We take the world's favourite sports car onto a frozen lake in Jämtland, Sweden and compete in the MX-5 Ice Race 2011.
Over 900,000 Mazda MX-5s are on the world's roads, making the two-seater a record breaker. The front-engined, rear-wheel drive sportscar is one of our preferred machines and is proof that you don't have to break the bank to drive a thrilling car which makes you feel happy - all the time!
Last year we were asked to race an MX-5 in Adria, Italy against other nations' motoring media. As it turned out, most of the other countries had teams full of well-known race drivers rather than pure motoring hacks. Despite this, Mazda invited us over to the 2011 MX-5 Ice Race at the Kall Auto Lodge at Lake Kallsjon, where Sweden's deepest lake is frozen solid. Our racetrack surface varied in depth from 30-60cm and despite cracking at times held the weight of 20 race-prepared, 2-litre Mazdas plus drivers.
Twenty-six nations made up the grid with smaller markets sharing cars. Six drivers would drive in two, two-hour endurance races. Ireland (two drivers) was teamed up with Finland (two), Serbia (one) and Romania (one). Qualifying took place on Tuesday and it was then that we learned about the track and had our mechanic make any changes we needed to the car's set-up. We were using narrow, studded tyres that provided a certain amount of grip on the frozen ice.
Ice driving requires a skill set similar to any other loose surface driving. You hardly brake as there is very little grip, instead you guide the steering into a turn but then use the throttle to steer the car through the bends. Basically on the 4.9km-long track you go in a straight line for just a few seconds - the rest of the time you are setting up your next drift through the next turn.
Race day saw Australia in pole - yes Australia! The Aussies were magnificent on the ice and the best-spirited racers on the track (apart from us, of course). Their team featured a few drivers with top end rally experience and sadly while quickest on the track, the Australians finished runners-up to Russia and ahead of Belgium. The Russians took the event very seriously and were lightning quick at driver changeovers - this made all the difference to the end result. While this degree of professionalism is an important part of racing, the MX-5 Ice Race was truly all about fun.
Our car (number three, 'The Fly') was our friend on the track and it was only our limitations as racers that saw us mid-table. That said, we were in good company, with ex F1 drivers and other household racers on the grid. Our two flying Finns took the first and last stints in the car to utilise their greater experience. In the end, victory for Ireland was never on the cards, but we set our sights on getting a top 10 finish and we managed that in race one.
The MX-5 Ice Race was one of the most thrilling things we have done behind the wheel, and a fantastic celebration of Mazda's iconic sports car.
Michael Sheridan
