The Unbeatable GTR vs The Screaming Rotary

This is a story of 2 great rivals, well the GTR never really had a rival at the time, so this would be more of a David and Goliath kind of story…
Anyways it’s 1968 and Nissan just released their new mid sized sedan called the Skyline.This would become their new ‘’racing’’ platform.You see Nissan was a decent touring car racing team back in the 60s when they used to race their larger Gloria saloon.But this time one of their racing engineers thought that the much smaller skyline saloon would be much more nimble and therefore better for racing.So in 1969 they also developed a new racing engine for their new platform.The new engine was a true beast.It was a 2.0 liter 6cyl engine, but it was DOHC and had 4 valves per cylinder and made an amazing 240hp in racing spec.Nissan wasn’t aware of the monster they’ve created until it absolutely smashed it’s competition at it’s first debut.Since that race at Fuji in 1969 the monstrous skyline went on to dominate it’s class all the way to 1971!In that period it won 49 races in a row!!On the track the GTR had no rivals, it was simply to good.The only other car that would manage to get on the podium every now and then, was the little Mazda Familia, but it never got higher than 3rd place.

Mazda just got to Fuji when the skyline started dominating.They also decided to race their mid sized sedan, but the Familia was much lighter than the others and had a very unusual engine.It’s 1.0 liter 10a two rotor engine produced around 100hp stock, but for racing Mazda used this new technique called peripheral porting.They would basically make the intake and exhaust ports bigger which would result in a 100% hp gain.At the time getting a 100% hp gain out of a NA engine seemed impossible, but Mazda did it.So the Familia had 200hp and just 800kg!!Sadly it still couldn’t defeat the Skyline…Some time later Mazda tried to defeat the GTR again, This time with the RX2.The RX2 was 200kg heavier than the Familia because it had Coil Springs, a bigger 1.2l 12a engine and it was larger than the Familia.It had more power of course but it just wasn’t enough.Then in 1971 Mazda debuted their new platform called the RX3 at the Fuji 500 Tourist Trophy.Their new RX3 was much lighter and simpler than the RX2 bcs it had a smaller 10a engine and leaf springs.

Now it’s December 1971.Fuji 500 Tourist Trophy.Nissan’s so far unbeatable GTR won 49 consecutive races and it was now hoping to win 50.Mazda debuted it’s new RX3 hoping it would finally put an end to the Skyline dominance. 8 Skylines were in the race to insure that 50th straight win.The RX3 was running great.It was right behind the 2 leading Skylines which didn’t have much luck that day. By the end of the race pretty much half of the cars broke down and the new RX3 was in the pits.While Mazda’s mechanics furiously repair the damaged RX3, the leading Skyline comes into the pits leaving a trail of smoke behind!The skyline had a flat tire and damaged front suspension.While mechanics were fixing the GTR the RX3 was in the lead!!The skyline rushed out on the track as soon as it could but it was too late.Mazda had crossed the finish line!!The RX3 did not only win on it’s first debut but it also broke skyline’s winning streak.This was only the beginning of the rotary dominance in motorsports.The RX3 went on to win over 100 races,the rx7 dominated the IMSA for 10 years(fromm ‘82 to ‘92) and the 787b won the 1991 Le Mans.
I am of course a huge fan of the rotary engine so I am glad that it was Mazda with it’s rotary engine who broke the GTR’s winning streak, but I’m also sad that the GTR didn’t win 50 races in a row bcs it really deserved to.What do you think about this rivalry?

#blogpost #rotary