So first off, sorry, but there was no photographer at this one and it looks like my Track Addict app was going little nuts. This was the biggest and boldest step the Craigslist Miata has ever undertaken, to say we were punching way above our weight class would be an understatement. To be honest, we thought ourselves to be big stuff after “conquering” the Streets of Willow with these guys a month earlier, but boy were we wrong. As the only NA to show up with neither a wing, boost, nor K-swap the only times I got close to the cars in front of me was during the lead/follow parade lap. However, there was that guy in the BMW that didn’t really know what he was doing (watch the video for the spin).
It felt incredible to stretch the roadster’s legs on a real racetrack. Running the full CW13 layout meant that this was what the big boys run, and let’s just say that the CLM was able to hold its composure out there on course. There was a bit of a disturbing thump from the front left, almost like the suspension was hanging up then crashing down on the pavement, the few times we tried to “cut” the bus stop like you are supposed to. However, it was the nasty vibration emanating from the right rear at around 80 MPH that raised concern from the instructing co-pilot.
You see, this is the first time that the Craigslist Miata has been sustaining highway speeds on a racetrack for an extended period of time. This is why we can’t take phone calls while driving, which when you think about it is actually a good thing (right?), and will become the cause for some further investigation in the future. However, the biggest gain of the day was having the instructor force me to turn in way earlier than I would have if I were driving on my own. Experiencing the effects of the outside suspension compressing under load and then feeling the car wash out ever so slightly in such a neutral manner, that you end up using even more of the racing surface than you ever imagined possible.