<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Two examples of the aptly named RX-792P were constructed in a purpose-built facility. The first car was ready in time for the Miami Grand Prix at Homestead. The small team immediately faced two major exhaust related problems. The exhaust fumes proved to be so hot that the carbon-fibre tub start to delaminate. Eventually the car caught fire and was withdrawn. At the subsequent Sebring 12 Hours, the car was again not able to take part in the race. This time the problem was that the exhaust produced well over the 108 db noise maximum. Both issues were fortunately resolved by the third race. The muffler was coated on the inside and used air between its two layers to provide further insulation. A resonator was mounted that dealt with most of the noise and IMSA helped Mazda further along by placing the measuring device on the opposite side of the track from the RX-792P's exhaust.
By the third race, at Road Atlanta, the early problems were solved and the second car was ready. The RX-792P was now faced with an uphill battle against the NPTi Nissans and Eagle Toyotas, which both featured hugely powerful twin-turbocharged engines. For the first proper race, the fastest Mazda qualified 9th and finished a delayed 15th. Using their incredibly small budget, the team continued the development of the car and it soon sported a twin-tier rear wing, which increased the downforce considerably. The work yielded some results with 3rd and 4th place finishes at Lime Rock and a 2nd at Watkins Glen after starting from 4th on the grid. The season did not end very well with several non-finishes due to mechanical problems and accidents.
Undeterred by the mixed results, the Mazda North America team commenced preparations for the 1993 season. The third, spare tub was readied to receive a smaller three-rotor engine for a customer team, who wanted to run a Mazda in the IMSA Lights category. Unfortunately Mazda Japan had other ideas and ceased the rotary racing program at the end of 1993. By that time the unique engines had been banned from almost every other racing series, so it was not a complete surprise the plug was pulled. Built with a fraction of the budget ($5 million opposed to $20-35 million for the competition) the Mazda RX-792P fared remarkable well against the established teams and manufacturers. Whether it could have been a winner with more time and money, we will however never know. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Two examples of the aptly named RX-792P were constructed in a purpose-built facility. The first car was ready in time for the Miami Grand Prix at Homestead. The small team immediately faced two major exhaust related problems. The exhaust fumes proved to be so hot that the carbon-fibre tub start to delaminate. Eventually the car caught fire and was withdrawn. At the subsequent Sebring 12 Hours, the car was again not able to take part in the race. This time the problem was that the exhaust produced well over the 108 db noise maximum. Both issues were fortunately resolved by the third race. The muffler was coated on the inside and used air between its two layers to provide further insulation. A resonator was mounted that dealt with most of the noise and IMSA helped Mazda further along by placing the measuring device on the opposite side of the track from the RX-792P's exhaust.