Quote:
Originally Posted by Akrapovic
Because the Mazda doesn't have the shear torque required to pass the traffic like the Caddy can. If you watch the Caddy and ORECA exiting the hairpin, you'll see that the Caddy gets an incredible launch and pulls away from the ORECA. The ORECA then claws it back later in the straight. The Caddy has an immensely torquey engine.
The Mazda does not. It can lap as fast as any car on a clean lap (which is why it does have a fast lap time), but when it runs up against traffic it struggles to pass them as easily. It's particularly bad in the short straights where the Caddy can get through the Mazda can't get up to speed in the short distance. That's the disadvantage of using a small turbo engine rather than the huge beast of a Caddy.
It's also the reason that last year the LMPs were faster over a lap than the DPs, but often lost out in traffic. The DPs had the power to deal with cars easier than the restricted LMPs.
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Right, so the engine is the weak point. Why don't they improve it?