Event | CorkSport Mazda Performance Blog

August 17, 2011September 13, 2018

Mazfest: The Mazda Family Reunion

Mazfest returned once again this year to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana CA. Sponsored by Mazda Owners Club of California, Mazdas247, and the Southern California RX Club, this years event featured autocross, an HPDE track day (high performance Driver Education), and of course the car show. On the day of the event, CorkSport was there in full force and the weather gave us sunny skies and a decent breeze and of course we were greeted with the usual smog from the east end of LA.

Mazfest showcases one of the widest varieties of Mazdas of any event CorkSport attends each year and the cars being shown this year ranged from a beautiful R100 to a brand new 2011 Mazdaspeed 3 and everything in between.

CorkSport recruited two of our California Mazdaspeed 3 customers to showcase their rides in our booth. One had the complete package of CorkSport power series products installed including the Downpipe, 80mm Racepipe, 80mm Cat Back Exhaust, and a CorkSport Ram-Air FMIC kit.

The other Mazdaspeed 3 had the CorkSport TMIC installed along with a host of other performance parts and was also the featured ride of the month on the Mazdas247 forum in July.

There were run groups out on the track all day with their owners putting their cars through their paces. Cars on the track ranged from stock to full on race cars including a turbocharged road race Rx8. There were a few mishaps on the HPDE event that you could find when walking around the garages.

The worst example I saw was a blow out suffered on the track by a Porsche. It took out the rear bumper, damaged the paint, and looks to have hit the radiator too.

All in all, it was a great day and we got to connect with many of our CorkSport customers and enjoy the show. I recommend attending next year if you are able to.

-Derrick

May 27, 2011September 13, 2018

787B Race Car Coming Out Of Retirement

In celebration of becoming the first and only Japanese car manufacturer to win the world’s most demanding endurance race, the 24-Hours of Le Mans, Mazda will be demonstrating the winning Mazda 787B, on the Circuit de la Sarthe in La Mans, France on June 11, before the start of the race.

The Mazda 787B was jointly developed by Mazda and MazdaSpeed in 1990 to 1991. The 787 has a chassis designed to meet Group C racing car technical regulations and is powered by a R26B four-rotor naturally aspirated engine that produces 700 horsepower. 1991 was the last year that a rotary-engine car could participate in the 24 Hour of Le Mans.

At the 59th 24 Hours of Le Mans, Mazda was not the favorite to win, but the three 3.5 liter cars that Mazda submitted for the races were given first grid positions despite being the 12th, 17th and 24th fastest qualifiers. On the day before the race, the team manager instructed the drivers to drive as if it were a short sprint race rather than an endurance event, a decision he made based on the reliability the cars demonstrated and the car’s exceptional fuel economy.

At the 22nd hour of the race, #55, an outrageously painted bright orange and green Mazda 787B, took the lead and was the first to cross the finish line, completing 362 laps and covering just over 3,064 miles.

Since 1991, the winning Mazda 787B has primarily been displayed at the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima, Japan. Mazda carefully restored the winning 787B racecar back to driving condition and has tested it using one of Mazda’s in-house top gun drivers.

Mazda’s attendance at the 79th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans also coincides with the 50th anniversary of its development of the rotary engine.

– Gwynne

March 8, 2011December 18, 2017

Flo-Rida!

The SFLA Mazda Crew hosted their second Epic Florida Meet at Lou Bachrodt Mazda on Feb 21st and CorkSport was invited to attend. Agreeing to attend and getting to the event which was 3230 miles away made for some tough choices for us. We decided to forego bringing a booth and parts show up with a backpack full of t-shirts, can koozies, and the new CorkSport license plate frames to hand out.

Lou Bachrodt Mazda is located in Coconut Creek which is about 45 minutes north of Miami Florida. The weather for the event was beautiful, 80 degrees with a light breeze all day. Compared to Vancouver, WA which was 45 degrees and cloudy, it was a huge difference for winter weather.

RX-7s

160 Mazdas showed up to the event and they ranged from a beautiful 1971 RX-2 to a 3 Rotor 1000+ Hp RX-8. The RX-8 was a beast with a turbo the size of my head.

RX-2

RX-8

There was a portable dyno on hand for the day but it suffered a failure which kept anyone from getting pulls completed. The failure occurred when the first car was on the first power run.

There was a great turnout of Mazdaspeed 3s, both 1st and 2nd gens. There were several standouts I saw at the show for both generations.

A visit from the Red Bull girls kept everyone going all day long. The aftermath at one of the garbage cans shows the carnage of drinks consumed.

I would like to give a big thanks to the SFLA Mazda Crew for organizing the Epic Meet and Lou Bachrodt Mazda for hosting the event. For more pictures of the event check out our CorkSport Facebook Page.

Hosting a Mazda enthusiast event this year? Contact us and we might just show up.

– Derrick

February 17, 2011September 13, 2018

CorkSport at the Portland Auto Show

Oh how I love an auto show, a whole building filled with new cars and the and new car smell. Multiple manufacturers gathered in one building to show me the best of their new line up. Concept cars, eco cars, Italian cars, it’s the best. This years Portland Auto show was even better than years past. Mazda’s booth is built for fun, and to make it memorable they incorporated an alternative gaming station, STAR Mazda racecars, a spec Miata, and us, CorkSport.

Mazda North America first contacted us several weeks before the show about joining them at the Portland Auto Show with our Mazda 2. A few days later the MazdaSpeed 3 was added to the lineup. Then the fun began: prep-work.

Anyone who has ever entered their car in a show of any kind will totally understand that the prep-work is really hours of cleaning and scrubbing followed by tons of polishing and buffing. It’s standing outside in the cold January weather washing cars, scrubbing tires and trying to dry the car while you still have a little feeling left in your fingers. It’s cursing whoever drove the car last and didn’t clean-up right, but in the end its just so worth it because the cars end up looking beautiful.

All the cleaning and prep aside, there is always a little disaster that drops in at the last minute. We like to refer to these disasters as “team builders”, because it takes the team to fix the disaster before it turns into a gulf spill that spews for months on end with no resolution. Our little disaster was the hood on the 2. About a month before the show the 2 took a direct hit from a piece of tire that was kicked-up by an SUV in front of us on our way to a MazdasNW meet. No one was injured but the 2’s window and hood were done. Fast forward to the auto show, window was fixed weeks ago, but we weren’t able to get a hood that wasn’t damaged in transit until just before the show. After much debate and several vinyl peel-offs we finally struck gold with simplicity. We cleaned the hood, polished it up and dropped a CorkSport logo across the top of the hood at an angle. It turned out great and the disaster was capped.

After all was said and done, the cars got dropped off on time and look great in the Mazda booth. Thanks again to Mazda North America for the invite, we really enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of the show.

– Kelly

February 8, 2011September 13, 2018

Sno-Drift 2011

I had a chance to attend the aptly named Sno-Drift Rally the on Jan 28th and 29th in Michigan. Man it was cold too with the high temperature of 16 degrees. The rally is run around (and in) Lewiston and Atlanta Michigan which is in the middle of nowhere (see map below for the middle of nowhere)

I attended the event as a guest of Thayer Mazda who is a sponsor of the event. Thayer Mazda supplied the green light car for the for Rally America to use. Thayer took a 2011 Mazdaspeed 3 which is sponsored by CorkSport and Mazda and built it from the ground up.

The Mazdaspeed 3 is equipped with the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 SRI, CorkSport SRI Airbox w/ Carbon Lid, CorkSport 80mm Catback Exhaust, CorkSport Skid Plate, CorkSport Urethane Exhaust Hangars, and CorkSport Motor Mount Inserts.

There were two Mazdas competing in the Sno-Drift Rally, a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 driven by Wyatt Knox and a 1988 323GTX driven by Erik Zenz. The Mazdaspeed 3 was on pace the first day to challenge for the 2wd G5 title but a flat tire and some difficulty with snow and ice changing the tire held them up. On Saturday Wyatt fought back to get to 4th place in 2wd and 18th overall. Not too bad when there were 45 cars that started the event and a good half of them were 4wd models.

Photo credit Lee Sam

At the super special stage a lucky 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 owner got a chance to take his car out on the course for a quick lap after the rally cars had finished up.

The super special spectators got a special treat with a guest appearance of the “Stig” who was accompanied by an attractive (freezing) lady.

I would like to give a big thanks to Thayer Mazda for bringing a massive tent with power to the super special stage. They had heaters, a DJ, two couches, two big screen TVs, and a Mazda 2 parked inside the tent. Everyone was welcome to warm up in the tent and enjoy the extra comforts provided.

The rally was a great event to attend. If you are anywhere near the Sno-Drift Rally next year I recommend attending. Just make sure you bring some warm clothes.

– Derrick