Ocean Machinery’s Vice President, Danny Steyn, fresh off his 2018 SCCA Runoffs National Championship win in Super Touring Lite, as well as securing the 2018 Hoosier Super Tour National Championship, has set about his attempt to repeat the Double in 2019.

At the Hoosier Super Tour season opener in Sebring, Steyn smashed the track record twice winning on Saturday, but only finishing 2^nd on Sunday when his transmission failed, and he had to coast across the line, losing in the last few yards by only a tenth of a second To Cliff Ira.

This past weekend the 2^nd round of the Hoosier Super Tour was held at Austin’s famous Formula One track, the Circuit of the America, more commonly known as COTA, in freezing and rain soaked conditions.

In one of the dry qualifying sessions, Steyn qualified on pole for Race 1 by over three seconds, but on the out-lap, third gear in his transmission hand grenaded, so he waved the entire field past; started from the back of the field in 4^th gear and drove the entire race without shifting out of 4^th, knowing full well that if he did, he would probably destroy the rest of the gears.

Despite crawling through some of COTA’s five 2^nd gear turns in 4^th gear, Steyn was able to march his way through the field, eventually finishing 2^nd and securing vital championship points.

In Sunday’s feature race, held in wet conditions that he loves, Steyn drove away from the field, winning by almost an entire lap, and stamping his lead in the 2019 Championship points.

The next stop in the Hoosier Super Tour takes place at Road Atlanta March 15-17

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UPDATE 10/19/18

After three rounds of qualifying, Ocean Machinery’s Danny Steyn cemented his spot at the front of the Super Touring Light field and will start from pole for the 2018 SCCA Runoffs. Steyn’s time of 1:49.1 in Q3 is more than 5 seconds under the current STL lap record and was almost a full second clear of his nearest competitor.

The front row is an all Mazda affair with Craig McHaffie in 2^nd also in a Mazda MX-5. And while the front row was locked out by Mazda’s, the 2^nd row on the grid is an all Honda row with Cliff Ira in 3^rd and Tim Auger in 4^th, both in Acura Integra’s, adding more fuel to the fire of the already contentious but friendly Mazda v.s Honda rivalry!

This will be Steyn’s 7^th Runoffs appearance and while he has made the podium in Spec Miata before, he has yet to finish a STL Runoffs title race.

The STL title race takes place on Sunday at 11:30PST and will be streamed live at www.scca.com/live.

UPDATE 10/18/18

Motor racing is filled with peaks and valleys, the Highest of Highs, the Lowest of Lows. At the 55^th  running of the SCCA Runoffs, held at Sonoma Raceway this year, Ocean Machinery’s VP dominated the test days, laying down times around the iconic track more than 4 seconds faster than the current lap record. But in the final session the motor of his Ocean Machinery Mazda MX-5 tightened up and threw a rod through the side of the block, in a catastrophic mechanical failure.

Fortunately, Steyn had a spare motor which his team installed overnight and they were ready on the grid on Tuesday for the first of three qualifying sessions. Unfortunately, in the previous session, a car had oiled up the racing line through the esses, and drivers had to be cautious through the speedy dry used to soak up the oil.

Steyn was able to lay down a time that was good enough for 2^nd place, but significantly slower than his test day times.

But on Wednesday’s 2^nd qualifying session, Steyn was up on the wheel and further improved his lap times, running more than 5 seconds under the lap record and setting provisional pole with a gap of 1.3 seconds to Cliff Ira in his Acura Integra and 1.7 seconds to Craig McHaffie also in a Mazda MX-5.

Today is Tire Rack Pole Day, the final qualifying sessions that will determine the starting grids for Saturday and Sunday’s Runoffs races, which will also determine the Hoosier Super Tour Championships.

Steyn’s qualifying session 3 takes place at 11:30PST

Follow along LIVE at scca.com/live

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The top US amateur sports car drivers, as well as a few international drivers, are heading to Sonoma California this week for the 55th running of the SCCA Runoffs, the winner-take-all finale, that caps the Club racing season.

Hoosier Super Tour STL class points leader – Ocean VP, Danny Steyn

Ocean Machinery’s VP, Danny Steyn, currently sits atop the Hoosier Super Tour points for the Super Touring Lite class with a slim 1-point margin over fellow Mazda driver Nick Leverone. While the two of them have gone door handle to door handle all season, the Honda’s have yet to show their strengths and will also be a major threat in the STL class. While Steyn has 4 wins and 3 additional podiums this season, both he and Leverone have not turned a single lap at Sonoma Raceway yet, so they will be at a distinct disadvantage to the local racers, on this exciting but nuanced race track.

The Ocean Machinery sponsored STL class, Mazda MX-5

Steyn will also compete in Spec Miata, arguably the most competitive class in all of club racing in the USA. Steyn sits in 5th place in the Hoosier Super Tour standings, with only a single win and 3 additional podiums in the 2018 season. Steyn has finished on the podium in two previous Runoffs, and recently won the NASA TOYO Tires Spec Miata Classic at the Circuit of the America’s.

The Spec Miata race takes place on Saturday Oct 20th at 1:30pm PST

The Super Touring Lite race takes place on Sunday Oct 21st at 11:45am PST

Racing will be televised live at www.scca.com/live

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As a follower of our blog you may have noticed that Ocean Machinery’s VP, Danny Steyn spends a good bit of his free time racing Mazda Miatas, and he isn’t too shabby behind the wheel of these sporty little cars, racking up numerous wins this year in multiple classes. This weekend, Danny is among the favorites to take home the Spec Miata Championship and a history making cash prize.

Unlike NASCAR with its big paydays – amateur racing is about fun, adrenaline, bragging rights and camaraderie.  Yes, there is occasionally a small cash reward or other prizes at amateur events, but nothing like what is up for grabs this weekend at the 2018 NASA Spec Miata Championships in Austin, Texas.

This year the Spec Miata Champion stands to win $80,000. That is the largest purse ever offered in amateur racing, and as you can imagine it is attracting the largest field of drivers ever.  It also seems to be attracting a 70-80% chance of rain with a tropical front swirling around out in the Gulf.

The Circuit of the Americas course will see 124 Spec Miatas vying for bragging rights, glory and a huge payday. They will be divided into 2 races (A & B), with the top 70-80 drivers moving on to the Championship race, and the top 10 finishers can expect to take their cars home in buckets after they endure a post-race inspection to ensure they meet specifications.

With this many top ranked drivers, a huge cash prize and a good chance of serious rain… this is going to be interesting to watch!

Saturday’s race will be streamed LIVE @ https://livestream.com/drivenasa/cota2018

Schedule and Live Timing @ https://nasachampionships.com/

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The historic town of Watkins Glen played host to the final round of the 2018 SCCA Hoosier Super Tour series. Since its inception in 1948, the Watkins Glen track has become legendary for hosting just about every form of road racing from NASCAR to INDY to Formula 1 and this weekend 26 SCCA classes competed in 7 run-groups.

The Ocean Machinery sponsored Super Touring Lite (STL) class Mazda MX-5

Ocean Machinery’s VP Danny Steyn was there to compete in two classes:

• Spec Miata which features identically prepped Mazda Miata’s from 1991 – 2003, all equalized in performance with weight and restrictor plates.
• Super Touring Lite which allows naturally aspirated cars under 2 liters from all different manufacturers to race in a high performance rule set, still equalized with weights and plates.

Steyn did something that very few have ever done at Watkins Glen, and that is set new track records in two different classes on the same day.

Danny Steyn getting air through the bus stop at Watkins Glen

In the Spec Miata race Steyn set the new track record of 2:15.487 on Saturday , but retired with an electrical gremlin while running in 3^rd place. In Sunday’s Race Steyn had a race-long, hard fought duel and finished 2^nd behind Tyler Kicera and ahead of Michael Carter. This moved Steyn into 5^th place in the National Hoosier Super Tour Spec Miata driver ranking for 2018.

Danny Steyn leads Michael Carter at 2018 Hoosier Super Tour, Watkins Glen
In the STL race, driving the Ocean Machinery Mazda MX-5, Steyn had an epic race-long duel with the Honda Civic driven by Honda pro-driver Tom O’Gorman. In the end Steyn held on to a slim lead to take his 4^th STL victory of the year, and move him to the top of the National Hoosier Super Tour STL driver rankings.

The 2018 SCCA National season culminates with the winner-take-all SCCA Runoffs held at Sonoma International Raceway in California, October 16-21.

Another weekend, another great win for Ocean Machinery’s Danny Steyn

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The June Sprints are held every summer at the iconic Road America track in the quaint historic town of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. In terms of the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) calendar it is the second biggest show next to the Runoffs.

This year 500 competitors from all over the country participated in the event, hosting 28 classes in 8 run groups over 4 days.

In the Super Touring Light class, Danny Steyn was there with his Ocean Machinery Mazda MX-5, hoping to add to his three prior June Sprints titles.

Danny Steyn with his Ocean Machinery STL Mazda MX-5

In both qualifying sessions Steyn laid down the fastest laps, securing the STL pole for both the Sprint race on Saturday and the Feature Title race on Sunday.

In Saturday’s Sprint Race, Steyn had an easy victory, running away to a 12 second margin over the 2^nd place finisher. In Sunday’s June Sprints Feature Title race, despite having strong out-of-class battles with Porsche 911’s, BMW M5’s and Chevroler Camaro’s, Steyn was able to pull off back to back wins, gaining his 2^nd STL June Sprints Tile to add to his 2 Spec Miata June Sprints titles.

Proudly displaying the checkered flag after back-to-back victories at 2018 SCCA June Sprints

Danny Steyn lands atop the podium in back-to-back wins at 2018 SCCA June Sprints

Next weekend Steyn will be campaigning his Ocean Machinery Mazda MX-5 at the Hoosier SCCA Super Tour at Watkins Glen in upstate New York. You can get full details, times and schedule at https://www.scca.com/events/1990594-hoosier-racing-tire-scca-super-tour-majors-wgi-glen-region, and you can watch the racing live at https://www.scca.com/live.

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Ocean Machinery’s sponsored Mazda MX-5 STL (Super Touring Lite) car

The third round of the SCCA Hoosier Super Tour took place at the NOLA Motorsports Park outside New Orleans Louisiana this past week.

Ocean Machinery Vice President, Danny Steyn was there to compete in both the Spec Miata and Super Touring Lite classes, and racked up some pretty stellar performances. Steyn campaigns his 2-liter Ocean Machinery Mazda MX-5 in the STL class and in the qualifying sessions put his car on pole for both races by more than 2 seconds, out qualifying much faster V8 Corvettes and BMW’s.

In STL Race 1, Steyn pulled away from the field, in the process decimating the previous lap record by over a second. However he was denied the win when his water temperatures spiked and he pulled into pits to save the engine.

Overnight, his crew worked on sorting out the cooling issues and he went out for Race 2 in the hope of securing the win. This time Steyn went even quicker, breaking his lap record set the previous day, and continued to win the STL class.

Ocean Machinery gets top spot on the STL class podium (l-r: Mike Taylor, Danny Steyn, Amy Mills)

In the Spec Miata class, in which Steyn campaigns a 2003 Mazda Miata, he qualified on pole for Race 1 and outside pole for Race 2. In Saturday’s Race 1, Steyn drove away from the field to win his first Hoosier Super Tour Spec Miata race of the season, but in the SM Race 2, he missed a shift at the start and fell back to 27^th place. However he was able to drive back through the field to finish in 7^th place, and secure valuable championship points.

Top spot on the Spec Miata podium (l-r: Michael Carter, Danny Steyn, Blake Clements)

Overall a very successful weekend for Steyn with 3 poles, 2 wins, and two track records.

The Ocean Machinery Mazda MX-5 will be competing at the following events

• Road Atlanta March 17, 18
• Virginia International Raceway April 14,15
• Charlotte Motor Speedway June 9,10
• Road America June Sprints June 16,17
• Watkins Glen June 23,24
• Daytona August 4,5

The general public is always encouraged to attend, and we would love to see you at a track real soon. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need more information.

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SPEC MIATA features identical Mazda Miata’s from 1990 to 2005, all built to a very stringent list of specifications and balanced with weights and restrictor plates, and is considered the best closed wheel driver development class in SCCA. Spec Miata cars make around 125HP and run at around 2400lbs and since they lack huge amounts of power, they are momentum cars where maintaining maximum speed through turns and not scrubbing off speed converts to speed at the end of the straight which wins races.

Since the cars are so equal, driver’s skill and strategy plays the deciding role, and at tracks like Homestead which feature long straights, bump drafting between team mates to move forward is a critical part of racing.

In the Spec Miata field of 37 drivers, Steyn qualified in 6^th place and ran up front in both races, finishing 6^th in Race 1, and 5^th in Race 2 in the Adept Studios Spec Miata.

Steyn’s Adept Studios Spec Miata

SUPER TOURING LITE is a more advanced class, that allows significant engine work as well as limited aerodynamic enhancements, and Ocean Machinery’s Mazda MX-5 produces 210HP but races at 2750lbs, and this balances it with the other marques of cars on the track.

Ocean Machinery’s VP, Danny Steyn with his Super Touring Lite Mazda Miata MX-5.

In the cool conditions, Steyn qualified his Ocean Machinery Mazda MX-5 on the STL pole for both races, well under his own lap record. In Race 1, Steyn raced up front and built a sizeable lead until his clutch failed and the resulting slow shifts allowed Nick Leverone to pass him on the last lap. Leverone finished 1^st with Steyn 2^nd. In Sunday’s Race 2, Steyn pulled away to a very commanding lead before his gauges failed, and he shut everything down to protect the engine. Despite the final results, the early pace is encouraging for the 2018 season.

The Ocean Machinery Mazda MX5 car will be competing at the following SCCA Majors / Super Tour events in 2018:

• February 2-4: Circuit of the Americas; Austin, Texas – Hoosier SCCA Super Tour
• March 3-4: NOLA Motorsports Park; Avondale, Louisiana  – Hoosier SCCA Super Tour
• March 17-18: Road Atlanta; Braselton, Georgia  – SCCA Majors
• April 13-15: Virginia International Raceway; Alton, Virginia  – Hoosier SCCA Super Tour
• June 15-17: Road America; Plymouth, Wisconsin  (June Sprints) – Hoosier SCCA Super Tour
• June 22-24: Watkins Glen International; Watkins Glen, New York – Hoosier SCCA Super Tour

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