Mazda MX-5 2016 Video Review

Like a chase scene from a James Bond movie, a low-slung sportscar – is there any other kind? – powers along a track, which has been cut deep into the snow. It barrels through a sweeping right-hand corner, sending a long, high shower of shimmering powder into the air as it goes, then slip-slides at speed through a left-hand turn – on the edge of losing grip – holds the line, and guns along a short, sharp straight to safety.

Well, that last bit is the stuff of fantasy. What actually happens is that the MX-5 (in US-spec Miata guise) bleeds all speed on the straight and potters over to join a small queue of its stablemates as drivers ready for another hot lap of a short, but thrilling course.

It’s -5 degrees celsius at 1pm in Crested Butte (pronounced “beaut”), Colorado – more than 2800 metres above sea level – and we’re here in the good ’ol US of A, playing super spies with fancy driving skills, at the first Mazda Ice Academy.

Read the full Mazda MX-5 Miata Club 2016 review.