Getting To Grips With An MX-5

The MX-5 SuperCup is famed for its competitiveness, but how easy is it to get a hold on? Jack Cozens gets a chance to find out – with expert help.

Five words have rarely caused me such a mix of emotions as ‘let’s get you signed on’. 

If you read my only previous review of a driving experience (MN, January 4), you’ll probably have guessed that I’m quite conscientious about making mistakes and embarrassing myself – so finding out I approached my second outing in a racing car with a degree of trepidation will likely come as little surprise. But while that first experience was in about as contemporary a piece of single-seater machinery I’m likely to drive in some time, it was part of a closely-monitored day in a car limited on revs. 

This one’s different. 

It’s still a slightly neutered experience as I’m out on a general trackday, but there’s no need to talk down the significance; Caterhams, Ginettas (with the likes of Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny at the respective wheels, no less) and Lotuses are just some of the markedly quicker cars ready to pursue me through corners before swallowing me up on the straights. A couple of bashed up road cars also bring the perils of pushing the car I’m soon to drive too hard right to the front of my mind – not that I needed all too much reminding.

“You’ll be fine,” I’m reassured by Paul Sheard, seasoned motorsport competitor turned team owner, as we head to the main office at Oulton Park. My concern is not for myself, but him instead – he’s trusted me with a handful of laps in his 2011 series-winning Mk3 Mazda MX-5.