Howard Coleman

iTrader: (6)

Mazda Rotary Power Returns to Top-Level Sports-Car Racing

SEBRING, Fla., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.

RedR1

iTrader: (5)

That's totally awesome! Essentially, BK motorsports in the US is like RE-Amemiya in Japan. Privately funded team with nominal factory backing.

Im glad to see that tho, its a push in the right direction! I think i'll have to make a journey to Road Atlanta for some support come mid April

Howard Coleman

iTrader: (6)

when you have jim downing, roger mandeville and jim mederer ( has to be alphabetical order) working on a race project together along w mazda's green...

400 hp uh huh.

it is going to be an exciting season.

zoom zoom zoom

the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

Awesome! Renesis based 20B!

M104-AMG

iTrader: (8)

If BK Motorsports can do it, this will definitely prove the rotary engine's usefulness in racing.

Go BK Motorsports!

:-) neil

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

I don't think the "20B" they're using is much like the side port motor in an RX8, it's probably a p-port, but great all the same.

oorx7

iTrader: (2)

Just wondering, is that 400 hp target for NA?

MR_Rick

iTrader: (7)

I see everyone else going " Oh **** roatries engines are back..." This is great. I try to convice my wife so we can got to Atlanta speed way that day.

RedR1

iTrader: (5)

Think they will allow the variable length intake runners?

Jesuscookies

iTrader: (1)

Well if the 787b is any indication, at 500+NA Horsepower. I am going to guess this will be an NA application as well.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Wow - talk about a "who's who" of guys involved in that project! Let's hope they get out there and kick some ***!

Dale

alberto_mg

hmm. friend of mine used to work for steve sanders...

i can't wait to see this car racing in person

HEVNSNT

iTrader: (3)

Um, new 3 rotor. I wonder if there's any possibility of a similiar powerplant in the next RX7.

scotty305

iTrader: (2)

This is the best rotary-related news I've heard in over a year. With luck, this technology will be incorporated into the future RX-7 (or RX-9 or whatever the call the next 2-seater rotary sportscar)...

ALMS Schedule: http://www.americanlemans.com/schedu..._Schedule.aspx



March 16-19
Sebring International Raceway
Sebring, Florida


April 15-17
Road Atlanta
Braselton, Georgia


May 20-22
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio


July 1-4
Lime Rock Park
Lakeville, Connecticut


July 15-17
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, California


July 29-31
Portland International Raceway
Portland, Oregon


August 19-21
Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin


September 2-4
Mosport International Raceway
Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada


Sept. 29 - Oct. 1
Road Atlanta
Braselton, Georgia


October 14-16
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Monterey, California




-s-

aka_rocket

damn it, i want to make it to one of those races in california!

kuroi FD

we'll win and get kick out of racing again lol.

Kento

It would have to be, because I doubt that a 3-rotor would be classified below 2 liter engine displacement, which is what it would have to be to use a turbo, IIRC.

JaNusSolSumnus

If they are basing the design with the RENISIS engine, I doubt they will P-port it as that is what stands the RENISIS apart from previous 13b and 20b engines. It will probably be an aggressive streetport of bridgeport and I can easily see 400hp N/A from such a setup... P-porting would yield higher outputs I think.

~Kris

1234rotor

iTrader: (1)

I have always been thinking that they would put a 3-rotor "renesis" in the next gen RX-7 if built. Maybe that is what they are working towards, would be nice.


I would have tio agree that it will not be a PP engine because it is a renesis design. It will probably be ported to the max and have a nice intake system and exhaust. Maybe higher compression rotors too. Should be easy to hit 400-450hp from it. I just hope that the chassis is good. I am not too familiar with the LMP-2 chassis', even though my cousin's boyfriend Jason Workman raced a turbo one a couple seasons. I think his might have been a Lola.


I am still imagining a sub 3000lb 3-rotor "renesis", six speed, 4th gen FE RX-7........

Xeros

I smell the secret making a of totally bad *** 400hp+ seven....especially with a data gathering system...can we SAY UBER 7?...I have the feelign the street version will easily exceed 300 hp na......and the turbo version will probably maul anything the rest of the market brings forward.....I think the EVO, STI, and 350Z can say good bye to thier sales numbers sometime soon.

Howard Coleman

iTrader: (6)

i will call roger mandeville monday and try to get the scoop re the engine.

howard coleman

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Awesome news, thanks Howard! Looks like I may have to make a trip down to Georgia to see this beast in action

rfreeman27

iTrader: (5)

They might just be saying renisis based just for PR reasons...

Kento

Courage and Lola chassis basically make up the whole LMP-2 grid. Last year's title winner was using a Courage chassis...

Howard Coleman

iTrader: (6)

//// more info/////

The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) hit the jackpot with a full house of ALMS sponsorship announcements made at Sebring International Raceway prior to the historic Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring March 19.

Sportsbook.com has decided to become a player on the track. The online giant will join the return of Mazda to North American Road Racing as the primary sponsor of the No. 8 Mazda factory powered Courage C65 for B-K Motorsports. Pat Kestner and Bob Bach of B-K will display a scale model of the race car at Chateau Elan at Sebring International Raceway.

Sportsbook.com will also be the "official online gaming partner" of the ALMS for one year, which will include sponsorship of the "Sportsbook.com Winners Circle" at all ALMS events. Sportbook.com will also support a "Lucky Move of the Race" contingency award of $1,000 presented to the one driver who got lucky on the track at the previous race during prerace ceremonies. The last "Lucky Move of the Race" award at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be given to the recipient driver at the ALMS year-end banquet. In addition, lucky fans will have the chance to win Mazda RX-8s and other prizes over the course of the season via online entries.

The final aspect of the sponsorship trifecta involves Sportsbook.com becoming the title sponsor of the Grand Prix of Atlanta April 17.

B-K MOTORSPORTS ANNOUNCES THE SPORTSBOOK.COM, MAZDA ROTARY POWERED, P2 COURAGE 2002 FORMULA MAZDA

Wisconsin based B-K Motorsports announced at Sebring International Raceway that it would carry the Mazda banner and rotary power back into endurance racing in the LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series for a full season in 2005. The Mazda powered Courage will be piloted by 2002 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Formula Mazda National champion, Jamie Bach, and 2002 Star Mazda Championship winner Guy Cosmo. The Formula Mazda graduates duo has worked together previously as Cosmo served as driver-coach for Bach during the 2003 campaign.

The twenty-one year-old Bach, a junior Engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will be entering his fifth season of racing cars in 2005 having spent most of his time behind the wheel of Formula Mazdas. Bach, the 2002 SCCA Formula Mazda national champion, has amassed nearly 50 victories and over 30 pole positions in four seasons and currently holds six track records. Bach spent 2004 behind the wheel of the SIRIUS Satellite Radio Pro Formula Mazda, finishing eighth in the Star Mazda Series North American Championship presented by Goodyear. In 2004, he also scored his third SCCA Central Division Championship in four years, his third Central Division Star Mazda Series crown, and scored a runaway victory in the prestigious Chicago Region June Sprints at his home circuit -- Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's Road America. Bach got his start in karting at the tender age of nine, scoring victories and championships at all levels.

Cosmo has basically driven anything with wheels on it. Also a product of karting, he has driven Formula Continentals, Formula Fords and Formula Mazdas to divisional championships in the SCCA. In 2002, Cosmo won the crown in the Star Mazda Series North American Championship with dominant victories at Mid-Ohio and Road America. With that championship, Cosmo was given the opportunity to drive the Panoz LMP1 car and ultimately had the opportunity to start his first Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the LMP1 Riley and Scott of American Spirit Racing in 2004.

The program is made possible largely because of a partnership with Sportsbook.com, a division of Sportingbet, a UK based company. Sportsbook.com and Sportingbet easily form the world's largest Internet gaming company and one of the Internet's most profitable companies.

In 1991, Mazda became the first and is still the only Japanese car manufacturer to win the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mazda did so with the legendary rotary power plant, a key icon that has contributed to the unique heritage of the company that instills the "Soul of a Sports Car" in all of its products. With the rotary engine back in the marketplace as of 2003 in Mazda's RX-8 four door, four-seat sports car, it is only fitting that a group of young, dedicated racers bring Mazda back to endurance racing.

The team also brings Goodyear Racing Tires back to the American Le Mans Series, a fitting tie-in with the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear.

The 10-race American Le Mans Series will have three network television broadcasts on CBS and seven races televised on SPEED Channel and worldwide on the Sky Sports World Motorsports program.

After an absence of one year from the race schedule, the American Le Mans Series will be back at its home track of Road Atlanta for the Sportsbook.com Grand Prix of Atlanta on April 17. The Sportsbook.com Grand Prix of Atlanta will be the warm-up for the world famous Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta in October.

QUOTES:

Pat Kestner, Co-Owner, No. 8 Sportsbook.com Mazda Courage

"We want to thank Sportsbook.com for its commitment to our program and its partnership. Bob (Bach) and I are honored to be associated with Mazda's return to the American Le Mans Series and the folks at Mazda North American Operations. We have made a strong commitment to put our best foot forward in everything we do at B-K and the organizations we are aligned with are no different. We are honored to represent Sportsbook.com, Mazda, Goodyear, and the other companies we will bring on board both on and off the track, scoring victories at race tracks and in board rooms."

John Doonan, Director of Marketing & Public Relations, No. 8 Sportsbook.com Mazda Courage

"For decades, thousands of race drivers have chosen to race Mazda products because of Mazda's relentless commitment to achieve motorsports success at a grassroots level. The spirit of these drivers is the same energy and "never give up" attitude Mazda engineers possess and instill in new Mazda products. It is this "will to never give up" that will be the foundation of our team as we put Mazda back on the American Le Mans Series grid. This is a dream come true for everyone on this team. We are thrilled that Sportsbook.com saw the link with Mazda's return and the reach and exposure through the American Le Mans Series. It is a true victory for everyone involved."

Sylvain Tremblay, Team Owner/Driver, SpeedSource Race Engineering

"SpeedSource has been working on a three-rotor development program for almost a full year now, and we are excited that we have a great partnership with B-K and its new Courage Chassis. The Mazda rotary engine has a great racing heritage. We are focused on developing the power plant to be competitive with the best the class has to offer. We made a substantial investment in infrastructure with the addition of our new state-of-the-art DTS computerized engine dynamometer. David Haskell leads the engine department and has been busy all winter. Now the challenge of the track and the rebirth of the rotary on the ALMS circuit await us."

Yves Courage, Courage Competition

"We feel honoured to have been chosen both by B-K Motorsport and by Mazda; Mazda is returning to endurance races on American ALMS tracks, but it has marked the history of endurance races for decades; such challenge makes our team extraordinarily enthusiastic! We all remember the unique sound of the Mazda engines and the great results achieved by Mazda in endurance races, particularly in the 24 Hours Le Mans. Mazda has been victorious six times in its category between 1983 and 1996, and has won the 24 Hours Le Mans in 1991. In 1991, three Mazdas finished among the top eights. I am also most glad about the quality cooperation with the American B-K Motorsports team. We are proud to offer such quality chassis as the C65 to our B-K Motorsports partner, and we are actively working together on the new Mazda engine."

Guy Cosmo, Co-Driver, #8 Sportsbook.com Mazda Courage

"Jamie and I are thrilled to have this special opportunity to represent Sportsbook.com across the country and be a part of Mazda's racing history. We are going to grow throughout the year and look for as many testing opportunities as we can. The new car is very exciting and takes our game to the next level. The Renesis rotary power from Mazda will be outstanding. We will be able to relate our experiences on the track with those of RX-8 owners on the streets. We are thrilled that the team at Sportsbook.com had enough confidence in us, the American Le Mans Series, and our program to join forces with us for 2005."


///there is a super picture of the car at triplezoom.com but it is 500 kb and we are limited to 100. perhaps someone knowing how to post this picture might help out...///

howard coleman