Originally Posted by msumlin

As some of you may know, my wife and I put on Mazda Corrals for Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development, all across the country. We know all of the teams and drivers that are associated with Mazdaspeed. A number of drivers want to have a track day, similar to what just took place in Chicago this past weekend, but on a some what larger scale.

I have been in contact with Robert Davis, V.P. of Mazdaspeed Motorsports and Joh Doonan, who we work closely with on the Mazda Corral. Along with the aforementioned gentleman, drivers like Charles Espenlaub, Michael Galati, Nick Ham, Sylvain Tremblay, Chip Herr and many more want to have a Mazda Owners Only event.

I am currently drafting a proposal to present to Mazdaspeed Motorsports, but I want to first show that we'll have enough interest here in the Mid-West/Great Lakes Region. We are looking at a 2 day event, where classroom and in car instruction from some of our favorite drivers.

We are looking at breakfast and dinner for both days and were are looking at a range of $150-$200 for the event. We will also look into Mazda's partners to participate in helping with the event as well, BP, Castrol, Yokohama and Mothers to name just a few.

So if you can, please take the time to let me know if we have any members who would like to participate in this type of event. We are looking to have the event late October or early November. If we pull this off this year, we will be makig this a national event, with the country being divided in to 3-4 regions., with each hosting a simultaneous events.

Originally Posted by msumlin

The event may take place even sooner, I have a number of inquiries out to a number of tracks in the Great Lakes Region. The reason for the lateness is that the factory drivers really want to be involved in this and their season ends in the middle of October.

As far as tracks, BeaveRun comes to mind as a place where we could hold the event It has plenty of runoff area and it is a great place for Novices to learn and the course is fun to drive. Nelson Ledges, would be cheap, but unless you have a lot of seat time, it would not be a great place for people to learn as the surface has a lot of patches on it and if someone makes a mistake, there is little to no room to recover.

I have about a 1 1/2 months to get my numbers to the powers that be @ Mazdaspeed Motorsports. I am sure that we can have it by Mid-October, as it seems that we'll have a number of serious owners that want to particpate at this point. I will keep you guys informed as top the progress.

Originally Posted by msumlin

I have contacted all of the tracks, including Mid-Ohio, so basically what it comes down to is availability and costs. I am getting PM's from a lot of owners from various boards, including my friends from Canada.

I am putting together a power point presentation for the powers that be @ Mazdaspeed Motorsports. I am confident we can pull this off and meet and exceed the expectations of Mazdaspeed Motorpsorts.

Thanks for jumping in with your opinions and support, it does make it easier, when I have members who are willing to step up.

Originally Posted by msumlin

Looks like thigs are picking up from all over the region and all of the other Mazda forums too! Looks like by estmate we have about a 100 solid responses for owners. Marc Miller, Co-Founder of Mazda Owners Club of America has 50 people and we have had over 100 responses so far, so, based on that we know we can have 100 people for sure.

Once I get closer to the 250-300 responses, I will submit my findings to Mazdaspeed Motorsport. Again, a number of members have offered a lot of great ideas and suggestions, I will take all into consideration and pass them along.

Tireman, has sent an inquiry to Pirelli to see if they would like to step up and be a part of this. We're hoping that they will see this as a big positive and bring out some product and schwag to promote their product. They are the official tire of Grand AM and KONI Challenge.

Like I said, everything is going well and it keeps getting better.

Originally Posted by msumlin

Adam, good to see you on the boards, and I will be contacting you directly when I send all of the information to John Doonan, Jim Jordan and Robert Davis of course.

Ok, now to the business at hand. One of the most important factors in making this event work is affordability, first and foremost. I particpate in a lot of these events and with 2 days sessions running from $365-$400 for a two day event, makes it difficult for even me justifying the cost. Couple that with my wife who drives in HPDE's as well, you are looking @ nearly $1,000.

Tracks like Mid-Ohio, Road America, Watkins Glen, cost a great deal of moeny to rent and with the late start, availabilty is an issue. So the goal is to make this event affordable to all, to make a point to Mazdaspeed Motorsports, that we can have events like this across the country and show the benefit of these types of events.

Ok, Pirelli is on board with us and wants to work with us. Here is the e mail I have received from Pirelli.

Marlon,

Sorry to take so long to get back to you. End of month, end of quarter, holiday weekend - guess I could think of more excuses!! I contacted my Motorsports/PR guy at corporate and he told me to pursue the opportunity. I just read the posts on the link and it appears you are trying to determine a place + time. I definitely want to have involvement in your event. If the timing is right (appears you're shooting for a weekend in October) I could be there and have some tires on display and provide some goodies to hand-out. Once I know all of the details and you can tell me number of attendees, I will request a set of tires to give away if the event justifies it. I'll work w/ Mike Jahnz on tire fitments for your vehicles.

Thanks,
Roger G. Brace
PIRELLI TIRE, LLC
Regional Sales Manager
Great Lakes Region

So, as you can see , we've generated interest with Pirelli and they want to participate and be a part of this. This will more than likely lead to others wanting to jump in as well. I will keep you informed as to any all progress with this event.

Originally Posted by msumlin

Well, here is the latest update, we are looking to have a dealer contribute some cash for the track. We are also looking for some associate sponsors, which, I already have contacted a few.

I am also going to be contacting a few of the teams to see if their major sponsors will be able to lend a hand as well and possibly see if WC Vision will want to get involved as well.

We are going to try and have this wrapped up by the end of this month and proceed from there. We've had a lot of positive feedback and interest from all over the Mid-West, Northeast and East Coast as well.

So, I will have another update for you soon, as we are getting the ball rolling for you guys.

Originally Posted by Dagious

Very interested in this. Will there be newbie training for people like myself?????

Originally Posted by Dagious

Very interested in this. Will there be newbie training for people like myself?????

Originally Posted by onefatsurfer

Because they can make money off the school, and save money off the warrantys.
I would not be surprised.