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Image credits: © Lola.
1984 Lola T616 news, pictures, and information | ||
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IRVINE, Calif. – In 1984 the Lola T616 Mazda racecars made motorsports history. This weekend at the Road and Track Ú.S. Sports Car Invitational, the Mazdas make a triumphant return as fans have a rare opportunity to see them complete their first hot laps in 20 years.When the Lola T616 Mazda first took to the track, it featured a modified 13B rotary engine and was rated at 300-horsepower. As wîth all rotary engines, the T616 lacked the displacement of competitors’ engines, but more than made up for this short-coming wîth incredible, high-revving reliability and the engine’s small size and low weight."That engine was absolutely guaranteed for 24 hours without a hitch," said Jim Busby, owner of Jim Busby Racing and driver of the historic T616. "At the time [1984 season] we went almost a full year without an engine failure."BFGoodrich Tires entered two Mazda Lola T616s in the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans C Junior (C2) group. Car 68, driven by Americans John Morton and John O’Steen, wîth Japanese driver Yoshami Katayama, took first in class and placed tenth overall. TheNumber 67 car was piloted by Americans Jim Busby and Rick Knoop as well as Dutchman Boy Hayje and placed third in its class, twelfth overall.Throughout 1984, the T616s had continued success at the world’s greatest racetracks, including the Monza 1000km in Italy, the Nurburgring 1000km in Germany and the Mt. Fuji 1000km in Japan.Mazda continued to compete at Le Mans wîth a series of racecars purpose-built for the demanding circuit. The impressive, purpose-built Mazda 787B featured a four-rotor R 26B engine good for 700-horsepower and propelled Mazda into motorsports history wîth the first -- and to this date, the only -- overall Le Mans win for a Japanese manufacturer. The number 55 car, piloted by England’s Johnny Herbert, Germany’s Bertrand Gachot and Luxembourg’s Volker Weidler led for the last three hours of the history-making race, finishing 27.2 km ahead of their nearest competitor."The T616 and 787B owe a large portion of their dominance to their Mazda rotary engines," said Steve Sanders, manager, MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development. "Mazda’s rotary engines still dominate in competition, whether wîth an RX-8 contending in the Grand-Am Cup, the Renesis rotary-powered Pro Formula Mazda open-wheel series, or the return of the rotary-powered four-door RX-8 sports car."After Mazda’s resounding win in 1991, the Le Mans sanctioning body banned rotary engines due to difficulties in classifying and grouping the unique powerplants against standard piston engines. Although the action by the sanctioning body ensured the 787B’s legacy as the only car to ever win Le Mans wîth a rotary engine, the ruling also effectively truncated Mazda’s Le Mans racing efforts, as all work was centered on rotary-engined vehicles.The T616s laid dormant for 20 years until Jim Busby, original driver of car 67, tracked them down and restored them to their former glory. The T616 recently benefited from a full, frame-off restoration. Finally back in top form, these historic racecars will once again run rampant at Road & Track’s Sports Car Invitational to be held April 30 to May 2 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.Motorsports fans can catch the Lola T616 Mazdas, along wîth a number of other historically significant rotary-powered racecars, running hot laps on Saturday, May 1st from 12:45 – 1:00pm, and Sunday, May 2nd from 1:25 – 1:45pm. Race enthusiasts will also have the chance to see historic stock cars in action and witness drifting, the latest trend to take the sport compact market by storm.Mazda North American Operations is responsible for the sales and marketing, customer parts and services support of Mazda vehicles in the Únited States. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., MNAO has more than 700 dealerships nationwide.Source - Mazda Media| 'Dtm Legends' V 'Allstars' – New Format For Racing Legends | |
 | Motorsport to set the pulse racing and environmentally-sound technology, talented juniors and racing legends: when the fourth season of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup gets underway at the Hockenheimring on 03 May, fans can look forward to a new 'race within a race'. From 2013, the Legend Cup will take on a new format – that of a team duel. The Scirocco R-Cup traditionally attracts big names from the world of motorsport back into the cockpit. Among those who have already confirmed they will be ...[Read more...] |
| Wec Spa: Audi Presents Long-Tail R18 | |
 | • First fielding of three Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars
• Premiere of a new aerodynamic variant • Last race preparation for the Le Mans 24 Hours Ingolstadt, April 25, 2013 – Audi is pursuing ambitious aims at round 2 of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) on May 4 at Spa. The version of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro that was victorious at the season opener is to extend Championship leader Audi's points advantage. At the same time, a new long-tail variant of t...[Read more...] |
| 1999 European Grand Prix: The First and Last | |
 | When Johnny Herbert signed with the brand new Stewart-Ford Racing team many believed Herbert to have missed out on his opportunity at success in Formula One. In fact, many would see a great divide between him and the obvious number one driver Rubens Barrichello. However, on the 26th of September Herbert would show he still had some fight within and would actually be the one to earn a very important first for the team. Herbert's Formula One career would go through something of a renaissance af...[Read more...] |
| 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans: Facing the Giants | |
 | It had been more than thirty years but the Silver Arrows would compete, and win, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jaguar would also earn its first victory in more than thirty years when it took the overall honors in 1988. And then there was Porsche, the most dominant mark in Le Mans history. But each of these three manufacturers shared something in common. Even with the victories by Ford during the 1960s there was something very interesting about the list of victors in the 24 French enduro—none of them ...[Read more...] |
| 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix: Dangerous Like a Wounded Animal | |
 | Sunday March 26th, 1989 would break with sunny skies. As the day grew later and later the already warm weather only grew hotter and hotter. It was clear the 18th Grande Premio do Brasil would be absolutely torrid as far as the weather was concerned. But in the Benetton pits, one man would not be thinking about the weather as much as the dream that was about to come to fruition with the start of the race at two in the afternoon. Ever since he began to race karts at the age of ten, Johnny Herb...[Read more...] |
 1984
Lola
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