4 Proteges in the top 10 Foo in 3rd ,Bonaccorsi 5th,Hemmingsom7th,Espenlaud 10th,Marinus 13th

 

I dunno bout you guys, but I'm pulling for OPM.

Good to see a massing of Proteges in the front tho.

 

Not too bad, four out of top ten positions. Here are a couple of pics and more can be found in the galleries at www.speedarena.com

 

Again, great pics, Jim. Keep 'em coming!

 

Uhh, nice to see that Foo has finally decided to race in the sedan. I have nothing against P5, is a great car, but I do not think its a great racer. Though, it is a great start for Mazda. This year will be much better then last, and yes, keep them pics coming.

 

Nice pics!

 

The Volvo 850 T5-R wagon did pretty well in the BTCC although they swapped to the sedan after 2 seasons.

 

IIRC, Realtime has updated their Acura TC fleet to RSX's this season... RIP ITR...

 

How much taller is the P5? I thought the sedan and 5 were the same height. As far as aerodnamics, I'd say maybe the 5 bit more dynamic, but I really couldn't say for sure. Instead of having 2 cavitations (?) in the air behind the car, there would only be one, albeit larger.


I dont' know what I'm talking about, lol.

 

Couple of things on why he is in a sedan instead of the P5. One is that he is with a different team this year and the new team already had two sedans prepared from last season, so there would not have even been a P5 considered.

Secondly, this is just an educated guess, but the P5 lacked something that could be a big help. That is the rear wing. The hatchbacks do not get the benefit of the adjustable wing that is on the trunk lid of the sedans. This allows them to dial in the amount of downforce on the rear end which can help them set up the balance and handling of the car.

That is just a guess, but something that makes sense to me, so it could be a good reason to go with the sedan over the P5. To my knowlege the P5 is still in the hands of Espenlaubs team, so if they pick up another driver you may see the P5 return at some point. But that is also just a guess and I have no real knowlege on that one.

 

Jimmy is right regarding 4 door vs 5 door. With last year's aero rules the 5 door (with no effective way to mount the wing) was just not as fast on high speed tracks. Obviously on street courses (DC and 3 Rivers) it did just fine.

New rules for '03 regarding wings for Hatchbacks means that the P5 may come back later in the season. Unfortunately the new rules were just posted the week before Sebring and there was no quick way to react or respond. We will do some testing and bring the 5 door back out if it is faster.

In general, the points regarding the weight issues are true, however since we run plexiglass windows the extra weight up high is not an issue. The 5 door that Roger drove last year is actually lighter than the 4 door, but that is due to other factors in it's construction.

Jim Jordan
Protomotive #13

 

Hey Jim, thanks for the clarification. Congrats on Charles' strong finish to start off the season.

Good luck on the rest of the season and it would be cool to see the P5 come on back out.