Taken
at the 1992 Sebring (yes,
the car was at the track), it is interesting to
observe the mass
of metal in front of the car. Remember reading about all the
troubles
that Mazda was having with the exhaust catching the body work on fire (I
seem to recall a car burned at the Miami Grand Prix)?
Well, that
pile of metal is the many rejected exhaust systems from the
weekend.
The car was damaged by fire in practice for the 12 Hour and Mazda
withdrew
the car for the race. 
I'll
kick myself for not having taken more pictures. I guess I was
under
the impression that I would see it again. 
The
Mazda before it underwent the knife. The course of a full
season
of racing saw the body work ventilated with holes for various ducts and
cooling apparati. The single element wing was never intended
to be
raced (just for the PR photo?). A "Red
Baron" multi-plane
tunnel extractor type wing was eventually introduced during
mid-season.
The RX-792P was designed by Lee Dykstra with consultant work done by
Joseph
Katz (of the book Race Car Aerodynamics:
Designing for Speed
fame). Joseph Katz quotes a conservative
CL= -3.8 and a
CD=.7 for this car.
Russell Chong has
provided some late season images of the RX-792P that better reflect the
Mazda's transformation.
To Page II, a glimpse into the manufacture of the chassis and bodywork
