With the way the internet works these days, you could very well be lulled into thinking that seven-second timeslips come as easily as sucking down an ice-cold beer, but that certainly isn’t the case.

Scotty found that out the hard way in last week’s ripping episode of Carnage, when he took our 1000rwhp Barra-swapped MX-5 drag car to Heathcote Park Raceway to crack a seven. If you haven’t watched that episode, we highly suggest you check it out at the link below before reading any further.

After running an 8.26@174mph on the first pass that day with a soft launch, it looked as though a seven was in order. The car was working well, our Barra tuner Zane Heath from Maxx Performance was on hand, and we had the perfectly prepped Heathcote track surface all to ourselves.

But then, the drag racing gods started playing funny buggers with us. Rather than seeing the big leaps and bounds we were hoping for, improvements were only coming in fractions each time from then on.

The MX-5 wound its way down from the 8.26 to an 8.22@173mph, shaving a tenth off every time. While consistent PBs like that are nothing to snort at, we just couldn’t help but be disappointed that we had to leave without a seven.

What this goes to show is that just because you watch a cooking tutorial and buy all the right ingredients, it doesn’t mean you can whip up a Gordon Ramsay-worthy dish on the first crack.

Chasing numbers at the pointy end of any motorsport is a big mission, and it can sometimes take years to get over the line. We simply don’t have that kind of time on our side right now, as we’re in the middle of building a new car that has a completion deadline of Drag Challenge 2023, which is only six weeks away.

We also need the Powerglide from the MX-5 for said project, so it’ll have to be put on ice for the time being. We haven’t fully capped off the pursuit of sevens with the Mazda just yet, but odds are there won’t be another attempt until next year at best.

Make sure you give the video below a watch as Scotty runs through his reasons why we couldn’t get a seven this time, and get keen for our new project-car series, which drops this Friday!