Report Card: Fueling Careers in High Performance

Students attending the Ohio Technical College’s (OTC) High Performance and Racing program highlight the cover from the February 2009 issue.

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Students attending the Ohio Technical College’s (OTC) High Performance and Racing Program are getting much more than they ever anticipated. Mazda has teamed up with the OTC student body to help build a Mazda MX-5 from the ground up.

Not only did the students build the car, they also serve as the crew at racing events.

Mazda become the first import carmaker to get involved with the school, providing a complete MX-5, a spare body in white, along with MAZDASPEED components so that the school could build a racecar in the same manner as professional race shops.

According to Edward Hofstrom, OTC’s high performance director, the car was originally a stock MX-5 in 2007, and then a year later, the car was rebuilt by the students into a racing machine equipped with several aftermarket performance components.

During the race titled, “The Longest Day of Nelson: 24-Hour Endurance Event,” held at Nelson Ledges Road Coarse in Garrettsville, OH, on August 23, 2008, the OTC team took home a couple of awards. The OTC race crew placed an astonishing 2nd place in their class and took 3rd overall in the event.

The 24-hour event for amateur racers of production-based, SCCA showroom stock automobiles provided an exciting day for not only the student-based crew, but the OTC High Performance and Racing instructors as well.

“The students represented OTC to the highest level, and for many of the students, this was just the beginning of their racing careers,” said Hofstrom. “The event was a complete success for our school and, most importantly, the students were taught professionalism, sportsmanship and teamwork, which will provide them an educational experience of a lifetime.”

OTC’s Mazda MX-5 Upgrades
•  Koni coil-over suspension
•  Wiseco pistons
•  ACT racing clutch   
•  Enkei RPF1 wheels
•  Carbotech brake pads
•  Sparco Pro 2000 race seat w/ six-point safety harness
•  MAZDASPEED competition radiator and headers
 

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