Forever MX-5 Magazine

Forever MX-5 Celebrates 20 Years of Miata Goodness At Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Posted on 27. Mar, 2009 by jeffz in Events

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On March 21-22, Forever MX-5 joined Miata designer Tom Matano, columnists Keith Tanner and Brian Goodwin, and about 450 of our closest friends at Mazda’s “Spiritual Home” - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - for a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first MX-5 Miatas ever built.

We brought down three of the cars you see featured in every issue of Forever MX-5: Survivor, Green Machine, and Lifestyle Editor Scott Fisher’s personal Miata. Plus, between the good folks at Flyin’ Miata and Good-Win Racing, attendees saw several other cars that have been documented in our pages. While we were there, we found a few new cars to feature in the magazine this year.

The main events of each day were a series of open track sessions - divided by car preparation and driver experience. Mazda Raceway is among the world’s premiere tracks, and even though thousands of hot laps were cut, we never saw even one car come off track bent or damaged. It was a gentlemanly weekend of speed, G-forces, and excellent handling.

In the paddock, vendors did a brisk business in audio, security, and performance parts, and an impromptu swap meet took place amid the hundreds of parked Miatas. Mazda was on hand with a sneak peek at the new NC2 - the revised MX-5 for 2010.

On Saturday at noon, every Miata in the park was driven out to the front straight and parked for a group photo, with well over 300 cars.

Sunday at noon, a series of 5 “parade laps” were offered to all attendees. Most parade laps take place at about 10 miles per hour, but these are Miatas we’re talking about!  The parade went around the track at a brisk third-gear pace, allowing everyone to experience the track from the seat of the most popular sports car ever made.

We’ll have a few more stories relating to this epic road trip, but for now, enjoy a slideshow of images from the event.

[View with PicLens]

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