Uploaded February 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago

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Final two laps of a 15 min session I did in a rental MX-5 a couple of weeks ago. First time in Magione. A lot of work must be done to improve my lap times starting with being more daring when braking. It was also my first time with semi-slick tyres so I definitely need to get more confidence on their grip feeling (and limit). Last but not least, next time I need to be more polite with the gear lever: I was applying too much force on it that I wasn't able to insert the fifth gear practically on every lap (that's why I avoided it on the first lap you see in this video, but then I realized the 4th gear was too short for the long straight).

Due to my young age, I got to know Magione mainly from racing games such as GTR2, rFactor and Assetto Corsa and in more than 15 years of sim racing I've accumulated a huge number of virtual laps around Magione. If I'm not mistaken, my praise for Assetto Corsa began right on this track since it was the only one available in the official demo of the game at the time. I'm an absolute rookie in terms of actual real-life track experience, not owning any car for that purpose. If it wasn't for sporadic opportunities where I was able to rent a vehicle for some laps around the Nürburgring and a couple of sessions with a Legend Car here in Italy I could shamelessly say I've never driven a car on a race track. In fact my main issues are mainly fears: fear of braking too late, fear of going off-track, fear of ruining a car that isn't mine. But I'm sure you simply forget about everything I have listed just by spending more time with the car and accumulating track experience in real life.

It was really amazing to discover there was a chance to rent this Miata around Magione. It vaguely reminded me of the beautiful atmosphere of the Nürburgring and tourist drives.
But now let's talk about the car. This Mazda MX-5 is an interesting project car by D1R Performance (Drag1Racing Performance), a company located not far from Magione. It's a second generation (NB), restyling (FL) MX-5 powered by a 1.6-litre, 4 cylinder engine with 110hp. At the beginning it was a fully stock car which was immediately brought to Magione circuit in order to check what times it was able to do. The owner managed a 1'39''9. After this result the next goal was to reduce that lap time by 10 seconds without increase engine power.

He started a long yet focused work of replacement of all those elements and components that could have improved the car for track-use: Ohlins Road & Track suspensions, lightened flywheel, EBC brakes and Nankang semislick tyres. As mentioned before almost everything related to the engine has remained fully stock with both original intake and exhaust (that's why even onboard you can barely hear it). The only further change he did was replacing the original 5-speed gearbox with the 6-speed one of the 1.8-litre NB.
With some setup adjustments, the best time he managed to do was almost 9 seconds better than the stock car. The next step to gain those remaining seconds will be a slight weight reduction and the addition of a TorSen differential.

I was only able to set some 1'36''6 - 1'37'' laps but you can see how much it's possible to improve that time and reach the low 1'31''. I must say I was really impressed with its behavior. It was totally unexpected to find a Miata so generous, stable and precise in the slow and more challenging part of the track.

#MazdaMiata #MazdaMX5 #MX5
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Camcorder: GoPro Hero Max
- Event: Track Day 16.01.2022
- Where: Autodromo dell'Umbria, Magione, Italy

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