What’s Racing Got To Do With It?

Looking from the outside, racing really doesn’t make much sense. You spend a bunch of money to win some trophies, which are nowhere near as valuable as the money spent on the racing to get it. This leaves most people asking “why?”

I’m here to explain why the people at CorkSport spend the time and energy to go racing.

First, we get access to world-class drivers. I’m not saying I’m not a decent driver, but I’m always learning, just like the best drivers out there. The best example we have is recently hiring pro driver Kenton Koch to do development work on our 2016 Miata suspension.

If you haven’t heard his name, you should by now. He’s a Mazda development driver and he’s won the Skip Barber Series Championship, Skip Barber Mazdaspeed Series Championship, Battery Tender MX-5 Cup Championship, and this last year, the IMSA Prototype Lights Champtionship. This year at the Rolex 24hour in Daytona, Kenton was part of a JDC-Miller PC team that won their class and the first race in the Patron Endurance Championship. This was also the first time he’d raced this car against other competitors. So you can say Kenton is good.

The second thing about racing is you’ll break and wear out parts. If you’re not wearing out parts, you’re not pushing the car hard enough and you’re officially a Sunday driver. Brakes, tires, suspension, and motor components are exposed to the worst conditions while racing. A recent example was when I raced at Daytona for the SCCA runoffs. We raced our 2015 Mazda 3 2.5 with all of our parts for an entire week. Every lap we hit a top speed of 139mph, hammering the brake to make corner 1. The intake and exhaust got a massive workout dealing with the full throttle driving for extended periods of time on the embankment of the oval. The CorkSport springs and swaybar were pounded over the curbs on the infield and the bus stop. The end result of the race weekend was zero problems with our parts, even in a worst-case environment.

The third reason is just as compelling to me as the first two reasons: you learn. When I head to the track, I make sure I have a goal in mind of what I want to accomplish ahead of time. For this upcoming year, CorkSport is an associate sponsor of Hale Motorsports Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car effort with two MX-5 TC classed cars and a very familiar Mazda 2 TC B-Spec, which CorkSport built and raced. I’ve signed on to be a crew chief for the car driven by Joey Jordan, who piloted the CorkSport Mazda 2 last year to four straight 1^st place finishes at the end of the Pirelli World Challenge season. We also have a future star in the making. Henry Morse will be driving the Mazda 2 for this season as well, which makes for a busy schedule.

My goal for the season is to develop the skills to operate at the highest level needed by a crew chief in strategy, drive prep, team communications, and operations. Each one of these items is essential inside a team to be effective and win a championship.

Now that you know, what do you think? Do you understand why we race? Feel free to post your comments here on the blog and I’ll make sure I reply back personally.

February 3, 2016February 10, 2016

New Product Alert: CorkSport Leather E-Brake Handle

Elevate your Mazda's interior with the CorkSport leather e-brake handle.

Introducing the new CorkSport leather parking brake handle for 2^nd generation Mazdaspeed 3 and Mazda 3! This isn’t just another plastic handle with some pattern on it, or maybe some carbon fiber sticker. This is what Mazda should have done from the beginning.

The CorkSport handle was CAD designed to fit just like OEM and features two set screws to lock it in place. Nobody wants to lose their parking brake handle while doing mad front wheel burnouts, right?

I didn’t think so.

The CorkSport handle is cast from aluminum, then sprayed with a high gloss silver coating, and finally it’s hand wrapped and stitched with the same premium leather you’ve come to love with the CorkSport leather shift knob.

Speaking of shift knobs; now’s your chance to put together the ultimate interior package for your Speed with the parking brake handle, leather shift knob, carpet floor mats, and of course the performance steering wheel which is coming soon. It’ll be like driving a whole new car. You might even get that new car smell!

Now stop doing front wheel burnouts and order this baby now before they’re gone!

Cheers,

CorkSport

January 19, 2016December 17, 2018

When Life Gives You Lemons: Advice For A Wrecked Mazda

Should you repair or retire your car after a crash? Luke from CorkSport tells us when it's worth it to repair.

Imagine driving down the freeway at cruising speed and someone decides to change lanes too fast, causing an accident. This is one of the worst things that could happen on the way to work, school, or a friend’s house. I’ve seen this happen to many of my friends, and the most important thing is that everyone was able to walk away without being hurt.

Once the dust has settled, you have an imperfect “race car” to take care of. You have to decide if you want to fix the car, or trash it and move onto the next project. As long as the car isn’t totaled, my vote would be to repair it and keep your baby.

What’s the next step now that you’ve decided to repair your vehicle?

You have two options to get your baby back up and running:

1. Order OEM Mazda parts to replace what you currently have.

2. See what parts need to be repaired, and buy upgraded ones.

Take the time to fully think about where you want to go with the car. Are you looking to keep the car stock, do you want to explore new power levels to achieve certain times at the track, or do you want a super fun daily driver? These are some things you should consider when deciding what direction to go with the car.

Let’s assume you took some front-end damage, which includes your top mount intercooler and intake. When searching for repairs, you’re going to notice that a stock top mount intercooler from a Mazda dealership is going to cost you somewhere around cost you big for a brand new one, according to parts specialist at Bountiful Mazda, Cody Allington. That price doesn’t include labor to have it installed.

On the other hand, our top mount intercooler is more affordable, not including the shroud or shipping. When you break that down, you’re saving money while going with an upgraded part. You’ll get an upgraded top mount intercooler with added cooling and flow benefits, AND you’ll be able to pay someone to install it, all for the cost of what an OEM top mount intercooler would cost. You’ll also get added horsepower and torque from upgrading your top mount intercooler, which will make the butt dyno very happy.

A CorkSport top mount intercooler installed. — Upgraded top mount intercooler installed with shroud.

An OEM intake including the short ram and turbo inlet pipe is going to cost you a pretty penny, not including labor. That’s not a cheap part for what you’re getting.

MS3 power series intake delivers more horsepower and torque. — 3.5″ Mazdaspeed 3 Power Series Intake System

However, if you have decent power goals for your Mazdaspeed, you can pick up our 3.5” intake for less than that OEM intake. You’ll still be saving money and if you think about what you’re getting with it, it should be a no-brainer. You’ll get much better flow from the intake, which increases horsepower and torque.

This graph shows the difference between the OEM MAF and the 3.5” MAF. There’s a huge difference. You’ll definitely notice the increase in power and sound if you decided to upgrade to this intake.

3.5" Mazdaspeed 3 Power Series Intake System MAF Flow Data — 3.5″ Mazdaspeed 3 Power Series Intake System MAF Flow Data

Most people look at getting into a wreck as the worst thing that could happen to them. However, I look at it as an opportunity to capitalize on a mistake and make your car better than it’s ever been.

Typically, the insurance company will give you the quote and write a check. If this happens, make sure to tell them you’re doing your own research on parts and picking a shop of your choice so you have the option of buying the upgraded parts.

If you played it off right, you can tell all of your Speed friends that you got your car fixed (without the mention of upgraded parts), and put a whooping on them! You could turn your car into ultimate sleeper status.

Just remember to entertain all ideas before pulling the trigger, and if you play your cards right, you can turn your wrecked baby into a modified monster!

January 13, 2016September 22, 2020

Daytona International Speedway and a Mazda 3

Most people think Nascar when they hear about Daytona International Speedway. To road course guys like me, it’s the site of a 24-hour race, which we wait for every year in January. This past year, I participated in the SCCA Majors to qualify to run two different classes at the Runoffs, which were hosted at the Daytona Intl. Speedway.

My normal racetrack chariot is a 2011 Mazda 2 B-Spec, which I’ve raced for the past 4 years.

corksport-mazda-2-race-car — Derrick’s 2011 Mazda 2 B-Spec from Daytona coming out of turn 3.

I’ve been quietly building a 2015 Mazda 3 Sedan with a 2.5 engine to run in the SCCA T-4 class starting late in the season this year with the purpose of running it at Daytona. We picked up the car from getting the cage installed and had nine days to get all of the parts installed, get it dyno tuned for 98 octane, and load it up into a trailer to go to Daytona via Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. There’s nothing like taking a completely unsorted car to a national championship race on the other side of the country, just for fun.

At the Pirelli World Challenge race weekend at Mazda Raceway, the CorkSport Mazda 2 was piloted by Joey Jordan and swept the three races for a perfect weekend. In between the Mazda 2 getting serviced, we worked on the Mazda 3, getting the sound deadener removed, seat mounted, and safety gear installed. We also changed the springs installed on the car to CorkSport’s 2014+ Mazda 3 springs to make the ride height lower. At Daytona, you want less aero drag because of the low profile, so having the car as low as you can get it helps the speed on the oval section.

After the last race was finished up at Pirelli, we loaded up both Mazdas and headed to Daytona, which is a 44-hour drive across the country.

We arrived at Daytona on Friday to do some final setup on the Mazda 2 and finish the prep work on the Mazda 3 before our test day on Saturday.

I’ve raced at Autoclub speedway in Fontana California before, so I was familiar with a banked track but not quite as familiar with that long of a time on the track.

In the Mazda 2, I found myself looking around at the scenery a lot during the Saturday test day. The infield was fun to find the limits on the car and mastering the bus stop with a quick hit of the brake then back on the gas was a big challenge for me.

In the Mazda 3 on Sunday, I got a reminder of what a new car can be like while getting everything dialed in. I had massive understeer with the car and had to modulate the throttle constantly to get the car to turn. On the straight sections, the car was fast and I could hang with most of the cars out there if I got enough of a run out of the corners. To give you an idea of how much faster the Mazda 3 was at the time trap, the fastest draft time I got with the Mazda 2 was 119mph. In the Mazda 3, it was 139mph. This was before you head into a turn and slow down in the shortest possible space before busting a quick left into the infield. If you get it wrong, the guys behind you made up time on you. If you get it right, you can get more of a lead.

Another huge problem I had with the Mazda 3 was I couldn’t see anything out of the left side of the car. The window size is pretty small, the window net didn’t help, and the massive left mirror did its best to keep me from seeing the apex or the other cars.

I qualified for the championship race 15^th out of 22 cars, which isn’t great, but it’s not the back of the field. I was four seconds off the pace of the pole sitting Honda Civic, which gives you an idea of how well sorted that car was in comparison to the Mazda 3 in its first weekend at the track.

Honestly, the T-4 started off pretty crappy for me. I got jumped on the start and was forced to the outside of turn 1 where I couldn’t judge the car next to me going through the corner, so I lost a spot. Two laps later, I got to watch Scotty White in his Mustang get turned into by a RSX right in front of me going into the bus stop, which made for some great front row entertainment. Toss in a few dive bombs by a Camaro and it made for a good time. I spent the rest of the race trying to be as nice to my front left tire in the infield as I could.

In the end, I finished in 15^th, which is the exact spot I started the race in! For this upcoming season, we’ll work on the suspension setup to improve the car’s cornering speeds to be more competitive and work on the driver setup.

I have to give a big thanks to CorkSport for the parts installed on the Mazda 3, which worked flawlessly, Joey Jordan Motorsports for the spotting and chassis setup at the track, Joe at Dynotronics for the 98 octane Skyactiv Tune in a super short period of time, Monarch Inspections for letting us steal your worker bee to drive the truck across the country, 47 Moto for the wrench help, Mazdaspeed Motorsports for being the best vehicle manufacturer that supports club racing, and my wife and kids for putting up with me running off to chase my dreams.

January 12, 2016January 13, 2016

Mazda Performance In Action at the Track

We live and breathe Mazda.

But you already knew this about us. We work our 9-5 serving Mazdas and then on the weekends, we hit the track with our very own Mazda.

What exactly goes into our Derrick-driven Mazda3 race car? CorkSport.

Check out our performance in action infographic and see what goes into the CS race car. Don’t worry: if you have an older Mazda, we still have you covered.

Rear motor mount

Get improved handling and road feel while maintaining a comfortable ride. Our rear motor mount reduces your engine’s movement which enhances the power transfer from engine to tire, therefore improving throttle response, gear shifting, and driver feedback.

Cheers,

CorkSport

CorkSport Mazda Performance Blog

Posts

What’s Racing Got To Do With It?

New Product Alert: CorkSport Leather E-Brake Handle

When Life Gives You Lemons: Advice For A Wrecked Mazda

You have two options to get your baby back up and running:

Daytona International Speedway and a Mazda 3

Mazda Performance In Action at the Track

We live and breathe Mazda.

Rear motor mount

Short ram intake

Cat back exhaust

Lowering springs

Camber plates

Rear sway bar