| Mazda's going into LeMans again....with a Renesis 20b!!! - Click HERE for Original Thread |
| REFLUX |
It is going to be interesting to follow the redevelopment of the rotary engine for LeMans.
Long live the triangles!!! :D
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050318/laf037_3.html
http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/web...1&langId=-1
quote:
For Release: March 18, 2005
Courage C65SEBRING, Fla. – Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) and MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development today announced that Mazda will return to the top level of professional sports car racing as an engine supplier in the LMP-2 class of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). The company will provide engineering and technical assistance to BK Motorsports, overseeing the development and deployment of a RENESIS-based three-rotor rotary racing engine. It is hoped that BK Motorsports’ success will lead other teams to choose the RENESIS rotary race engine.
Unlike in the past when Mazda’s greatest racing success – victory at the 1991 running of the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans – was from a full factory-supported program, BK Motorsports is a privately funded and run team with monetary support from Sportsbook.com. Mazda has provided extensive engineering support to the team to ensure the success of the engine. In addition, technical assistance and engine construction and tuning will be undertaken by SpeedSource Race Engineering, which also runs a championship-winning Grand Am Street Touring program with the RENESIS rotary-powered RX-8.
”There’s nothing like the sound of a full-race Mazda rotary engine at 9,000 rpm, and anyone who’s heard one is not likely to forget its distinctive tone,” said Steve Sanders, Manager, MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development for MNAO. “As one of the original funding and marketing partners in the ALMS series, and one of the most successful sportscar engine and chassis manufacturers of all time, it’s an absolute thrill for Mazda to be back in top-flight sportscar racing in North America.”
In order to ensure success, Mazda turned to many of the most well-known and respected names in the rotary performance business for advice, including Jim Mederer (owner of Racing Beat, an accessory and performance shop), Jim Downing (multiple title-winner in Mazda-powered IMSA RS, GTU and Camel GTP-Light cars), Dennis Spencer (who ran a very successful Camel GTP-Light program in the IMSA series), Roger Mandeville (1983 IMSA GTU and 1984 GTO champion, all in RX-7-based cars), and Sylvain Tremblay and David Haskell (of SpeedSource Inc., a successful race engineering and development company). It was only with the assistance of these experts in the “black art” of racing rotary engine preparation that the company decided it was ready to return to the deep end of top level racing.
The engine is based on the RENESIS rotary engine as supplied in Mazda’s flagship sportscar, the RX-8. It is designated 20B, a three-rotor design incorporating electronic fuel injection with a full data-gathering system. And, like its street-going two-rotor sibling in the RX-8, the engine revs to over 9,000rpm – this being one of the hallmarks of the rotary engine. While still undergoing final tuning, Mazda and SpeedSource are targeting output in excess of 400 hp, making it competitive with other engines in the class.
The engine was chosen for its light weight, compact size and ease of packaging. In turn, BK Motorsports has chosen the small, nimble Courage C65 chassis because it is able to accommodate a number of different powerplants, not the least of which is the unique Mazda rotary.
BK Motorsports and the RENESIS rotary engine will make their official race debuts at the Sportsbook.com Grand Prix of Atlanta, at the famed Road Atlanta track, April 15-17, 2005. After that, the team intends to compete for the complete ALMS season.
On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. Mazda’s motorsport involvement even extends to the nation’s premier road-racing circuit, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
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| red88.n/a.rx |
| you know I was excited until I read it isnt Mazda that is developing the motor but I am still interested in the outcome of it all.... but really I was hoping for another car like the 787b. |
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| REFLUX |
Well reading that Mazda will have an extensive part in it is quite exciting too
it's only been what...14 years since a rotary has been in such a high level of racing
something is better than nothing :bthumbup: |
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| red88.n/a.rx |
| yah I would say its a step forward for the rotary engine:) |
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| ChromeDragon |
| Does this mean we can look forward to a Renesis 20B being stuffed into a new Cosmo?:blink: |
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| SilviaDrifter |
if i wasnt mistaken didnt they ban the rotary from Le mans after the 787B won :dunno:
good news tho
the rotary is finally back |
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| red88.n/a.rx |
| the ban was lifted a year after I think. |
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| ChromeDragon |
quote:
Originally posted by SilviaDrifter
if i wasnt mistaken didnt they ban the rotary from Le mans after the 787B won :dunno:
good news tho
the rotary is finally back
That's extremely gay. Someone makes a better engine design and they ban it?:rolleyes: |
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| RS13 |
Sweet the 787B was my Favorite car in GT2
in the American LeMans series the new Audi might have a diesel engine in it. The site that i found this is www.crash.net but i can't find it anymore |
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| SilviaDrifter |
quote:
Originally posted by ChromeDragon
That's extremely gay. Someone makes a better engine design and they ban it?:rolleyes:
tell me about it man it pissed me right off since the 787B was such a sexy car |
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| ChromeDragon |
quote:
Originally posted by RS13
Sweet the 787B was my Favorite car in GT2
in the American LeMans series the new Audi might have a diesel engine in it. The site that i found this is www.crash.net but i can't find it anymore
That's cool. I remember a prof at NAIT telling us how diesels had been banned from Indy racing before they got a chance to win a race. Cummins built a car in '52 that was dominating in its first race so much that they banned it even after it went out with mechanical problems. Even though it didn't win, they saw that it would have if the issue hadn't risen, so they banned them forever. |
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| Anonymoose |
This is an extremely interesting paper I found about Mazda's rotaries and their history:
http://www.e.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cirje/re...r04/heller2.pdf
The section dealing with Mazda's racing explains that Le Mans' governing body was looking to ban anything except 3.5L NA engines before the 787B even ran. Eligibility for non-standard engines was extended an extra year allowing Mazda to win. After that the ban came into place. |
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| PraxRX7 |
Thats cause whoever was running LeMans were a bunch of woosies that wanted certain manufactureres to win (*cough* payoff *cough*).
LeMans should be any supercar that any company builds, designed along Lemans type safety regulations. |
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| Anonymoose |
| Yeah, thats it. Everyone has it out for the rotaretards :D. |
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| PraxRX7 |
quote:
Originally posted by Anonymoose
Yeah, thats it. Everyone has it out for the rotaretards :D.
I am not just talkin about rotaries, I am also talkin about other car manufacturers who have been limited in the past. |
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