Team Mazda rules 12-hour race at Clark
A near-stock MX-5 pulls away from the competition
THERE’S SOMETHING quite special about the art of endurance racing. It is a unique kind of motorsport that entails vehicles to run long distances over several hours — with only a few pit stops in between — while being driven by teams of drivers, who have to “endure” the lengthy race.
Perhaps among the most famous (and oldest) of its kind in the world is the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans which, as can be inferred from its name, is held near the town of Le Mans in France. Some people have even dubbed it the “Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency.”
Coincidentally, this 2021, Mazda celebrates the 30th anniversary of its 24 Hours of Le Mans victory back in 1991. Their specific vehicle entry at the time was the Mazda 787B which carried the Mazda R26B rotary engine. Mazda’s car #55 — then driven by team members: Weidler, Herbert, and Gachot — completed the race smoothly and took overall victory without any issues.
Here in the country, Mazda Philippines is now also celebrating a recent victory from the 2021 Petron Kalayaan Cup 12-Hour Endurance Challenge held at the Clark International Speedway, just last June 15. The vehicle entry was a near-showroom-stock MX-5 (Miata Spec series car), driven by race veterans Allan Uy, Aaron Guevarra, Gaby dela Merced, and Marc Soong. It clocked in a fastest lap time of 2:21.186 and finished the race way ahead of 16 other entries. In fact, it finished an impressive nine whole laps ahead of the second placer.
If you’d like a bit more of the exciting details, the Mazda MX-5 had, during one point, an incredible 14-lap advantage over the closest competitor. But an introduction of a safety car which came in the last 10 minutes of the race inevitably slowed down the group and brought the cars closer together. Nevertheless, the MX-5 finished its final 274-lap count with only six pit stops in between.
In the end, this year’s showroom-fresh Mazda MX-5 also matched the record set by its fully tuned MX-5 Global Cup race car, which won the Kalayaan Cup back in 2019. The annual Philippine 12-hour race was not held in 2020 because of lockdown restrictions due to the pandemic.
When we asked Mazda Philippines President and MX-5 team fan Steven Tan about his thoughts regarding Mazda’s recent participation in the Kalayaan Cup, he shared: “It is not difficult or challenging to make a car be more powerful and to go fast. It is much more difficult to make a car go fast consistently, for a long time! Hence an endurance race is the most challenging and the most meaningful in motorsport competitions.”
And when asked why Mazda chose to elect the showroom-fresh MX-5 as its 2021 entry to the endurance race, he replied: “The MX-5 was chosen for having the ingredients to win; among them is top reliability. To win, one has to first finish. Rear-wheel drive and its being lightweight and having perfect balance all give the MX-5 a big advantage over heavier cars, which may be more powerful, but are slower around the corners on the circuit. The lighter MX-5 needs a smaller and less powerful engine, and that makes it more fuel-efficient — so it requires less refueling pitstops. It also experiences less tire wear and is less prone to brake fades — which saves precious time from coming into the pits. This of course, means more laps for the MX-5 over the course of the endurance time limit.”
It is also impressive to hear that Mazda’s MX-5 entry actually ran the entire 12-hour race only on a single set of tires and brake pads! Furthermore, Mr. Tan also explained how good handling and balance also allowed the drivers to be more relaxed, and thus less prone to both fatigue and making mistakes. “So all four drivers finished the race relaxed and fresh, even after 12 hours of high-speed driving,” he added.
When we asked Mazda team member Marc Soong about his Kalayaan Cup experience, he shared: “Driving a 12-hour endurance race is a physical and mental challenge. We are limited to two-hour stints, but driving to your limit and the car’s limit on a racetrack is challenging. The MX-5 though is a beautiful car to drive on the track! It was an awesome experience to race in a 12-hour endurance challenge and even more amazing that we won it, and matched the lap record for 12 hours.”
We also asked him to share his highest moments, to which he replied: “A high moment? Just to be able to race in these challenging times would be it! And for 12 hours, we were in a different world, like the old times.”
