Can't give you the "official" reason for that weight (I don't know it) but I can tell you that from personal experience rotaries really wake up with porting (I built a Racing Beat/Holley-equipped and -ported RX that would keep up with a Porsche Turbo in a straight line to 100 mph). So that wold be why no porting is allowed (if you want porting, STU beckons).

And I don't buy the "no torque" argument, especially since the masses seem to think that STL will be a "Honda class", a manufacturer not exactly known for its massive torque output (what was my old sig line? "My Nissan's lugnuts have more torque than your Honda engine"...?)

Let's also not forget that it's perfectly legal to toss that engine into a Miata chassis...

Finally, note the car is legal in STU in IT prep and weight (but I recognize that's not really what you want).

Given that ST is pretty much on a clean slate right now (moving away from World Challenge VTS sheets and towards its own set of standalone prep rules) I'm not surprised there's some confusion and dissatisfaction vis-a-vis the Mazda 12A rotary. After all, it's a legacy engine and not really used by a high volume of competitors right now, so I'm guessing it's a low priority. However, if you're interested in seeing less weight considered, I'd recommend you submit a request with a reasonable weight that you think the engine should get (keeping in mind that Miata thing; in my mind all specific engine allowances/deviations should be done with the optimal chassis it could go into) with your support for that number (why you think that way). I'm confident it will warrant at least a reasonable consideration.

GA