didn't know the SS guys made parts for the deltawing. Very cool
Track day at Laguna Seca? soooo jealous.

 

that concludes the Fox sports broadcast of the 12 hours of Sebring, head on over to imsa's website for the live stream.

about 3 hours in, here's where the Mazda guys stand
#70 - 2 laps back of the leader with their fastest lap at 2:04.754
#07 - 3 laps back of the leader with their fastest lap at 2:03.665

Prototype leaders is Scott Dixon in the Ford Ecoboost car running a 1:54.209

 

Ref flag is out for only the 4th time in the history of this race.

significant crash right before pit / straight. lots of debris

 

on board camera for the #70 IMSA | TUDOR United SportsCar Championship | #07 Mazda Skyactiv-D

looks like it's in the garage.
anyone know what happened?

 

Axle failure, something broke and the axle was lathing the wheel and hub until more stuff snapped. The announcers said that producing the power wasn't actually the problem, it was the turbo diesel torque being generated keeps breaking drivetrain stuff. Makes me wonder if they have dialed the boost back or something, dropping the power in an attempt to save the driveline until they can get stronger parts in there.

 

looks like they're back out on track

 

anyone else watching the Bell Isle race right now?

 

I thought it was recording, but just noticed that indycar trumped it in priority. Meh.

I'll just flag a rerun for recording.

Actually... I'm not seeing it at all in my channel listing. Hmm...

Oh, it's over already. Didn't record. Not seeing any reruns scheduled in search, I guess i'll have to take a look for the re-broadcast online when it comes up.

 

Reminder that the Six Hours of the Glen is this Sunday.
Race coverage starts at 11am ET on Fox Sports 1

It's been difficult to watch this season or a few different reasons.
1. the obvious reason: no rotary.
2. Mazda simply isn't competitive. I mean, not even close when the season started. What Mazda is attempting to do with that production Diesel motor is commendable but I think they simply bit off more than they can chew.

On a positive note; the team continues to make adjustments and they are finding more speed with every race. Is it enough to land on the podium? No, I don't believe so but if they can keep the cars on track for the full 6 hours, I think they can put together a decent race.

 

I keep hearing comments from the race broadcasts that the problem isn't the amount of power they can put out, it's the torque that comes with it that keeps breaking things, so they dial back the power to keep the drivetrain intact, and are far slower as a result.

One FB article from Mazda a few weeks ago(?) noted that the race engine is rated at 450hp and 600tq, which due to being a diesel I would imagine that it comes on at very low RPM when the drivetrain is the most stressed. Quite the opposite from what Speedsource is used to (450hp with more like 250tq).

Though I do ponder that claim, since if that is all it was, it is odd that it hasn't really been solved yet. I mean, 600tq isn't exactly groundbreaking amounts, and I'd think that it would be simple to learn what is needed for each component and build to suit.

 

I agree, if the issue is torque stressing components than that's an easy thing to fix. I honestly am not buying that as the reason they're not competitive.
Look at them coming out of a turn, there's GT cars passing them up at that point. How far back did they supposedly scale the power down to make that happen???
Should we call up CRH and have him send some of his BHR axles over?

I mean seriously, c'mon guys.
The issue is power, plain and simple. they're not fast enough on the straights and lose ground coming out of turns. That there is a recipe for disaster.
In the last broadcast, I thought I heard the announcers saying that the Mazda team was "continuing to find more power" as they identify weak points in the factory components. What was the factory / aftermarket componnet split to start the season? Wasn't it almost 60% factory? I'm pretty sure they've brough that number down as they've gone along. Here's something interesting

Early on in the season
Roar Before 24
Corvette DP - 1.39.748
SpeedSource - 1.49.431
Difference ~ 10 seconds


Laguna Seca (May 30th)
Fastest car - 1.19.846
SpeedSource - 1.22.571
Difference ~ 3 seconds. (only completed 30 laps) wasn't this because of a crash near the corkscrew?


Belle Isle:
Race winner's fastest lap: 1:26:523
SpeedSource: 1:31:599
Difference: ~ 5 seconds


They seem to be closing the gap as they go.
Which to me means, they're either finding power or adding it back as they strengthen other components. Who knows.

 

They definitely improved, but yeah, they are still far behind.

The wreck in the corkscrew was fortunately not their fault. If I recall correctly, someone divebombed the car behind them and the 70 was used as an armco to keep the other two on-track...

 

as SOON as I posted those 'difference' times I knew that would drive you nuts and you'd either correct the times or figure out another method of measurement that was more accurate.
Job well done buddy.

yeah, they have a long way to go before they see a podium and not enough races left in the season to do it.

 

Yeah. The engine is a big disappointment. I had great hopes for it both on the track and street but...

I keep hoping that Mazda will return to it's roots now that Grand Am is merged into IMSA, and stick a rotary in the LMP2 car. I haven't read the rules, but I don't think that they have the "currently manufactured engine" requirement for the prototype cars. I'd love to see Mazda use IMSA as a test bed for the rotary instead of a test bed for a diesel engine. It would be so awesome to see/hear the throb and scream of a 3 or 4 rotor in a prototype car once again.

No real chance of it, but I've never been able to squash that seed of hope.

 

I'm right there with you, I'd LOVE to see another rotary in IMSA but the chances of that happening now are slim to none and slim just left.
I think it's Mazda sticking with the "race what you drive" mentallity and seeing as how they're bringing diesels state side, they need all the publicity they can get. Even though they're getting trounced right now, I guess there's no such thing as bad publicity.

My hope is that this diesel sells like crazy (or as best as can be expected in 'Merica) and that ultimately finances the R&D for the rotary which makes its glorious return to the track in 2017.
I can always dream, can't I ??

 

Aren't we almost 2 years late on the diesel coming here? Presumably because of the consumer complaints regarding it, and if it's being complained about elsewhere in the world, the US would be screaming bloody murder, even if not justified. The timeframe kept getting pushed back with ever more vague and nebulous descriptions of when, and they don't even mention that it is coming any more so

I have lost all interest in that engine.


Fortunately, the SkyG engined cars are selling like hot cakes, and there is a significant flow of cash into Mazda. They are busy right now with the SkyActivation (can I register that name?) of the existing lineup, and moving fast even at that. Once they get time, I'm sure the rotary will start getting it's slice of the pie. And I actually hope it shows up at IMSA before it gets to dealers. Where better to test the high heat output durability than there? I think the story with the RX-8 would have gone much different if the engine was raced for even a year or two by Mazda before it was finalized.

 

They have pretty much stopped going on the record about when the SkyD is coming state side but I can tell you with absolute certainty that it's high on their priority list and is happening soon. (perks of hanging out with the head of R&D every year before and at SS)

I'm still holding out for that motor even though I'm not as excited as I once was. I think my next car will either be a CX-5 or Mada 6 and probably in diesel.
Are there better options out there? Yes. Are there cheaper cars out there? Absolutely.
But any time I drive those other cars, it's just...blah.
Short of getting another (over priced) German built car, I think Mazda is one of my better options.
So they haven't completely lost me but they better get their asses in gear before I make a total impulse buy and come home with a new C7.


you should totally register Skyactivation and then sell it back to them for big bucks.
hell, register the domain and sell it to Internet Brands in a few years.

AS for IMSA... I'll keep rooting for Speed Source because I know how hard those guys work and how passionate they are about their program but I still long to see a rotary out there.
I'm sure they do as well.

 

Race time! (till I switch over to World Cup @ 9 am)

this is going to be crazy as 53 cars will line up to start the race. That's a lot of traffic out there and it's probably going to get ugly.

 

16 minutes in, the #70 is already in the pits.

 

anyone watch the race?
I recorded it but spent the rest of the day watching World Cup matches.

 

I may have to go 'check' our site, I work on the Sprint network, in Turn 3 to see what all the talk is about.

 

Roar before the 24 is going on this weekend.

anyone paying attention? (anyone still care?)

 

yeah too bad two cars were taken out:
Watch The Daytona Prototype Flip From Onboard The DeltaWing
and then
DeltaWing Crash Cuts Afternoon Session Short At The Roar Before The 24

 

whoops.
Looks like the SpeedSource guys found some extra speed over last year but they're still well off the pace of the Ford boys.