummings in third. Race 3’s championship decider was close and the two key championship contenders battling through the reverse grid. While Everard Petrie took the race win ahead of Scott Topham and Garage5 owner Benny Yan, Nick Cummings 13th place finish, ahead of Cleland in 14th, was enough to put him 10 points clear and take out the 2022 NZ Mazda MX-5 Cup Winter Championship.
And race two? We left that until last, because our very own JPS-liveried Mazda took out the reverse grid race win! Hooray! After its modest debut last month, between meetings, the car was found to have a warped head, leaking head gasket, dirty fuel and air filters, dirty fuel injectors, ignition timing out, a vacuum leak from a cracked injector seal and leaking exhaust valves, its lack of speed revealed from our RaceBox GPS data showing the car around 5-7km/h down in a straight line. With all that fixed, and a few other legal tweaks, with the help of Fairview Mazda and Shaun Gregory, and ST Automotive, we had our power back, and qualified third on the grid.
Race 1 rained just as the cars entered the track, and though positions shuffled, we passed pole-sitter Hoskins on lap two, but fighting for third place, spun off at the end of lap two, finishing 16th. This meant a 10th place start in the reverse, and progressing up to first after 1.5 laps, we had a great battle with Paul Greaney, ultimately taking the race win, a big reward for some mechanical fixes. And that reward: a chocolate fish and a 1st place sticker.
Nick Cummings would take third in that race, and the real glory as series champion, with Jack Cleland runner-up, while three different winners from three races reinforces that the series offers an even and balanced chance for glory. See Nick's onboard from 2021, showing a tight race between he, Braid and Hoskin.
A great way to spend father’s day weekend, and with the car prepped and ready, our weekend’s running costs totalled $350 for entry fee and fuel, proving quite cheap, too. Roll on the summer series and the NZ MX-5 Cup.
