Makes sense, still 5 three rotor RX8's to watch will still be a great time.:ylsuper:

There's only 4 entered to race. Both of the Speedsource cars, Dempsey Racing, and Racer's Edge.

This is great news!

woot

What series in Japan or Europe are there 3 rotor RX-8s?

I just know of the RE-Amemiya 20B RX-7 in Super GT, don't know of any racing in Europe.

Great news for RX-8 fans, but I can't say I'm surprised that teams are switching. In speaking with Sylvain Tremblay at Mid-Ohio, he remarked that the durability of the rotary is a big selling point for the teams due to the engine rebuild costs being so low, primarily due to the fact that rebuilds don't need to be done all that often. If I recall correctly, they only need a rebuild after every 3-5 races, whereas the conventional piston cars need rebuilds much more frequently. I guess money talks, especially for a smaller team like Sahlens. I will kind of miss those Corvettes though...they were such a stand-by for the past few years, even though they typically ended up in the back of the pack.

The more RX-8s the merrier I say!

Definitely, the rebuild intervals are so much longer than piston engines. And the only other competitive choice(minus the Pontiacs) out there are the Porsches, I bet they need to rebuild those all the time and the start up cost is higher as well.
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Wiki Vaporizer

Yeah,

the Yellow Dragon car announced at the beginning of the season didn't race at all, I guess the financial crisis hit them hard.


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HornyRebel

Speaking of the Pontiacs, I'm looking forward to seeing the Camaro bodied cars racing against the RX-8 bodied cars (and other GT cars) next year. That will be much more interesting than the G6.

Keep in mind that Grand Am attempts to equalize the competition by having different rules for different engines. eg. Some will require things that lower their HP, some will be allowed improvements to remain competitive. The 20G engine is essentially circa the late 1980's so it's not some special power plant that proves the greatness of the rotary. The GT class RX-8 has nothing to do with the street car (eg. tube frame chassis). Some cars in that class start as a body from a street car. I'm not trying to be negative, simply factual.

Of course. Hasn't that already been discussed? The RX-8s and G6s are tube-frame race cars with factory-fitting body panels. This is not true of the more "exotic" cars like the 911s, though. They're the real deal.

Heard during the Grand-Am coverage this afternoon:

Sahlens purchased the current #69 and #70 Speedsource vehicles for the 2010 season.

Looks like Tremblay and Segal are going to have Riley/Mazda -8s with that "new car smell" on 'em, while Will Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen will have some well-sorted vehicles to bring to Daytona for the 24hrs.

Methinks I need a Florida vacation this winter. :crazy:

Also: Riley/Camaro to be seen at the 2010 VIR 4hr Koni Challenge?

woohoo! go speed source!

Its a win/win situation for both parties! The nonnamakers get cars able to finish on the podium, and Speedsource gets to build new cars with lighter/more developed parts.
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Web shows

Too bad it isn't team Saleen!

I remember a Speedsource TV webisode where crew chief Matt Martin said they were running the same engine from the Daytona 24 into round 2 at VIR and that they usually get 70-80 hours out of an engine.

Yellow Dragon was a team car that was betting on being able to attract drivers willing to pay-to-drive. Not a lot of those types out there to begin with and even fewer this year.

Wouldn't be surprised if that car is the one going to Dempsey racing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx9nh4-7xjg

Around the 2:20 mark he talks about engine life but you've got the numbers right.

any idea how long it did last or if Speedsource changed it already? 70 hours is a long time. Races are a little over 2 hours, qualifying and practice less than that, so the remainder is the set up and tuning time.

Club racers in the 1970s have said they could go a whole season without rebuilding.

Great News...

http://www.teamsahlen.com/index.cfm?...s&news_id=4046

Awesome stuff. Thanks!