Mazda Miata MX-5

So what’s actually hidden behind the ICE RACE PACKAGE? The tuning doesn’t just affect the engine, but the whole racing car:

You will be captivated by the real racing experience the MX5 ICE RACE provides, even before you turn the ignition key:

It’s not just hot on the outside, the ICE RACE PACKAGE will also win you over with its internal qualities:

The OPEN RACE 2010

The four-hour race celebrating the anniversary of the Mazda MX-5 was contested between 30 teams made up of amateurs from around the world. Specialist journalists, readers and celebrities competed against each other in the OPEN RACE 2010. The famous drivers from Germany included the TV chef Tim Mälzer and the actor Ralf Bauer. What was unusual about this race was that every vehicle had been set up in exactly the same way. The only difference was the pint job. And so the winner in direct competition was the best driver – and not the best car. So there were no “cheap” excuses for poor results, which made everything even more nerve-wracking. 150 drivers competed against each other on the Adria Race Way in Italy. Amongst the teams from right across Europe there were also three from Germany, with five drivers each. As well as the celebrities who have already been mentioned, editors and readers of Auto Motor und Sport, Auto Bild, Auto Bild Sportscars, Auto Zeitung, Focus, Playboy, VOX, RTL2 and DSF also got behind the wheel. All 30 cars were racing on the 2.7 km long track at the same time. The winner was the team, which had completed the most laps during the four-hour race. Ralf Bauer’s team came 13^th and so was the highest-placed German team, the other two came 15^th and 28^th. A team from Belgium were the overall winners of the Media Races followed by teams from Portugal and Hungary. In the so-called Dealer Race, organized between the most successful Mazda dealerships in Europa, one of the four teams from Germany took third place. The top two positions went to teams from Great Britain and France.

A video is always better than a wall of text, so here are a few audio-visual clips to give you an impression of OPEN RACE 2010:

The ICE RACE 2011:

Racing at -30°C in a cabriolet roadster and on an ice track too?  What sounds like an extremely crazy idea, was in fact extremely exciting. Not only was each Mazda MX-5 set up and tuned specifically for this race, but the race track was also carved into the ice of Lake Kallsjön just for this event. The four-hour race on the 5km track with 40 bends was very demanding, even for experienced rally drivers. The competition involving 20 teams made up of drivers from around the world was held between 21^st and 24^th February 2011. With every lap the cars rocketed around the track, polishing the straights and ploughing up the bends. A fine but impenetrable snowy mist hung over the track and made negotiating its 40 bends, some of which very tight, even more complicated. Even though the temperatures were well below zero, the fact that they were flying blind made every driver break out in a sweat. With every ounce of concentration, gut instinct and a delicate foot on the accelerator, each lap increased the motivation to drive faster, whilst trying not to end up in a snowdrift. Obviously some drivers overestimated their abilities, which meant that the mechanics were then under pressure to get each MX-5 back on the track as quickly as possible, using every trick in the book and all of their expertise or just relying on duct tape. Each driver also got a rush of adrenaline, when they found out that there was open water under the 40 cm-thick sheet of ice. With each lap, the spikes were wearing away the ice millimetre by millimetre. But all of that was forgotten as soon as the next curve had to be attacked or you were struggling to get out of a drift or were sliding into the next bend, just a hair’s breadth away from the snow piled up at the edge of the track. At one moment you were happy to be back on a straight, but just a few seconds later you were using every drop of your skill to keep your distance from the other drivers, who kept appearing at high speed out of the snowy mist. At the end, the team from Australia had to narrowly concede defeat to the team from Russia. The MX-5 shown here with the racing number 2 competed for the Belgian team in the Ice Race 2011.