2016 Miata Cup race season comes to a close

Graced by surprise participation of former MX-5 project head

MANILA, Philippines – Whether you’re an avid motorsports enthusiast, someone who’s only recently acquired a fondness for racing, a loving supporter of a race driver, a closet gearhead, or simply a curious spectator, I dare assume that we can all agree on one thing – that there is something inherently awesome about watching Mazda Miatas from multiple generations racing wheel to wheel on a single grid!

It is not difficult to appreciate the catchy art form of this well-loved roadster and watching them all in one place is simply—love.

Luckily, for Filipino Miata-philes, we have the annual Miata Cup – organized and handled by the Miata Club of the Philippines (MCP). And since the Mazda brand has through the years evolved into a tightly knit enthusiasts’ culture rather than remaining a simple provider of a motoring commodity, it is only natural that Mazda Philippines – operated by Berjaya Auto Philippines – supports the 2016 Miata Cup.

The championship was held just over the weekend (November 27, Sunday) at the Clark International Circuit, where 26 Miatas joining different categories participated in the event.

The Miata Cup race series was originally conceived back in 1998, when a string of full-time racers – including Rene Mapua, Joey Almeda and Romy David – who were also members of MCP, decided to organize a more competitive annual event after having such a successful yearly series of track days with local Miata owners. Their more leisurely annual track days were then regularly held at the now-defunct Subic International Raceway, and at the time, only involved friendly competition between owners of only one model of the charming roadster: the 1st-gen Mazda MX-5.

Fast-forward to many years later, more and more models of the MX-5 came to the Philippines, and the means of classifying them into different race categories of say, simply stock or modified versions, became more complex. At one point, it even became a topic of much dispute when the organizers and participants had to agree on where to draw the line between what should still be considered a ‘stock’ Miata entry and a properly modified one. Some of the more financially flexible owners were very enthusiastic about powering up their engines and increasing the race efficiency of their respective cars’ chassis and suspension, that consequently, the more conservative participants began feeling left out because it was almost impossible to keep at par with competitors who were constantly modifying and improving their cars.

And as time went by, what slowly came in to the picture were imported 1.8-liter 2nd-gen NB’s which were available from the gray market, and 2.0-liter NC’s from the late 2000’s. The task of scrutineering likewise became a more difficult task. Fortunately these problems have been properly addressed, as a new time-based classification system has now been applied to the modern rules. In this setup, driver brackets are determined based on their actual lap times on the track. Therefore applying the new system meant that winning the series would depend on a driver’s mastery of his car and his driving consistency. Former MCP President and then-race director Keith Sundiang explained before that, “The first and foremost objective is for maximum participation of club members and maximum enjoyment of one’s Miata. Camaraderie is the key. And with this new system, we hope to achieve our objective.”

The 2016 season of the Miata Cup now adheres to these new rules, and includes race classes such as Kilabot sa Karera – which is the open class for highly-modified cars (with no time caps); Barangay Pukpukan; Feeling Karerista; Basta Pogi, Ok Na; and Namamasyal sa Luneta. These fondly named classes comprised the six rounds that were held over three weekends this year, one of them at the Batangas Race Circuit and two at the Clark International Speedway.

Participants qualified to earn points for every round they joined, based on how they performed in their class. And in the end, the driver who earned the most points in his class became the class champion.

Ultimately, a final run is held for all the class champions, and this is how the Mazda Cup overall champion is determined. The event last Sunday was the 2016 final run and involved 26 lovely Miatas on the grid.

This year there was a wonderful surprise from Berjaya – the ‘super nakaka-kilig na cameo’ race participation of former MX-5 (3rd and 4th gen) project head now-turned-MX-5-ambassador, Nobuhiro Yamamoto himself! This way truly a big honor for the local Miata Club, as it is not very often that anyone gets to race alongside the actual man who is responsible for the car that they are driving.

Yamamoto-san spent the rest of his weekend signing autographs on members’ cars, distributing Miata stickers, and conducting a special talk about the MX-5.

The racers who emerged as the 2016 Miata Cup class champions are Chito Santiago, Rueben Jarvina, Keith Sundiang and Nestor Reyes. Meanwhile, the 2016 overall champion will be announced at the Miata Club’s Christmas party on December 10.