[LordDigital]

Originally Posted by KA

I'm a bit vague on this without wading back through a stack of 1987 Autosports, but the Turbo was definitely around in 1987, but not from the start (was the homologation of the Turbo delayed?).
RAS didn't debut until some way into the season, although their first couple of appearances ended as DNQs They appear to have started with the 'atmo' version until the turbo was ready.

They may have had one of each at Spa (the entry list in the programme doesn't distinguish), before downsizing to a single car entry for the TT- the entry list in the TT programme clearly describes this as a Supra Turbo of 4136cc (in other words 2954cc x 1.4 turbo equivalency factor).
A Bemani entered 3.0i is also on the list, but didn't appear. It did turn up for the Nogaro ETC round a week later though, and the Japanese TOM'S cars appeared at Fuji

As far as I can tell, based on the race results listed on Frank de Jong's site, the 1987 Supra entries were:

7 June, Zolder ETC:
#14 Micangeli/Calderari (RAS Sport, 3.0i)- DNQ
#15 Heyer/Joossen (RAS Sport, 3.0i)- DNQ

12 July, Nurburgring WTC:
#14 Micangeli/Calderari (RAS Sport, 3.0i)- DNQ
#15 Heyer/Joossen (RAS Sport, 3.0i)- DNQ
#25? Muller/Zeller (Bemani, 3.0i)- DNQ

(all three cars were on the entry list for Brno, but I don't think any of them appeared)
http://www.racingsportscars.com/cove...987-08-16e.jpg

1-2 Aug, Spa WTC
#14 Joosen/Heyer/Jelinski (RAS Sport, Turbo)- DNF
#15 Olofsson/Thiebault/Bachelart (RAS Sport, 3.0i)- DNF
(Maurizio Micangeli & Enzo Calderari had jumped ship by then- Calderari appearing in various M3s for the rest of the European WTCC rounds)

6 Sept, Silverstone TT
#14 Heyer/Joossen (RAS Sport, Turbo)- DNF
(#25 for Muller & Zeller on the entry list, but a no-show)

13 Sept, Nogaro ETC
#14? Heyer/Joossen (RAS Sport, Turbo)- DNF
#25? Zeller/Muller (Bemani, 3.0i)- 6th

15 Nov, Fuji WTC
#36, Elgh/Baldi (TOM'S/Minolta, Turbo)- DNF
#37, Lees/Hoshino (TOM'S/Minolta, Turbo)- 9th

The Fuji WTC round might have been the debut for the TOM'S cars( not sure if they did any JTCC rounds before that?), but a pair then went on to Macau, for Hoshino and Alan Jones- I think both were DNFs

IN 1988, Bemani's ETC entries were always 'atmo', but I had thought the Fina cars at Spa were Turbos, rather than the 'atmo' versions listed on both websites. I'd have to dig out the Autosport reports to be sure though...

I belive that we have the 1987 Turbo puzzle figured out Look on my website at the first page of the FIA Homologation Book for "Toyota Supra Turbo MA70" ,the picture of the car was taken Jan-1-1987 ,BUT the homologation was delayed untill 01-JUL-1987!

http://forums.lorddigital.com/Projec...OOK/img001.jpg

That all explains the late sesson appearance of the Turbo version i. I actually have an interview with Hans Heyer where he explains the absolute need for the turbo ,he says "<Atmo RAS Sports Supra> is 65 Kilo under the Limit" (RAS/Bastos Supra was quited to be 1100 Kilo(s)). ,he also says that further weight reduction will be very very dificult becouse the HardTop chassies is not too different than the Targe version (HEAVY). The interview ends where Hayers Prediction "We Will Win ONLY WHEN WE GET THE BOOST".

Many years later I learned that above Hayers statement for the boost was wrong (I owned many MA70 Supras ,including 3 evolutions of my track cars). Boost could not save the 7M engine ... an engine that was basically junk when it comes to motorporst for many reasons the main one beign the uber long stroke. RAS did their best in using the Turbo version ,but failed. Toyota Factory Teams also had a super hard time finding a way to get the Turbo engine to be reliable and to make the horsepower needed to be competitive. Toyota had to produce in 1988 500 cars called "Turbo A" to get extension to the original homologation for despertly needed head improvements ,but even after that they kept suffering engine failures when the turbo pressure was boosted up ,a good example is BHG in Toyota Racing Tom's in 1989 SPA:
http://wsrp.ic.cz/nonchamp1989.html

Toyota Finally resolved their engine issues with the introduction of the 2.0Turbo (1G-GEU) and Yamaha 2.5 twin turbo engine (in Supra MA70 1990 with engine code 1JZ-GTE) ,unfortunately it was late too late for the Group A - what a waste of otherwise excellent chassis.