Jimmy@MV

Jeff Altenburg takes the fastest time of the first day of practice at VIR. Mazda has four Protoges in the top ten, Bonaccorsi is in 6th and Hemmingson and Fowler are also up there.

Here are a couple pics from the first day of practice.









And one bonus Mazda running in the GT category.



Stay tuned to www.motorsportvortex.com for all the updates.

mazdaspeedwest

NICE!

thanks for the pics and the info!

gotta love racing on 3 wheels

kcbhiw

Again, excellent pics. It's amazing how these cars can lift the inside rear wheel considering how stiff the springs are; that's some hard cornering. load 'em up! heh.

That RX7 has some serious meat in the rear. What kind of times is he running?

turbonium959

Very nice pics, and thanks for the info. Those MP3s look very solid, and I hope that they will do very good. Now, that RX-7 is bound to kick some ***. That car I would take anytime! Wow!

kcbhiw

Is Roger Foo running at VIR this session?

Jimmy@MV

Roger Foo is here this weekend, though not really making any waves. Here is a shot.

Makaveli

I first started following this kind of racing this season and have seen and recorded 4 races so far. Would someone explain to me the craze over Roger Foo? He's okay, but nothing special it seems..... again, I'm new to it

Jimmy, thanks for all the info and the EXCELLENT pics

mazdaspeedwest

to get the wheel off, it's more of a stiffer rear sway bar.

I need to be carefull going into driveways on an angle, i've slammed the car pretty good a few times, from forgetting....It's very hard on the sway bar frame mounts.

but man, would i LOVE that camber....

kcbhiw

Nothing specially really. It's just that he's the only one out there in a P5 . His car is underdeveloped.

Heh, when I would auto-x my escort, I had people telling me that my inside rear would be at least 6 inches off the ground, lol. (that's stock suspension for ya). I just think it's cool that these cars with such stiff springs and stiff sway bars can still lift the inside wheel....tis a lot of force exerted on the car.

StuttersC

Yeah, just to add, Roger Foo is the only Protege 5 racing right now.

And I think Roger is having some of the same teething problems the Protege's had last year in their first season. Once his car get a little more development, it'll be up there with the rest.

But considering everything else, his car has come a long way this season. Too bad this is the last race this year. Hopefully he'll come back next year stronger than ever.

And hopefully Mazda will walk away with the manufacturers title in the Touring Car series this year. There is only a five point spread between BMW and Mazda. Acura is smack dab right in between those two.

It looks like an Acura driver will walk away with the Driver's Championship this season, but two Mazda driver's are right there.

Just something to keep in mind, watch out for the USTCC next year, there is supposed to be a Protege 5 there too.

iain

'the craze' over roger foo is that he's the only privateer to win a touring race. did it in a civic hatchback 2 years ago. it was a one-time thing, but he's still a damn good driver like almost everyone else in the series.

Makaveli

Oh okay, that's pretty good if he did that....

He placed 9th so I guess he has progressed along this season, but in head to head, give me Bonaccorsi any day (from what I've seen this year) hehe

I guess Tri-Point has really gotten their shhhh down when it comes to the Protege too....