Spec Miata battle at COTA - video
 

Pretty entertaining lap here, good clean battling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=3m2SWX3F5YM#!

Some of you might be surprised to hear that the first SM race ever at COTA ran without a full course caution, with around 75 cars. Seems like Grand Am drovers could learn a few things about clean racing from this group...

some close racing there!!!!

And that was the cool down lap! At least it was supposed to be.

Apparently the leaders came across start finish just a few seconds past the 30 min race time. Timing and Scoring had to make a call on the checker and chose give the "1 to go" finger twice. Hence, the best lap that never happened!

The five guys in the video are obviously five of the best spec miata drivers in the country. I'm sure they each could do pretty well in grand am if they chose to. The racing from turn 11 to the finish is epic!

Wow! Two observations:

1) the camera car's driver is fantastic on the brakes...look how much ground he made up on the leaders in T1-T5!!!

2) look at all the cars stranded all around the track!

Nice vid! OT but does anyone know why the one miata's reverse lights come on when (seemingly) downshifting?

What is the meaning of the hand signals between this car and the car in front at the beginning of the video?

It's a guess, but I'm thinking that they may have been bump drafting somewhere previous to where the video starts in an effort to catch the other cars, and it's a thank you.

Very cool

This kind of action is why SM drivers love the spec so much.

Great drivers all

Real racers, and all really good people, too. Two of them are nat'l champs in SM...Jim is current, Andrew is a past champ.

Have personal experience with Jim, Danny and Andrew. Outstanding skills, and people you'd like to hang around with. Andrew...aka "Von Charb" (also drives SRF and SSB/T4) is "one of a kind"...they broke the mold when he popped out...hang out with him for an evening and you'll get a whole new definition of "fun".

Yup, ran with these guys often. Top 5 could run Grand Am no problem. At a race like this, getting in the top 15 is quite an accomplishment. It's why I love SM so much...ALWAYS a challenge. Danny is a unique fellow...trains in Switzerland for 2 weeks each year doing ice driving, from South Africa originally and was a motorcross champ back in the day. The guy's car control is simply unmatched by anyone I've ever seen. In the wet, he is almost unbeatable. Jim builds cars and has some of the best in the country and, of course, knows how to drive them, hence National Champ last year. Charb is a nut and has skills in anything he drives. These guys are the top in the country along with Craig Berry, Pat Sandlin and many more that consistently, somehow manage to always run upfront. It is just a unique culture of racing. Best scenario in racing, have a spec miata and a P cup car. Doesn't get any better than that. :rockon: