Australian Tarmac Challenge 2010: Round 2

Team Carsales recorded its best ever result at the Australian Tarmac Challenge (ATC) over the weekend, behind the wheel of a turbocharged Mazda3 MPS.

On the Friday evening we picked up the little hot hatch from Mazda's Sydney HQ, our first and only drive of the car before competitive events was up the M5 towards Eastern Creek... in peak hour traffic.

Nevertheless, we arrived at the Chifley hotel in good spirits and the car passed scrutineering without hitch thanks to the addition of a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit.

There are three classes to ensure level playing fields at all ATC events, Street, Club, and Motorsport, and having a mostly stock standard four-cylinder front-wheel drive car, we were placed in the Street category.

With overnight rain, the conditions were such that the quarter-mile drags at the Western Sydney International Dragway were cancelled due to safety concerns, but there were still 24 events to get through. You could tell the driver of the Corvette Z06 was a bit miffed.

After a hasty breakfast of fresh fruit and blackberry pastries, everyone filed out and within minutes there was cacophony of engines providing a charged atmosphere.

Having spent very little time in the Mazda3 MPS, both Matt and I were a little apprehensive about our chances. There were Porsches, Nissan Skylines and turbo BMWs to intimidate our little $40,000 hatchback.

Matt Brogan was somehow lined up against an incredibly hot looking Ferrari F430 Scuderia, complete with carbon ceramic brakes and an exhaust note that saw several drivers swooning in veneration. Suffice to say the crowd was expecting Italy to beat Japan.

But somehow Matt beat the $500,000+ Ferrari -- twice! -- the crowd went absolutely wild. His second run in the Mazda3 MPS also saw him third fastest in the Street category.

Next up we headed over to the Figure 8 skid circuit event, and like the Battle Motorkhana, the Mazda3 MPS wasn't really suited to the tight and twisty course, tending to understeer -- though this could've been related to (lack of?) driver skill. The fastest car around the Figure 8 in Street class was a 2009 HSV Maloo, who was miles ahead of the pack, drifting through almost the entire course.

Mid-corner grip in the MPS 3 was very impressive -- on factory standard street tyres (and pressures), no less -- and though the power delivery was fairly intense, smooth throttle applications saw myself second fastest and Matt third fastest in our class for the short circuit. We were bested only by the BMW 335i -- by three-hundredths of a second it should be noted.

The timing system used by ATC organisers was very impressive; we were able to keep track of our times thanks to SMS messages after each event, a handy way to enjoy some friendly rivalry with our Street class comrades.

Next up was the Corporate Hill loop, a rarely used section of Eastern Creek that winds its way around the highest point of the circuit. With morale soaring skyward, and our understanding of the Mazda3 MPS improving, we scored another solid set of results with a second- and fourth-place.

At this stage it was safe to say the fiery Mazda3 MPS was surprising a lot of the competitors, drawing a lot of conversation at the driver's window.

The next and final run was the full National Circuit of Eastern Creek, a 3.93 kilometer circuit run that really let the Mazda3 stretch its legs. At full tilt in sixth gear the hot hatch's 2.3-litre turbocharged engine propelled the vehicle to more than 215km/h down the front straight, and into turn one at just under 180km/h.

Furthermore, Matt Brogan put in a smashing effort in his first ever ATC event, scoring third place with a 1:59.53 lap, the fastest rookie driver of the day on the full length national circuit.

The four-cylinder force-fed Mazda felt incredibly planted around the flowing Eastern Creek circuit, especially down the front straight and into the fast left-hander that follows. Understeer wasn't really a problem by this stage because both Matt and myself had figured out how to really drive the pants off the little red rocket.

It was all about smooth driving really, and at the end of the day I reckon we learnt a lot about being smooth and efficient by driving the MPS 3.

The brakes on the Mazda were also remarkably robust, standing up to repeated punishment and allowing us to dive very deeply into corners before hitting the anchors.

And that engine? Just sublime. It pulled strongly through second, third, fourth, and fifth gears without letting up, the turbocharger giving the car an incredible turn of speed right up until redline.

Managing to score third place overall, which tallies all scores from all 24 events (most events are twice or more), was a massive coup for the Mazda3 MPS. First place in the Street class went to Andrew McKay in the BMW 335i and in second place was the irrepressible Frenchman, David Boucher in his Porsche Cayman S.

As both Matt and I were saying during the awards ceremony, it was an awesome effort. Sadly we didn't get paid overtime for our weekend work...

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi.