Cold War - Mazda MX-5 Ice Racing

COLD WAR
Two words are all that's keeping me from throwing in the towel and heading for the steaming outdoor spa... Steven. Bradbury.

After several hours of 'training' on the 1300m track that plays host to Ice Race 2012, all I've succeeded in perfecting is the Russian words for thank you: ??????? (pronounced: spa-see-ba). In most cases said through a tight lipped grin to the BT-50 driving rescue crew as they pull me from another snow bank.

How could things be so very different?

The first Mazda MX-5 Ice Race took place almost a year ago to the day. Hosted by Mazda Europe on a picturesque (and massive) frozen lake near Are in the wilds of northern Sweden, it pitted 19 teams from around Europe and one from Australia. And we won. Almost. In actual fact we were beaten at the 11th hour by a fast finishing team from Russia. That in itself was not the surprise: the pace of our Australian team – on ice for the first time -- was.

The event was a roaring success. As a result Mazda's MX-5 topped media share of voice reports around the region. So much so that Mazda Russia, freshly out from under the wing of Mazda Europe as a fully fledged operation (reporting directly to Hiroshima HQ), decided it need to hold its own event.

Fast forward to January this year when the idea first surfaced that not only would the Russians hold their own ice race but that they'd invite their stiffest opposition to home turf for a return bout.

The central Russian city of Yekaterinburg played host this time. The fourth biggest city in the federation, its industrial sprawl couldn't be more different than the pristine forest that surrounded Are. The venue was a Russian 'spa' hotel. In the finest Russian tradition it bordered one of the busiest motorways in this part of the world. But just out the front steps of the hotel its man-made cable ski lake was frozen solid – and on it sat a fleet of nine Lithuanian-prepared MX-5s.

Our Russian host ran a day of elimination races to choose the 12 drivers for four Russian cars that would contest the main event. For Australia, four of the 2011 Team Mazda Australia Ice Race drivers returned: Drive's Toby Hagon, Top Gear's James Stanford, motoring.com.au's man in Europe, Michael Taylor and yours truly. Taking up the two vacant spots were Marton Pettendy and freelance journalist, and former CarPoint editor, Glenn Butler.

With our record from 2011 for all to see, it's fair to say we were a touch cocky when we arrived at Yekaterinburg, saw the compact, simple track layout and then saw our Russian opponents spearing off the track into the snow banks at regular intervals. That confidence eroded the first time we stepped on the slick surface of the lake and nearly went base over apex. It evaporated completely when we looked at the tyres the MX-5s were running.

Whereas in Sweden the cars were equipped with purpose-made ice racing tyres, the Russian MX-5s were shod with conventional street-legal Michelin winter road tyres. Instead of hundreds of hard-edged 5mm spikes, there were just a few dozen mushroom studs – each not much bigger than the head of a pop-rivet.

When our first victim (err, I mean volunteer) spun his MX-5 before completing the first corner (not lap, you read it right) we knew we were in trouble. What had we done?

THE TIME OF RECKONING
Raceday dawned bright and clear, just like Are... Hmmm, not quite – it was snowing, still dark (sunrise was about 9.00am) and, frankly, far from inviting. At least some fresh snow might improve the traction... Save for a Bradbury moment, for us to be competitive it would need to...

The previous afternoon's practice had been instructive. The combination of tyres and snow/ice conditions we experienced in Sweden had plenty of parallels with the dirt driving we'd all done back in Australia. We applied what we'd all learned over the years and went fast... Fast enough to have grabbed most of the top ten qualifying positions.

At Yekaterinburg things were very, very different. While all six of us would still have qualified in the top half of the Russian field and made their 'cut', the fastest boys from the Rodina were a cut above. Our very fastest Swedish pilot was scratching his head and performing pirouettes. So did yours truly – with monotonous regularity.

But the rest of the lads were in there swinging. They could near match the pace of the fastest locals but not consistently.

A council of war was required. Our professional Russian race trainers Boris Shulmeyster and Stanislav Gryazin came to the rescue with sage advice. Forget about lines – drive to the 'colour'.

The road-legal tyres were effectively polishing the ice. With near zero grip on the darker cleared section, the trick, they said, was to drive on the white stuff. Oh, and forget about corner speed – get the car pointed where it needs to go by any means possible and accelerate. And brake hard and late...

A hasty strategy session and phone calls home to Mazda Motorsport boss Allan Horsley saw us rejig our two three-driver teams. Our three fastest, Hagon, Pettendy and Butler were united and told to go for broke. They did but fell short – though not as short as we'd initially thought.

Indeed, at the start of raceday we were convinced we'd be fighting it out for last place but after the 50 minute main event at least one of the four Russian squads had the decency to finish behind us hapless visitors. 'Australia A' finished fourth; and Taylor, Stanford and myself were fifth.

But the highlight was always going to be the Superfinal, Russia's three fastest pilots against the three ugliest of the Australian squad. My colleagues insisted they'd been picked on pace, but clearly that was not the case.

It was a cracking race – but the two cars vying for the chequered were both Russian. Again, we hardly troubled the scorer. Though Hagon made a brave tilt and was up to second, he bit the snow a third of the way into the 15-minute finales and that was that. With points awarded down to sixth place, our third (Pettendy), fourth (Taylor) and fifth (Hagon) were two points shy of the home team's first, second and sixth.

Though the whole event was billed as a grudge match, our Russian counterparts couldn't have been more welcoming. The MX-5s had barely cooled down (and that happens pretty quickly at these sorts of temperatures) before they were talking about the potential of a third meeting on ice.

But we've got better ideas... Picture a big, flat clay pan somewhere north of Broken Hill, and a bunch of MX-5s on rally rubber. At least this time we reckon we're in with a better-than-even chance...

In a unique partnership the program is conducted in conjunction with the Russian Mazda Community – a grass roots group for Mazda owners that now numbers 100,000 members with an average age of under 30.

The first program, the Zoom Zoom Challenge, ran from 2007-2010 and saw over 15,000 Russian Mazda owners participate in motorkhana-style events around the country. Over the period, the Zoom Zoom Challenge showcased Mazda 3 and 2 models, and when MX-5 was released into the country in 2010, the roadster starred. (In 2012, Zoom Zoom returns, with the help of RMC, using CX-5s in a 50-event navigation/regularity rally program!)

The 'little Roadster that could' prompted Mazda Russia to launch the Mazda Sport Academy, headed by Oleg Kesselman – the 2012 Ice Race Master of Ceremonies and Clerk of Course. MSA now conducts performance based driver training at venues around Russia. Mazda owners and the general public can all participate.

The Mazda Sport Cup series is an extension of MSA and gives participants the opportunity to exercise what they've learned and race the Academy's MX-5s on racetracks in lap-sprint format events. Currently there are six established racetracks that the MSC series visits.

A typical MSC event runs on a Saturday and sees 100 participants set 'qualifying' laps in one of the school’s standard MX-5s during the morning. That group is trimmed to 50 which are broken into random teams of five, which vie for two spots in a national final.

In 2011 the national final involved 20 teams – 12 Sport Cup finalists, four corporate teams and four media teams. In the Moscow-based event, these were trimmed in half again to fight it out in an event that used MSA's ten race-prepared MX-5 Aoris.

In the end the accountants won, literally – a corporate team from PriceWaterhouseCoopers was crowned as victors.

Though the format sounds complicated, Maguire says it allows Mazda to expose a significant number of participants to the program. In its inaugural year over 1000 customers, fleet targets and VIPs participated. Already Mazda Russia is fielding enquiries from other markets to 'export' the idea.

Aori is a Japanese term that translates roughly as strong air flow. Like most racing cars, they are surrounded, most of the time, by significant amounts of hot air!

The Aoris are essentially stock mechanically – right down to their street legal OEM exhaust systems.

They are around 120kg lighter than the standard cars, thanks to the removal of most of the street car’s interior, door trims, folding hardtop and the like. A bolt-in rollcage and single racing seat is fitted.

Set up for circuit work rather than ice racing duties, the Aori racers also feature stiffer, lower suspension and more negative camber front and rear. This lower-than-standard ride height didn't allow much grace when snow banks got close. Indeed, by the end of the Ice Race 2012 hostilities all eight of the Aoris on hand were looking a little worse for wear. Despite this, only one failed to proceed – and that was temporary (a new radiator was overnighted to Yekaterinburg for raceday).

The 2011 and 2012 events and the Mazda Sport Cup are testament to the abilities of the little Roadster. Since its release in 1989 (2010 in Russia), the MX-5 has been proof positive that you don't need huge horsepower, an iconic badge, nor a six-figure pricetag for a car to have true sporting prowess.

Though the various generations of MX-5 have gained weight and complexity, they have remained true to the original lightweight sports concept. Let's hope Mazda doesn't fall into the trap of over-egging the pudding when the fourth-generation MX-5 arrives in around two years’ time.