New Mazda RX8 Cup to launch in 750MC Roadsports Series
Discussion
A new series is planned for Mazda RX8 cars which will start in a couple of weeks at Donington Park. The series will be run by the 750 Motor Club and shall be part of the Roadsports series.
The series will be known as the 'RX8 Cup' and has been in discussion for some time, so it has been seen as the best opportunity to start the series up now and run it within the Roadsports races until there are enough cars to run stand-alone races. The races this season will be 45 minutes long and will include a mandatory pit stop, therefore cars can run as either a one or two driver effort.
The cars will be very similar to the Formula Woman series which began in 2004. It is expected that it will cost £8000 to build a car, and it is expected to produce between 230 and 240 bhp. Lotus and Mazda racer Rob Boston is currently building cars and is going to be one of the drivers to get the series going. It is said that there are twelve drivers thinking about racing the RX8's this season.
Written by Joshua Barrett (Twitter: @JoshCommentator)
The series will be known as the 'RX8 Cup' and has been in discussion for some time, so it has been seen as the best opportunity to start the series up now and run it within the Roadsports races until there are enough cars to run stand-alone races. The races this season will be 45 minutes long and will include a mandatory pit stop, therefore cars can run as either a one or two driver effort.
The cars will be very similar to the Formula Woman series which began in 2004. It is expected that it will cost £8000 to build a car, and it is expected to produce between 230 and 240 bhp. Lotus and Mazda racer Rob Boston is currently building cars and is going to be one of the drivers to get the series going. It is said that there are twelve drivers thinking about racing the RX8's this season.
Written by Joshua Barrett (Twitter: @JoshCommentator)
Edited by NBW on Saturday 9th March 14:22
Skylinecrazy said:
Great, another series with a small grid..
Couldn't agree more.If 12 drivers are thinking of doing it that means 6 will actually turn up! I'm surprised at Rob Boston getting involved...he generally knows what he's doing. These cars were a nightmare to keep running when they were in formula woman...and I think they had manufacturer backing then? Rob Boston must have paying drivers asking him to do it.God help British Motorsport! I thought this was a joke when I read the thread title; who the hell is going to want to run in a series with a car with no real race pedigree and a potencially ruinous engine. Why don't the clubs say no to this type of s
te and tell peaple if they want to race they join a healthy series and make it healthier, thus keeping costs down.
te and tell peaple if they want to race they join a healthy series and make it healthier, thus keeping costs down.To be fair, there are plenty of worse examples in recent history where series were being run when they shouldn't, and worse, to 4 car grids rather than being a class within a larger race too. If you are going to start a new series, and let's assume that we do need some of them coming through steadily, then a class is the right way to do it.
As for the RX8 I noted that it was Jason Plato's bargain buy on Fifth Gear the other night (I might have been watching a repeat), and when you look underneath and cast your eye on the suspension you can see why.
Many moons ago I was in discussions with TOCA to run one in the BTCC. We had agreed that it could run under a UK homologation (it wouldn't have been eligible anywhere else) but in the end I was told I needed to run the 4cyl Mazda world engine rather than the rotary. Understandable given the equivalency arguments that took place with the turbo diesels a little later, but you need factory engineering to get a reliable 300bhp out of a 4cyl engine so it becalmed.
I wanted to run the rotary because contrary to popular opinion there isn't a great deal wrong with them, and what is wrong with them doesn't matter very much for racing. Built right and built properly for racing they are every bit as reliable as a piston engine, produce decent power for much less cost, and one of you and I could put it in a plastic box and carry it about. Most issues I've seen relate to poor maintenance (which they need), and in any case if they ever do need a rebuild it's about as complicated as a tumble dryer.
What they have here is another budget series, with a rotary twist, and we shouldn't fear the rotor. Whether it works or not is a different question of course. The combined RX community is certainly large enough to support it (if they stopped arguing amongst themselves), the cars are about and very cheap, they are fun to drive and the support for the rotary aspect seems to be on tap. Whether the RX8 boys and girls want to actually race, or just admire their new chin spoiler and metallic blue rotor shaped gear nob, is a different question.
I'm pretty sure there are enough race ready cars out there, and donors are cheap. So it could well work if the regs were sensibly done. I wouldn't claim to know either way. I remember being told about the BMW Compact Cup when that started, and heard the donor cars were cheap, they handled well and there were a few committed cars. I remember thinking, "yeah, but there's so much choice already" and then looked up from my paper a little while later and saw what a /raging success/ Paul McErlean had made it..
Who knows, but good luck to them for trying /in the right way/.
Skylinecrazy said:
Great, another series with a small grid..
Which is why it's being run as a class within an existing championship until numbers build up to the level where it can justify stand-alone races. Every series or championship has to start somewhere. This a good way of doing it -worked for the MR2s!
As its a class within a series, what's the problem?
Good looking cars, RWD, handle well, plenty available, whats not to like? The Rotary has its issues (if not maintained) but Stacy has more knowledge than most & he suggests they'll be OK. Probably suit a race application more than a road one anyway. Mazda ran one in the Britcar24 hrs remember.
Good luck to them. (Also eligible for CSCC "Modern Classics" in the 1800-2500cc class)
Good looking cars, RWD, handle well, plenty available, whats not to like? The Rotary has its issues (if not maintained) but Stacy has more knowledge than most & he suggests they'll be OK. Probably suit a race application more than a road one anyway. Mazda ran one in the Britcar24 hrs remember.
Good luck to them. (Also eligible for CSCC "Modern Classics" in the 1800-2500cc class)
andy97 said:
(Also eligible for CSCC "Modern Classics" in the 1800-2500cc class)
Could we just assume that CSCC will shoehorn virtually anything into one of its classes/series rather than this being posted on every other thread and championship forum.Give them a chance to race in thier own competitive one make series before offering to absorb them into car tinkerer class racing.
Matt, 900 members can't all be wrong and CSCC takes it as a compliment that both MSVR and 750 have copied a format successfully established in club racing 10 years ago. Note even the 750 Comps Manager races with us!
Plenty of people have been turned down for Registration because their cars don't fit.
This is a public forum so I don't understand the issue, I really hope the RX8 does well in this series because they are great cars and in my experience, if folks have more than one place to race something then the more likely cars are together built.
I assume that the BMW Z3 will race as part of this series, too?
Plenty of people have been turned down for Registration because their cars don't fit.
This is a public forum so I don't understand the issue, I really hope the RX8 does well in this series because they are great cars and in my experience, if folks have more than one place to race something then the more likely cars are together built.
I assume that the BMW Z3 will race as part of this series, too?
Edited by andy97 on Sunday 10th March 19:57
bravonovember said:
And go bang quite often apparently.
If you can make a rotary go bang without forced induction assistance you are doing very well. They tend more to lose power rather than fail. I say again - I ran for years with practically zero issues with good engines from WGT in Cheshire. And I mean racing, testing, and winning in multiple series over a year without missing a beat. At the end of the year it's an afternoon to tear down and re-seal.
So.. ahem.. Evidence please..?
S.
mattmk391 said:
andy97 said:
(Also eligible for CSCC "Modern Classics" in the 1800-2500cc class)
Could we just assume that CSCC will shoehorn virtually anything into one of its classes/series rather than this being posted on every other thread and championship forum.Give them a chance to race in thier own competitive one make series before offering to absorb them into car tinkerer class racing.
I presume the real niggle is the regularity of Andy's popping up to point out which of the CSCC grids any given car in the world is eligible for, across the many years he has been doing so, and across the multitude of forums he can access. I'm with you, it started getting a touch annoying, but over time I think you just have to take a step back, acknowledge defeat, give him a round of applause and quietly wish he was working for /your/ championship.. I think the world would be a poorer place if he stopped doing it now. ;-)
stacy said:
bravonovember said:
And go bang quite often apparently.
If you can make a rotary go bang without forced induction assistance you are doing very well. They tend more to lose power rather than fail. I say again - I ran for years with practically zero issues with good engines from WGT in Cheshire. And I mean racing, testing, and winning in multiple series over a year without missing a beat. At the end of the year it's an afternoon to tear down and re-seal.
So.. ahem.. Evidence please..?
S.
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