I.L. Motorsport GmbH

16/10/2026

CHAMPION!

The season in the MaX5 Cup has come to a close with 2 second places and a third at Circuit Zandvoort.

Let's look back on the amazing season.

Wins: 8
Podiums: 19 out of 20!
DNF: 1
Overall race day wins: 3 out of 6

Biggest achievements:
Race day 1; clutch failure during quali (P3) changed in 2hrs! Great work by the team.

Race day 3; clutch failure during race 1, P28 to P2 in race 2! 14 overtakes in lap 1.

Race weekend 4; 4 out of 5 wins!

All season; no damage to the car!

Maikel had no pole positions during qualifying with the lowest position on the last race day P9, but always finished on the podium during the races.

In such a competitive series being consistent is what wins championships, you cannot win all races.

Amazing smart driving from Maikel, always patient and maximizing the result.

15/10/2026

Part 2: Final custom driveshafts are here for the B48 MX-5!

From our rough welded mockups to finished steel shafts. The lengths are perfect, but we had to change out our CV joints, which now bolt up nicely to the refreshed diff with the fully forged L*D inside. Clearances a bit tighter than planned tho 😅

Next challenge: adapting the Mazda Powerplantframe to fit the ZF 8HP gearbox and BMW diff!

14/10/2026

Update on the quest to make an MX-5 NB track tool being able to compete with top contenders running in the NC and ND 2.0l class.
It was a late start of the season for the old and trusty NB but better late than never.
1. The engine has been revised with new camshafts and makes about 200-205HP and it still runs on NBfl flattop inlet manifold. This year Artur is running with an aero setup with front splitter and a rear wing with the hopes it is going to bring it closer to the top of the field.
2. Artur managed to get a 3rd place on Silesia Ring, yet still the gap to the quickest ND is significant. The torquey 2 liter ND is hard to beat on this track as Silesia Ring features many hard braking to full throttle zones. On a positive note it was a hot day and the car did run flawlessly at 35°C the whole day.
3. The aero is not a big advantage at this track. Next step is going to be the classic Tor Poznan, where aero should play a bigger role.

08/10/2026

Solid results at Assen!

As we approach the final raceday of 2026 we look back at the MaX5 cup races in Assen.

Qualifying at tracks where we do not often race usually lead to some neutralisations (code 60) but in Assen with only 15 min and 2 longer neutralisations it came down to a single lap. P4 put Maikel on the second row of the grid.

In the first race which was held under dry conditions a group of 3 broke away from the pack and built a 10 sec lead. At the end Liroy won, Maikel finished 2nd, Julian 3rd.

The second race would be held under wet conditions slowly drying towards to end. On the first lap Maikel dropped bank to 5th but over the next few laps would steadily climb to the front passing former formula Nippon champion Tom Coronel around the outside of turn 3.
Over the next 2 laps the top 3 closely battled for the win with Liroy taking it at the line, Tom in second, Maikel in third.

The third and final race of the day would see the same three drivers battle for the lead now on again a dry track.
In the last 3 laps Maikel lost the tow and finished 1.7 sec behind in 3rd.

With the solid results Maikel took an overall second place for the day and again collected great points for the Championship.

01/10/2026

Engine bay taking shape! Mounted our new intake, adapted the throttle body setup, and we’re one step closer to first start! 🚀

19/09/2026

Summer sale 10% auf alles!!☀️

Mit dem Code:SALE26

Bis zum 27.09.26


Tuning, Parts, Roadster

I.L. Motorsport - Spezialist für MX-5 Tuning, Zubehör und Ersatzteile

10/09/2026

Custom swaps mean zero off-the-shelf parts! 🛠️

Connecting our BMW 188k diff to Mazda hubs meant chopping a good axle to weld a custom hybrid mockup. It passed the rotation test with flying colors, so we shipped it out to be produced for real! 📦

Hit follow for Part 2!

01/09/2026

Hard work pays off at Nürburgring!

What is often unknown is the amount of work going on in the garage to be able to participate in racing. Over the last few weeks many late nights have been spent there to finalise the rebuild of this car with a new chassis.

After more than 2 years this weekend would highlight the return of to the Mazda MX5 Cup and from the first laps Maikel was on pace with the rest of the 22 car grid finishing P5 and P4 during the free practise sessions.

In qualifying Maikel was the only driver in the top 10 to set his times without slipstream like other drivers did. The 2:19.4 is a very fast time alone but only got him P10 at 0.8 from pole position.

This however in MX5 Cup is not necessarily a bad thing as race 1 is the reverse grid order for the top 10 from qualifying meaning pole position in race 1.

In race 1 Maikel had a good start and drove smart, not always defending the lead but staying within the top 2 all the time. Being passed into the first corner he wanted to slot in behind for second but got hit on the rear corner which lost him 3 places. The next 2 laps he recovered to P3 across the line. A penalty was given to the second place finisher for an incidents earlier in the race which meant Maikel finished P2 at 1.1 sec from P1.

Race 2 would be very different. Starting P10 on a drying track. The first 4 corners still pretty wet and the rest of the track almost dry it would be a challenge. Even starting on the wet side of the grid Maikel already made up 2 places going into turn 1 and over the next few laps made his way forward to P5. The top 4 had broken away and where 4 seconds in front. Head down and pushing Maikel posted very fast lap times and closed the gap to P3 and P4 with just 2 laps to go. The initial attack (3 wide into turn 1) did not result in positions gained, but going into the last lap Maikel passed for P4 around the outside of turn 5, now all eyes on the podium. At the Veedol chicane Maikel braked slightly earlier with full focus on exit speed and pulled to the inside passing for P3 going into the last corner.

This has been an amazing return to the MX5 Cup after all the hard work. It pays off!

27/08/2026

Thinking an 8HP swap is simple? Don’t make this mistake! ⚠️

Gen-3 8HP51 mechatronics don’t work with standalone TCUs. The fix: swap in a Gen-2 8HP50 valve body to unlock custom ECU control, follow us as we find out the hard way.

Save this before starting your 8HP swap! 📌👇

19/08/2026

Two mx5 at CACO project beautiful meeting in cologne keep up the great work ☝️ check out there profile ↩️


Cologne carmeet tuning Mazda