deutschmick

Not that long ago (at least for me that is) Mazda used to dominate the old GTU class and to a lesser extent the GTO class. Dead-nuts reliability as I recall. Heavily tweaked engines too (peripheral porting as previously mentioned which is totally impractical for street use), rotor gears are hardened and locked, hardened stationary gears and eccentric shaft are used too. Interesting to see they're back in the game.

///Mous3

Mannn... I do not follow Daytona. But why are the entry classes so different from ALMS or LeMans in general.

Where are these Lexus and Mazda came from?

The Baron

The "Lexus" is not really a Lexus ..... in fact there is NOTHING Lexus in the car.
It is a Toyota "Marine spec" V8 that is heavily modified by TRD and then shoved into the back of any generic chassis of your choice, ie: Fabcar, Riley, Chase, Crawford, etc.

Truth be told, Lexus marketing wanted (and still wants) nothing to do with this program. It was shoved down their throats by the parent company(Toyota) because Toyota had spent too much money developing their Craftsman Truck and Nextel Cup Program and needed to shed some smaller programs.

Erik

I thought that heard something during the coverage that Mazda was going to sell these race RX8's to the public. They were commenting on the fact that the engines were "only $35K", lasted for 50 hours and that a rebuild would only be $4K, which they commented on again as being VERY, VERY cheap in racing dollars. I'm all for cheap and reliable race cars. If Mazda could get their prices that low, maybe PMNA would be forced to lower some of their prices for rebuilts/parts.

Apex GT

Despite the ambient temperature a lot of the field was plaqued with heating issues. I suspect a lot has to do with the fact you cannot keep the rads clean. They do their best to blow the debris out but it is only partially effective.

DM993tt

True indeed. I was there and in the TRG pit all night till 7am (before needing a nap). A friend was driving in the 2nd place 66 car - they were forced to run restricted ecu maps and trying to keep rpm's lower to keep the temps down. I had a pit radio so I could listen to all the communication between the drivers and the pit. (it was fun to listen to andy lally giving a breakdown of how he was negotiating every turn on the track in the rain and the adjustments he was making to his driving). The front radiators were getting blockage from debris and unable to keep the cars sufficiently cool. Thats when the 70 car was able to pick up on lap times gain distance over the P cars. As said before before, the mazdas were 2200 lbs and the GT3 min weight was 2700 lbs.Keep in mind from the factory the GT3 cups weigh 2535. Not only that but the 07-08 car are forced to run an air inlet restrictor as supplied by Grand AM. So, I wouldn't be too upset that our beloved p-cars did not take the win at the 24hr. They did manage to seal 2nd 3rd and 4th all while being weight handicapped against 1 ugly loud tube framed purpose built race car that is nothing like its roadgoing counterpart. Its a long season, the rules are designed to level the playing field so everyone can compete. What fun would it be if porsche won every race all season. We did have total domination over the couple F cars out there right?? It will make the rest of the season better having something to fight for.