Keeping you up to date with the latest CorkSport Mazdaspeed news!
Category: Motorsports
Mazda Motorsports is important to CorkSport. We do make parts which are motorsports or can be used in motorsports as well as the street. We race what we sell to make the parts better.
CorkSport is happy to announce touring car availability for those people/teams who want a fun-to-drive and great-looking race/track-focused Mazda 3! The goal of the build was to make a competitive and reliable TC race car and get Mazda back into multi-make competition, which goes back to the Speed Vision and World Challenge days of the early 2000s.
For the 2024 season CorkSport has been validating the design work and lessons learned racing the CorkSport Mazda 3 TC in the SRO TC America TC class. We had multiple podium finishes and ran at the front proving the competitiveness of the Mazda platform against the Hyundai, Honda, and Mini TC class cars.
The base of the build is the Mazda 2.5 Skyactiv engine with a CorkSport bespoke turbo kit developing well over 300 wheel hp in TC trim. The TC car engine management is handled by a Motec M1 ECU, in conjunction with a Bosch Motorsports LC2 wideband controller, and a Motec C125 dash/logger.
The 6 speed Mazda gearbox is equipped with a clutch type LSD and upgraded 3-4 gears with a transmission cooler, while the clutch is an off the shelf X-Clutch single disc clutch/flywheel combo.
Penske shocks/Swift springs, CorkSport upper mounts, and upgraded suspension pick-up points handle road racing while allowing for accurate suspension settings.
Braking is handled by a 364x32mm 6 piston CorkSport race brake kit which uses floating front rotors paired with upgraded rear pads and brakelines on OEM calipers. The brakes are covered with 18×10 Enkei lightweight RPF1 wheels.
To top off the build is the widebody kit which includes, front bumper, splitter, front and rear fenders, side skirts, rear bumper and TCr spec rear wing.
SRO Circuit of the Americas 2024
There is limited availability for the start of the 2025 race season. Currently 2 cars are left for delivery early 2025 for the 2025 TC America race season.
A few years back, I had grand plans of going Spec Miata (SM) racing with a good friend in southern California during the winter months, intent on improving my on-track driving and racecraft overall. After the 1st event, things changed as my friend passed away.
My SM was only raced a few times during 2022 season, but after that, it was parked along with its fellow spec Miatas.
I brought the car back home in December 2023 along with an additional spec Miata on the trailer – with the intention of racing this year. I finally got the car out of the trailer to start cleaning it up and making sure it was solid to race.
Besides cleaning the car inside and out, and ensuring all its safety parts were still good, the car was pretty much ready to go. The biggest challenge was cleaning up from the cheese bois, which made the trunk a party house for a while.
I had several sets of Toyo RR tires that had been purchased back with the grand plans that were made in 2021. They had been sitting in a trailer since then and baking in the California sun. I chose a few that looked like they may still be soft and signed up for the race weekend.
The Friday test day, gave me a few chances to remember how to drive this car fast, as it had been more than five years since I raced an SM at Portland Intl Raceway. I double-checked the alignment settings and headed off to my weekend racing adventure.
Test lap times were pretty slow compared to what I needed for the PNW Spec Miata Tour. I was turning 1:35 lap times, and if you want to be in the top ten, low 1:32s or better were going to be needed to get there. I focused on cleaning up the exits to turn 7 and 12, which lead onto the straights, as these were the sections of the track I was losing time according to my lap timer.
After consulting a few friends about the tire pressure settings and how to close up the gap, I headed out Saturday morning in qualifying to see what I could do. After dealing with a bit of traffic, I got some breaks from people who let me through, and I hit a 1:32.595, which I felt was about as good as I was going to get, so I called it quits for the sessions.
After a quick driver’s meeting and 30 minutes doing a nut and bolt check, I was ready for the afternoon race, which is a 25-minute affair. I have been racing for ~13 years now, and it is fun how you still get the butterflies heading around the last corner in double formation for the start heading for the green flag.
The starts at PIR, as always, are pretty wild mid-pack, and everyone is trying to get an edge on everyone else around you. I made it through the first corner without hitting or getting hit and proceeded close up on the car in front of me as much as possible.
During the race, I noticed that the car felt a little numb on feedback, and I found myself waiting for my Miata to respond to inputs. Waiting is relative, as I am talking about milliseconds, which seems like forever when racing cars. There were plenty of spots swapped, people spinning off the track, and great race action!
I started in 13th, and by keeping it clean and on track, I made it up to 11th place when the check flew. My goal was to be in the top 10, so I was pretty happy that I ended up 11 out of the 32 cars that had signed up for the weekend.
I also improved my fastest race lap, which means I would start higher up the field. I wasn’t the only one who was faster, so starting on Sunday for race #2, I was in 18th, and it was all downhill from there…
Race 2 TL;DR
I spun a few times and lost one spot overall during the race. Long version, the “wait” for the front end to turn was getting worse as the race progressed. There wasn’t a lot I could do with that so it was a race full of trying to drive around my problem by braking in different areas and turning in early to try to hit the apex and marks to make the corners.
Race 3
I got to start in 18th place again, as no one made up any more time/places in order to change the starting position in the middle of the field. The start went okay, and I didn’t make up or lose any spots as the field sorted itself out.
Lap 4 I went up the inside of another driver into turn 4 and lifted as I felt the car start to slide out. This was the wrong thing to do as it upset the chassis as I was ½ on a curb and ½ on the track, so around I went off into the grass. I felt a little boop from the other driver I was passing as he bailed out. I got stopped before the tire wall and headed back on the track now in 24th position. I was able to get a pass on another car and get back to the 23rd position, but I was really struggling to get the car to bite on the front-end grip.
Lap 13, heading into turn 1, aka the chicane, the car pitched more into the corner than I expected, and I looped it. I got going again and in turn 4 the car cut out briefly which means I was running out of gas. I limped it back into the paddock and called it a day.
I made sure to go talk to the other driver, which I failed to execute the pass on, and apologized for dragging us both off into the grass. He was pretty cool about it, but his wife gave me the stank eye the whole time. There is not much you can do but go say sorry, and he was happy with that. I would be if I were in the same position.
The fuel calculation miss was all on me. You usually run a specific amount of fuel per lap and toss in some extra for wiggle room. I did not put any wiggle room in the SM, so I ran out.
The front-end grip problem was due to the tires. When you usually get off track, you can feel the heat from the wheels and tires. After many sessions, you can barely touch the wheel because the heat is being transferred from the brakes to the wheels and the tires. The tires are normally very warm/hot to the touch after coming off the track. The Toyos were barely warm, which means they were not hitting the operating temperature, which is needed to generate maximum grip and allow me to do what I wanted to with the car.
The picture above of the left front tire from the car after 3 test sessions, a qualifier, and 3 races looks like it has been out for a warm-up only. The left front tire takes all the abuse at Portland, so it should show signs of heavy wear. The racing season is over for the Northwest, so I will be sure to get some newer tires on the car next season.
Want to race Spec Miata with the rest of the NW people? The PNW Spec Miata tour page is NWmiata.com. Shout out to A-Aron for hanging out and watching me spin off the track and having a good time doing race car stuff.
We (CorkSport) showed off our work-in-progress TC America TC Class Mazda 3 race car at the CorkSport Mazda Showdown event on August 5th. If you are asking yourself why this is a big deal and why I am reading a blog post about it, here’s the explanation.
On October 1st, 2019, Mazda announced they would join the TCR ranks with the car attending the 2020 season opener at Daytona with IMSA. The bodywork was excellent; it captured the body lines and presented an absolute WOW factor!
Unfortunately, the car was a no-show at the first round or any round scheduled in 2020. On August 15th, Emily Taylor from Mazda announced they had canceled the TCR program, citing the coronavirus as the explanation.
What About The Body Kit?
So what happened to everything from Mazda’s race program, and why is the bodywork a big deal? There were two sets of original molds made for the bodywork. The 1st set of molds went to the constructor Long Road Racing, and the second set sat at Mazda’s design center in Irvine, California.
The molds in Irvine were the first set made off of TCR “Show Car” bodywork and were not production-ready. The “Show Car” Mazda used for their 2019 announcement and future marketing campaigns wasn’t an actual race car. It was a production car with the bodywork on it, but the engine & drivetrain was stock.
CorkSport has been racing a 3rd generation Mazda 3 in the TC class for several years as the development tool for the Skyactiv Turbo kit we offer.
When running in a professional series, the series works with manufacturers and wants the newest models competing on the track to keep the series fresh and relevant for marketing for both the auto manufacturer and the race series. The last 3rd Gen Mazda rolled off the production line in early 2018, making our race car over a year old when the TCR program was announced and over two years old when the program was canceled.
We needed to race the 4th Gen Mazda 3s to keep competing in TC America,
The Journey For the Mazda 3 TCR Kit
This may seem like an exaggeration, but I spent over 200 hours on the phone, in meetings, writing emails, and talking with employees, ex-employees, and contractors that Mazda used to chase down where the bodywork went, who was ultimately in charge of it, and to see if we could get our hands on it.
Once I knew the molds still existed, additional meetings, phone calls, and emails were required before signing an, “OK, we will consider it. Your plan and history jive with a company (CorkSport) that can use the parts and provides a benefit to Mazda.” type of agreement. During this time, I learned the first set of molds had been destroyed, making the motorsports molds the only set left.
In October 2022, snagging the TCR bodywork molds became a strong possibility. I was headed to Texas to drop off some racing equipment to a friend. I decided to leave my truck and trailer in Texas since the bodywork molds were now located on the East Coast. If Mazda agreed we could pick up the molds in the next few months, the truck and trailer would already be halfway there.
December 12th, 2022, Mazda gave me the green light to gain access to the molds after several more phone calls, ZOOM meetings, and agreements were made. I flew back to Texas and headed to Multimatic in Mooresville, NC, to complete this epic quest. After one very long drive, including a massive ice storm, and making it home on Christmas Eve, Mazda’s TCR molds were at CorkSport.
Since then we have been planning and slowly building the new TC Car – We cannot thank Mazda Motorsports enough for choosing to partner with us as we continue to shape our racing program!
The body kit is thick and the ride height was not adjusted prior to the reveal .Rear wing is not to racing spec and was added temporarily to represent what it might look like in the future – rear window will eventually be plexiglass.
Are These The Real Thing?
A common question that will get asked is, “I have seen the Mazda 3 TCR kit overseas, how is what you have the real thing?” Well, my friends, Technology and replication are a wonderful thing.
I asked the same question about the hill climb machine that TCP put together for Mike. If you compare the kits, you can see there are some differences in the kits with the aero, brake cooling, grill area, and more.
It was unofficially stated there were body scans done of the show car with Mazda Japan and those are the results. I cannot speak about the Thailand car but a handheld scanner and some import auto salon are my best guess.
Look forward to more updates on our build over the next several months, This is going to be fun!
I haven’t written any blogs in a while as there hasn’t honestly been anything from Mazda, which has made me stop and go WOW. Most people who have interactions with me would have thought I would be interested in the Mazda 3 TCR. The TCR car looks great, but when I learned Mazda went with the “Spec” engine for the series, it became a “meh” for me. Having an engine that is based on more or less a VW power plant pulling a Mazda around the track made it a lot less interesting. I do know why Mazda chose to go that path, but that is another story.
Mazda Rotary GT3 Concept Car
What did make me go WOW recently was at the Grand Turismo Championships when Mazda announced the RX-Vision GT3 concept! Mazda loves a sexy race car, and if you look at the past two, they have both come out of the Mazda North American studios. This concept is no exception as Julien Montousse, the design chief for Mazda North America, was present during the announcement of the car.
This is a big deal in my mind, we have just seen a change at Mazda USA with Nelson Cosgrove now appointed as the new director of Mazda Motorsports. Mazda has done everything except come right out and say we are going to build another rotary, and that message looks to be getting stronger. We have seen more patents popping up, calling out more tech and drawings of rotary goodness, including my favorite the top-mounted turbo rotary engine from years back.
Like anything Mazda teases us with, we will have to wait and see what happens. On a personal level, I hope Mazda gets us a 2020 Mazda 3 AWD turbo MT, but that is another one of those “wait and see” dreams from Mazda.
Hey Everyone, if you don’t know me already I’m the engineering manager at CorkSport Performance & @Halfmilespeed3. I want to make a formal greeting and invite you to follow along as I take the next huge step with my personal build. I drive a 2009 Mazdaspeed 3 that has been through many iterations. I bought it nearly 6 years ago and have since used it in excess to support CorkSport R&D. Hundreds if not thousands of passes on the dyno with so many parts…it’s been a beaten test mule. The time has come to set a focus.
2007-2009 Mazdaspeed 3 Crashbar
Now, with the 4th engine going in it, I’m setting the build focus for ½ Mile Drag Racing. Power, Aero, and some “Mad Scientist” R&D is going into this build. (see WTF is THAT)
My goals are 700whp on the CST6 stock flange (with Will @ PD Tuning giving it the sauce) and 180mph in the standing ½ mile. I plan to play in the 1320, but half mile is the focus. My first event was going to be Never Lift @ Coalinga Munical Airport in Late March, but with recent events, this was canceled and a new date has not been set. Fingers crossed the country gets through this and the next events hosted by Shift S3ctor Airstrip Attack in June and November hold.
Back to the build…I know that pushing a Mazdaspeed through the air at 180mph is a lofty goal and that physics are against me. With the help and advice of Aaron O’neal @ English Racing I am exploring high-speed aero design.
Gen 1 Mazdaspeed Parts
The primary goal is stability at high speed. I want to be safe in this type of racing so I need to do what I can to make the car stable and predictable at speed. This means I need the car to cut through the air as smoothly as possible, and if possible, generate downforce.
To do this I’ve made a prototype drag wing (which I will share more detail on in a later blog) per the advice of Aaron and my research. This wing is two feet long at the top! And with the closed sides, this should reduce the amount of lift generated at the back of the car.
There is still a lot more work to do here but you get the idea so far.
CorkSport
Upfront I am still very much in the conceptual phase of design. Nearly the whole front bumper will be sealed off with a single sheet of ABS plastic formed to the front of the car. The only opening will be a rectangle about the size of the intercooler for cooling airflow. I also plan to build a chassis mounted splitter. The red parts in the image above are the one-off brackets I designed to mount the splitter to the chassis and still be able to adjust the height (Again I’ll share more detail in future blogs as the prototype comes together).
CorkSport
The other less intuitive aero bit I’m doing on the front of the Speed is hood venting. Thanks to Jonathan Castro @ JC Speedworks for the hood vent I’m able to kill two birds with one stone here. If you’ve done any type of racing you know heat is a killer and must be managed. With this hood vent, I am both evacuating any high-pressure air build up in the engine bay and promoting more efficient airflow through the intercooler and radiator.
With the 300 miles I’ve put on the car, I can already see a huge difference in normal operating temps. Maybe more vents are in the works? 😉 Oh and shout out to @mz_rawr (Aaron Maves) for cutting holes in my hood.
CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 Transmission Mount Blog
In the process of getting the engine and transmission together, I wanted to fix a 2nd gear drop out issue I had. Over a weekend @thatonepnwguy (Bryce Peterson) and I split my transmission and replaced the shift forks. We certainly did it the wrong way and had to chase some balls around and get them back into their respective locations; despite all that, don’t be afraid to tear into things and learn the hard way.
How To Achieve 400 WHP In Your Mazdaspeed Blog
The powerplant made it in the car and is running great. Right now I’ve got about 300 miles on the engine. I’ve been working out some little details with heat management and setup of the Vacuum Pump (WTF is THAT). I am just now starting to do logs and tuning with Will Dawson at Purple Drank Tuning. With these goals, I still intend to keep the car street legal and driven on a nearly daily basis (I wish you could see the stares I get from people). I’m putting this out to all of you as an invite to follow along with the build on Instagram @halfmilespeed3. All the inside info and goodies are there for you to see along with @corksport for other stories and build updates. I’m stoked for this season and to explore a racing series that has largely been untouched by the Mazdaspeed community. I will be finding limits and new challenges for the platform that I hope to overcome.
