Originally posted by mlytle@Nov 17 2005, 06:46 PM
any lead the bmw had on the back straight was completely erased by the mazda by the time they got to turn 5. i could rewrite your para to show the bmw driver being frustrated by the superior handling of the mazda. yes, show that tape to the itac. it is great evidence that the "bmw is an overdog" concept is fantasy.

rob had a great, no, an outstanding, drive, but lets face it. here we had an excellent young driver in a mazda WHO HAD NEVER DRIVEN AT RA BEFORE and who had only raced an its car for three weekends, keeping pace with a multi-time arrc champ who knows ra cold and has been driving bmw's for years. if that car hadn't spun in front of him, rob could have very well won. and that was on a horsepower track. bmw an overdog? i think not.
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Yes i agree that the mazda has better handling than the BMW but it really is not as much as it seems, the beamers are much more dialed than they used to be(which is one of the reasons they put a restrictor on for this year) chet mentioned having problems downshifting to third gear in turn 3 which ruined his run into the esses, the one turn the RX-7 could take a lot faster was turn 5 but the BMW would torque out of the turn so it was really never a good enough run to make anything happen before turn 6. And i rarely hear people complain that a car holds them up down the straight aways and kills them in the turn, the real problem is the other way around. there are a lot of factors when you compare the RX-7 to the BMW, the RX-7 is better on brakes and tires favoring a long race, the BMW has more torque and power, the mazda had a slight advantage in handling. it will be interesting to see what kind changes are made, i'm sure glad i dont have to be making the decisions. i will probally send in my tape and they can look at it how they want to.

Rob