Tight Race For Podium In MX-5 Cup Toronto

News, Racing I By Winding Road Staff I August 01, 2017

In this in-car video, we see Winding Road Team TFB driver Tom Martin III running in a group (Max Faulkner, Luke Oxner, Nathanial Sparks and Keith Jensen) fighting hard for third place on the Streets of Toronto. Tom started P6 and finished P6, but that doesn't really tell the story, as is often the case in racing.

We notice a few things from this video. First of all, the risks drivers take on the first lap are pretty big. Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn't, but in this case everyone involved backed up substantially. Patience would seem to be a virtue, although that is easier said than done.

The "be patient" point is reinforced later in the video. On lap 1, Tom backs up to 8th with all the argy-bargy. And yet he still could have finished 3rd (Sparks, who backs up to 9th behind Tom, eventually finishes 3rd). To do that, Tom would need to have been faster than Sparks, which he wasn't.

And the third thing we notice is that passing skills are key. To some degree this seems an unfair argument, since you have to say "be cautious and wait for the race to come to you" and also say "be aggressive and force the issue". But, really, passing skill is knowing when to force the issue and then being able to pull it off cleanly.

Tom commented "I was happy with the overall result because in some ways that was a sloppy race for me, with a few missed shifts and completely missing my braking point for T3 when Luke and Max got together. Still, my lap times were decent and I kept it off the walls, which takes some doing with all the bumps and changing surfaces."

The Guide to Road Racing: Winding Road Magazine's ultimate guide to getting your start in racing.

Table of Contents

Related Articles

Bolstering Excellence: 2025 Lexus LC 500 / 500h

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 4, 2024  – The 2025 LC 500 and LC 500h showcase updated aesthetic and structural features highlighted by the introduction of Iridium as…

October 04, 2024
IONNA Breaks Ground on first ‘Rechargery’ and Announces New CTO

DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 3, 2024 – IONNA, the charging network founded by eight of the world’s top automakers: BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, Stellantis and…

October 03, 2024
Announcement New ‘1’ Car, McLaren W1, as a Successor to The F1 and McLaren P1™

Today we have confirmed the next chapter in the extraordinary story of its legendary ‘1’ car lineage. Our new supercar, named McLaren W1, will be…

September 27, 2024
The Artistry Behind the Bugatti Baby II Tourbillon Edition

MOLSHEIM, Sept. 24, 2024 – An ode to the icon of a new era in Molsheim, the Bugatti Baby II Tourbillon Edition from Hedley Studios…

September 24, 2024
2025 INFINITI QX50 pricing starts at $43,000

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The refined and luxurious 2025 INFINITI QX50 arrives in showrooms this month with a starting MSRP1 of $43,000. For the 2025 model year, the…

September 17, 2024

EMAIL SIGN UP

Get the latest driving and racing news straight to your inbox.

no thanks

Begin typing your search above and press return to search.