I headed back to Barber Motorsports Park last weekend to test not just with Ashton Harrison, but also with her new teammate Patrick Wilmot. We utilized the great track time opportunity during a Chin Track Days event for some pre-season testing as we prepare for the start of the new Mazda Global MX-5 Cup season, which kicks off at Barber during the Indy Grand Prix weekend in late April.

Since the other circuits on the schedule are not open for business quite yet due to their northern locations, we really focused on getting quality track time to get the season started on the right foot.

Barber is one of those unique circuits in that I feel like if you have a good handling car at that track, then you have a pretty darn good handling car in general, so this is a great track to test at as we continue to refine what Ashton and her team built last year.

Although the threat of rain was with us, it held off and we were able to get two full days of dry testing. It was really beneficial to have both Ashton and Patrick’s cars running because we could try various setup changes between the two cars and collect more data for driver comparisons. Certainly there is an advantage to having those two data sets and video: you can compare and contrast car placement on track, and then quantify it with data. Both drivers came away with some things they know they need to continue to focus on as they prepare for the next test.

In the end, we’ve got a great foundation for the next event, which will be the sanctioned Spring Training test with the Mazda Road to Indy in early March. In the meantime, the team will be participating in an Inner Speed Secrets workshop with Ross Bentley, which I’m sure will be really productive, and I’m excited to see the results of that.