Skip Barber Racing Reveals Mazda MX-5 Race Series

December 6, 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Skip Barber Racing School announced the formation of an all-new regional race series using a fleet of identically prepared Mazda MX-5 Miatas, one of the most popular sports cars used in amateur and professional road racing today. The Mazda MX-5s to be used in the Skip Barber Mazda MX-5 Cup Regional Race Series are built by Skip Barber Racing and are very close in specification to the cars raced in the professional SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup. The new Mazda MX-5 Cup Regional Race Series will run its inaugural season on some of the country’s most prestigious road courses, including Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta. A full schedule of race dates and locations will be announced early in 2008.

Photo by Sidell Tilghman

The Skip Barber Mazda MX-5 Cup car is powered by Mazda’s 2.0-liter engine and makes 200 h.p. and 190 lb-ft of torque. The 5-speed gearbox utilizes a Mazda racing-clutch assembly. All cars will run BFGoodrich G-Force tires.

The new MX-5 Cup Regional Race Series will be closely modeled on Skip Barber’s open-wheel, equal-car amateur and professional championships, which Skip Barber Racing has conducted for more than 30 years.

The new Regional Skip Barber Series also complements the fast-growing SCCA Spec Miata class; there are nearly 1,500 first- and second-generation Miatas running on any given weekend in the U.S. The third generation Miata is known as the MX-5, and in 2005, the Sirius Satellite Radio (now the Playboy) Mazda MX-5 Cup was created as the entry level of production car-based competition in SCCA Pro Racing.

Annual Potluck Christmas Dinner Party - Saturday, December 1

The turkey will be supplied but we need appetizers and side dishes to go with it. We ask that everyone bring one of the following: appetizer, salad, veggies, potatoes, rice or dessert. Soft drinks will be supplied, but you must supply your own alcoholic beverages.

Please RSVP by phoning the Cooks at ------------ or e-mail -----------------------------. Let them know how many are coming and what food item you plan to bring so we can ensure we don’t have everyone bringing the same thing.

We will again hold the wild-and-wacky gift exchange, an ever-popular fun event involving cunning strategy and much thievery. Each person should bring one gift to a maximum of $10. It can be anything... fun, practical, or just plain goofy, so use your imagination!

There will be music for dancing after the gift exchange, and everyone is encouraged to bring along music that they like to dance to.

December 1, 2007

SpeedChannel (Shaw Cable channel 41 in Kelowna) will once again broadcast the MX-5 Cup series during the month of December. Each race will be shown three times during the same week, and all programs are one-half hour in length.