LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 15, 2020) – Racer, YouTuber and founder of Genius Garage Casey Putsch had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car prior to Rounds Five and Six at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He captured his experience in two videos posted to his popular YouTube channel.
At the invitation of series partner Flis Performance, Putsch joined the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup paddock for open testing on September 10 at the 2.258-mile road course in central Ohio. An experienced racing driver with previous experience at Mid-Ohio, Putsch was able to get up to speed quickly in the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup ND.2 car.
Putsch’s YouTube channel aims to educate car enthusiasts and those wanting to break into the automotive and aerospace industries. His videos range from car maintenance and driving tips, to interviews with industry experts and trips to the race track with his Genius Garage team.
Putsch placed cameras throughout the car and a microphone in his helmet to capture his thoughts while lapping the circuit. He then sat down with Mazda test driver Andrew Carbonell to review his data.
The MX-5 Cup race cars start as complete MX-5 road cars before being transported to Flis Performance in Daytona Beach, Florida, where they are transformed into a race car. An IMSA, INDYCAR, and SCCA approved roll cage is TIG welded into the car. More than 250 race parts are then added to the car to improve handling, endurance and safety, including a SADEV sequential gearbox required as of 2020. Finally, component sealing and authentication tracking is done for parity.
In his review of the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup, Putsch highly recommended the series for a wide range of drivers thanks to car uniformity, reasonable budget and safety.
Putsch’s two videos documenting his MX-5 Cup experience are available now on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/putsch1/
The Global Mazda MX-5 Cup will be back in action at Mid-Ohio next week, September 25 – 26.
About the Genius Garage
Founded in 2014 by automotive designer and race car driver Casey Putsch, established the Genius Garage as a college internship program to bridge the gap from academia to industry. The Genius Garage’s goal is to provides college engineering student with their “dream shot” to careers in the automotive and aerospace industries. The programs are set up to best cultivate and develop the student’s real-world hands on experience and problem solving by restoring and racing vintage race cars and building a BD5 microjet, restoring a Long EZ aircraft and a full-scale (38-foot) flying replica of a Pterosaur. The Genius Garage race cars currently include an IMSA GTO tube frame Corvette, a C3 widebody Greenwood Corvette IMSA racer and a ‘90’s carbon fiber monocoque Nissan prototype race car, all of which are the complete responsibility of students in their engineering and preparation. Click HERE for the Genius Garage Web site and HERE for several videos on the garage and student overviews.