Random Factoid #3: 24 Hours of LeMans

The answer to our trivia question posted on Twitter (@carandwriter) and Facebook is:  Mazda, with their 787B race car.  The car used a rotary engine to take the win in 1991, and the FIA subsequently banned the use of rotary engines in competition use.


The 787B started the race in 19th place, and completed a total of 362 laps.  The Mazda used a 4 rotor version, with a claimed output of 700hp at 9000 rpm. The 787B is the only win from a Japanese manufacturer in the LeMans race. 

To read more about this highly celebrated race car:  Mazda 787B

Rolex 24 this weekend

The Audi R8 will be one of many cars participating in this year's Rolex 24 race.  Photo courtesy grand-am.com

The 50th running of the Rolex 24 is scheduled this weekend in Daytona.  The race will start at 3:30 EST Saturday and finish at 3:30 Sunday.  Driver Scott Pruett will be looking for the chance to place his name in the record books as he attempts to tie the record of 5 victories.  Fans of the X Games will recognize Travis Pastrana as one of the drivers taking part in the race. 

For more info on the race, visit:  http://www.grand-am.com/

24 Hours of Dubai: Mercedes-Benz sweeps podium

Photo Courtesy creventic.com

Photo courtesy creventic.com

The 24 Hours of Dubai has ended, and Mercedes-Benz has swept the podium.  The SLS AMG GT3 race cars took 1, 2, 3, and 7th to round out the top ten finishers.  The BMW Z4 driven by Claudia Hurtgen's team finished 4th this year.  A punctured rear tire and penalty kept them from out of the winner's circle despite the best efforts of Hurtgen to catch back up to the leaders.  Only 8.7 seconds separated Hurtgen's Z4 from the 3rd place SLS.  Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon took 1st place, and the other 2 top spots were taken by the cars driven under Heico Motorsport's banner.  The margin of victory for the winner was a mere 2 laps after 24 hours of racing with the Black Falcon team completing 628 laps total. 

The Racing Divas did not win their class (A2) this year finishing 4th.  Besaplast Racing took the win for the A2 class in their BMW Mini.  The Gran Turismo Academy team finished in 3rd place for the SP2 class, which is impressive considering 2 drivers were in their rookie race fresh out of the academy.  The all gamer team completed 532 laps.


For the complete list of the results:  2012 24 Hours of Dubai results

24 hours of Dubai - Going for History

The Racing Divas will participate in this year's race.  Photo courtesy racingdivas.nl

Beautiful Dubai.  Photo courtesy creventic.com

The 24 hours of Dubai endurance race is set to take place in about 34 hours from now.  The race features a variety of classes of cars who will be vying for the win.  Racing for 24 hours is tough enough, but to combine darkness with speeds well in excess of 120 mph, and you can start to imagine how rough the conditions are on the drivers.