Hixon Motor Sports hits California for another couple of rounds of racing for Mazda's MX-5 Cups' 3rd weekend this season. Mazda once branded the Laguna Seca and was not raced in 2022; returning to Mazda's original track is nice. Connor Zilisch arrived in WRLS, leading the championship. Zilisch came hungry for points regardless of the reason for him not racing the entire 2023 series.
HMS took off into the sandy hills Friday, May 12th, for the scheduled practice. During the first session, Selin Rollan took the fastest lap of the 25 other MX-5 drivers with a best time of 1:39.565. The drivers hit the track for the last time on Friday for their qualifying session. Selin Rollan, Connor Zilisch, and Thomas Annunziata start together in the top 10 positions.
The green flag waves in the air Saturday, May 13th, for Race 1. The "bees" come over the hill and into the first corner, with Selin Rollan and Connor Zilisch working side by side up at the front of the pack. With 34 minutes remaining, Zilisch takes 1st position to soak up points and leads the season with the most leaded laps. Rollan and Zilisch take the spotlight as they drive hard for their positions, while Jonathan Neudorf, a rookie, is recognized for his great driving and tough luck.
Connor Zilisch takes home a 1st place trophy with 0.458 seconds ahead of P2 and over 7 seconds ahead of P3. Selin Rollan took P4.
Sunday, Day 3. Mother's Day at the track in beautiful California, what else could a mother want aside from seeing her children living their dreams in the fast lane? Maybe the track was foggy with low visibility, but a cool day was needed as moms kept everyone warm.
Connor Zilisch leads the most laps for race 2, bringing home some championship points, but Zilisch did not see the checkered flag and finish. Selin Rollan took a podium finish adding success to the team, making one win, two podiums, and six top-ten finishes.
“The focus has already shifted to event four of seven at Watkins Glen, New York (The Glen), as we need to keep the podium finishes going and to put even more pressure on our rivals.” -Shea Holbrook
“Winning is what we do,” -Bryan Hixon.
“Laguna Seca is a track that provides for some good, close racing. It was a great weekend for many but not so good for others. We are happy with the performance that the HMS squad put out, including Hanna Zellers, who earned her career-best result in MX-5 Cup competition.” -Shea Holbrook
Hixon Motor Sports Race Results
Quaifiying
P4 #87 Selin Rollan 1:38.872
P5 #72 Connor Zilisch 1:38.895
P9 #10 Thomas Annunziata 1:39.303
P13 #85 Bruno Smielevski 1:39.406
P15 #55 Jonathan Neudorf 1:39.465
P24 #74 Hanna Zellers 1:40.891
Race 1
P1 #72 Connor Zilisch
P4 #87 Selin Rollan
P10 #85 Bruno Smielevski
P11 #10 Thomas Annunziata
P20 #74 Hanna Zellers
P26 #55 Jonathan Neudorf
Race 2
P3 87 Selin Rollan
P7 10 Thomas Annunziata
P10 85 Bruno Smielevski
P15 74 Hanna Zellers
P20 55 Jonathan Neudor
P22 72 Connor Zilisch
Check out Hixon Motor Sports: https://www.hixonmotorsports.com
View the MX-5 Cup Standings https://www.mx-5cup.com/results/standings
View more articles: https://www.bsiracing.com/blog
BSI Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BSIRacingOfficial
BSI Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bsi_racing/
Written by Tyler Mard
Photography by Trevor Lee
Published by Daytona Media