MILLVILLE, N.J. (October 9, 2020) – Global Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires has returned to New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) for the first time in 10 years. To get the current crop of drivers and teams acclimated to the 12-turn, 2.258-mile road course, three 40-minute test sessions were held on Friday.

The fastest driver of the day was Gresham Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance). He lapped the circuit in 1:31.0935-seconds. This is his first time on the Thunderbolt Course at NJMP and, despite his promising pace, he found the track to be quite challenging.

“I’ve never been to the Thunderbolt circuit,” Wagner said. “I think it’s new to most people here. It’s not your typical road course corners that you see across the country. It’s kind of its own breed. The first sector is a lot different from the last sector. You have to set up the car pretty neutral to be able to deal with all the different corners. You have to compromise; the car will be good in some places but bad in others. It’s really satisfying to put a good lap down here, because it’s not an easy track to do that.”

Robert Noaker (No. 13 Slipstream Performance/Robert Noaker Racing) calls NJMP his home track. His Duncannon, Pennsylvania home is less than three hours away and the 16-year old has turned hundreds of laps here. Noaker was quickest in the second session of the day.

Wagner’s teammate Selin Rollan (No. 87 Spark Performance) was the fastest in the first session of the day.

Rounds 9 and 10 of the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup begin in earnest on Saturday with two practice sessions, followed by qualifying. Both races will take place on Sunday. Live timing and video feed will be available at www.mx-5cup.com.