How to Miata - track prep basics
 

The unnofficial SuperSpec Cup prep guide

This guide was compiled and written by a good friend of ours, bellwilliam on this forum. His sense of humor permeates but it's very thorough. It covers what is needed for the Supermiata, now SuperSpec Cup racing series we created back in 2013. That's a wheel to wheel race series for NA/NB, 140whp power cap at 2300 lbs comp weight on a spec tire. For more info on the series, clicky here: SuperSpec Cup Racing

It ends up being a good basic guide for general HPDE prep as well, so I thought it would be good to share here.
More tech stuff on our site https://supermiata.com/tech-info-links.aspx

Some excerpts from bellwilliam's guide:

9. Radiator ducting – minimal work but probably most effective mod. Seal around radiator with foam. Don’t overthink it, any foam will work, should take you no more than 5 minutes. If you want to get fancy, you can build a custom duct from spoiler to the radiator and seal everything, so all air entering the radiator duct must go through the radiator.

Should I get a weight distribution hitch?
Yes, if you are towing a comparatively heavy trailer vs. your tow vehicle. It helps a ton

Fuel sock hole issue
Common Miata issue, more so if you run E85 fuel. You will feel engine miss on track out during a left turn, when tank is less than half full. Good news - your day isn’t over, just keep the tank full. Fuel sock is a $10 part (must have spare), and easy to swap (if you remove the hard top). It is impossible to see the tiny hole, but it is there. Just replace it if you have the symptom

Start
Common noob error is watching for the green flag itself. You should watch for body parts connected to the flag. The moment shoulder / upper arm moves, you launch.

Contact avoidance
Whether you have the right to a position or not. If you can avoid contact, you HAVE to make an effort. Otherwise, you will still be ruled at fault. Right to a line does not give one’s right to hit another car, contact avoidance should always come first.

Those were the golden years IMHO. You had one hell of a group and a LOT of fun.

Golden years indeed. So many adventures. When I talk to those legacy team members now, they often say that was the coolest thing, or one of the coolest things they ever did. I agree many great memories.

A link to this should be a sticky on every Miata forum. Not enough cats for bellwilliam! And kudos to Emilo for hosting it! :likecat::likecat::likecat:

Not just for beginners, either. I've been doing this for a while and still picked up new things to think about, things I had forgotten, and links to some threads I missed along the way.

Feel free to share it on other forums. I posted on miata.net already.

Amen. Very good stuff to have written down.