Kyle Loustaunau: Mid-Season Report

Club Racer Shootout winner has faced a steep learning curve in his rookie season of pro racing as he adjusts to the Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires."It makes me question everything I know, because I had to really learn how I drive a racecar, driving these cars," says Kyle Loustaunau, hardly sounding like a NASA Western States Spec Miata champion and winner of the Mazda Club Racer Shootout. What he's learning is that while some of his experience applies to his current ride in an Atlanta Motorsports Group MX-5 in the Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires, not all of it does.

"It's not like driving a Spec Miata where I can run hot into a corner and be fast out," he continues. "These cars do not like that whatsoever and they will throw a fit. They like a really slow, controlled entry, and it's all about exit speed with this car. It's all about getting the car slowed for a corner and how fast you get out of the corner. That's been the toughest thing to learn, because I like to overdrive the car and kind of wring its neck, and you just can't go fast in these cars doing that."