The start of the 2015 MX-5 SuperCup is nearly here, it’s just over 2 weeks to go until the first rounds of the championship at Silverstone.
Now if you don’t already know, the MX-5 SuperCup is Britain’s premier MX-5 championship and the fastest Mazda championship in the UK. It’s exclusively for Mk3 (NC) 2.0 Sport models all in identical technical specification so this makes for one of the closest and most competitive championships in the whole of the UK, as unlike the Mk1 championship no one has any car advantage, and with over 30 drivers registered for the championship this year it’s going to be spectacular!
The championship has just announced that this year there will be TV coverage from all rounds broadcast on Motors TV. See this example from last season at Oulton Park when BTCC ace Paul O’neil entered as a guest driver and had a great 4 way fight for the lead with ex British GT driver Tom Roche and former Production Touring Car champion Abbie Eaton.
Abbie Eaton went on to win the championship and has moved on to race in the GT Cup this year but joining this year are reigning Toyo Tyres Porsche champion Jonathan Greensmith and 2014 MX-5 Mk1 champion James Blake Baldwin. So you can see the level of talent of the drivers that compete at the front of the championship.
It would be great to see some of the MX-5 OC members coming along to our races to give a bit of support. We’re all a friendly bunch and would be more than happy to have a chat at the race meetings to talk more about the cars and the championships, I’ll be racing again this year in number 93.
More details about the championship and full calendar for the season can be found on the website:
I wasn’t at Silverstone on the 6th but I know a few of the guys from Blink Motorsport were there. Blink have been very successful in the Mk1 championship with their engines so it’ll be interesting to see how the team does in the SuperCup where there isn’t any room for engine tinkering in the regs.
I along with my brother and dad do all the preparation on the car, we built a new car over the winter for the start of the 2014 season. My brother has been racing for a few years now but last year was my first full season of racing.
I had a couple of 4th places and nearly made it onto the podium at Rockingham, but a few DNFs early on in the season meant I was 7th overall in the championship. Doing a few things to try and improve the suspension set up for this season at the moment, so that will hopefully be enough to make it onto a podium step this year.
The cars are pretty straight forward to prepare as the rules dictate that a large number of the components must stay as standard Mazda specification. This is to reduce costs and also keep the championship as a level playing field.
No modifications to any internal engine parts are allowed and all the cars have to run a championship specification engine map, so the straight line performance between all the cars is completely identical. Then there’s a spec induction kit and exhaust that along with the map increase the power to a little over 180 Bhp.
The only difference between the cars is in the suspension set-up. All the cars have to use championship spec components (adjustable GAZ dampers and Eibach adjustable anti-roll bars) but then spring rates, damper settings and suspension alignment is up to individual drivers.
It makes for some great racing, at last years rounds at Donington the top 11 cars all qualified within 1 second of the pole time!
I don’t have any close up shots showing details of the cars, but there’s a number of photos of the racing on the championship Flickr page:
I’ve just bought my first MX5 (Mk2.5 2003 1.8) and loving driving it. Fell in love with them because I’ve been a race marshal (one of those chaps in orange overalls) for 14 years and had my busiest days when the 5’s turned up! Because of other pressures, my marshalling has fallen by the wayside a bit, but I will be at Castle Combe on 25th May, helping in Race Control. So look forward to seeing you all race again, and hope to bring my own to the day so she can get some inspiration for a track day or two maybe!
In fact, I’ve just found a youtube video of the day I first fell for the 5’s. I was post chief on post 5 (Quarry Inside), when there was mayhem. And this was just one part of one race! Love it!
Just two days now until the first race meeting of the year. There’s 30 drivers entered for the SuperCup at Silverstone, so it’s going to be pretty frantic on the short National circuit layout with that many cars! Expect to see cars 4 or even 5 wide braking into the Brooklands/Luffield complex.
The preview of thre Silverstone weekend is on the SuperCup website here:
The racing yesterday at Silverstone in both Mk3 Supercup and Mk1s was superb with a lot of action in all six races down at Brooklands. Well done to the Supercup winners Alan Henderson and John Clements and Mk1 A Race winners Ben Short and Simon Baldwin.
The SuperCup is heading to Rockingham this weekend as a support race to the British GT championship. That also means that there will be LIVE TV coverage of race 2 of the weekend on Motors TV.
There’s going to be a grid of over 30 cars including former BTCC racer Paul O’Neill who is making another guest appearance so it’s definitely going to be a good one! Live coverage starts at 17.20 on Sunday May 3rd, so make sure you give it a watch or stick it on record
The racing from the Silverstone is on Youtube here:
Castle Combe is a great circuit for spectating at and the racing is going to be mega as always! The Mk1 championship are also racing so a day full of MX-5s.
The highlights coverage from the last races at Rockingham are on Youtube here as well:
I shall be there - in race control! Chief Incident Officer, so perhaps may see you on the circuit at times during the day.
This series is the reason I bought an MX5. I was marshalling as post chief on post 5 (Quarry Out) when MX5 havoc broke out, and I thought I must have one. Here is the exact moment on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJYmzRhpGn8
Thank you to the BRSCC, Pete and the Club for the pass into the Combe paddock. Friendly circuit, competitive racing, mild weather and decent chips - a bostin’ Bank Holiday meeting.
