MAZDASPEED MOTORSPORTS DEVELOPMENT

January, 26 2009 (Daytona, Florida) Endurance racing is a cruel sport at times.  Months of preparations and thousands of hours of labor can be swept away in moments of simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The four Mazda RX-8 Grand-AM GT race cars were fast, their rotary engines powerful and reliable, yet the final result was a single top-ten finish.  After the race, car owners Sylvain Tremblay, Jon Mirachi, Joe Foster, and Patrick Dempsey had nothing but praise and appreciation for their crews and drivers, for all went above and beyond the call of duty.

Team Recaps

Team: SpeedSource #70

Car: Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8
Drivers: Sylvain Tremblay, Nick Ham, David Haskell, Jonathan Bomarito
2009 Result: Started first, finished 19th
Notes:  Led the first 20 minutes of the race until a hard bump to the curbing damaged the fuel cell.  The replacement of the fuel cell took over an hour, losing over 40 laps in the process, dropping the team to dead last after 90 minutes.  During the night, the team driving was superb – The #70 car the fast car on the track.  The combination of Tremblay, Ham, Haskell, and Bomarito made up six laps on the leader and it looked like a top-ten finish was still possible until a broken exhaust and half shaft further delayed the team.

Team: SpeedSource #69
Car: FXDD Mazda RX-8
Drivers: Emil Assentato, Nick Longhi, Matt Plumb, Jeff Segal
2009 Result: Started fourth, finished ninth.
Notes: The FXDD car was well prepared to uphold the SpeedSource honor until an on-track incident with a slower car caused extensive front end damage.  The team spent almost an hour behind the pit wall replacing the front clip and the left front suspension.  The team carried on to score valuable points with a solid ninth-place finish.

Team: Racers Edge #30
Car: 3-Dimensional Services Group/ Idemitsu Mazda RX-8
Drivers:  Doug Peterson, Dane Cameron, Bryan Sellers, Dion von Moltke
2009 Result: Started 17th, finished 13th
Notes:  The team ran very strong with Dane Cameron setting the second fastest lap of the race – especially impressive as it was set in the night.  The team was delayed by difficult to diagnose electrical problems for the first half of the race.  The team left Florida knowing they had a car and team capable of finishing on the podium, but confident for the races to come.

Team: Dempsey Racing #40
Car: Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Mazda RX-8
Drivers: Patrick Dempsey, Joe Foster, Charles Espenlaub, Tim Lewis Jr., Jep Thornton 
2009 Result: Started 28th, finished 22nd
Notes:  Needless to say, Patrick Dempsey was the star of pre-race activities.  The team partnership with the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer generated a great deal of favorable attention from beyond the motorsports press.  The team was on-track for a strong finish until Jep Thornton crashed the car in the evening.  The team rebuilt the front of the car only to have Jep involved in a second accident in the middle of the night.  This was the first ever DNF for Dempsey Racing/Hypersport in the Rolex Grand-Am series.

24 Hours of Daytona, Events, GT, Grand Am

– Looking to Repeat 2008 –

January, 21 2009 (Daytona, Florida) While reruns are usually dreaded on TV, Mazda welcomes a rerun of the 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona where the SpeedSource Castrol Syntec RX-8 team scored an amazing underdog win in the GT class against a massive fleet of Porsches and Pontiacs.

While Mazda will only have four cars in the GT field this year, they are a powerful group, each team with the capability of adding Daytona win #23 to the Mazda collection. “There is no better place to kick off the season than the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Mazda won the GT class last year and we aim to repeat that success this year,” noted Robert Davis, Senior Vice President, Product Development and Quality, and the man responsible for Mazda’s North American motorsports operations under the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development banner.

The Rolex 24 takes the green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The opening portion of the race will be televised live on FOX (3:00-4:30 p.m.), with SPEED resuming coverage from 4:30 - 10:00 p.m. ET and covering Sunday’s activities from 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET. All four Mazda racecars will be equipped with on-board cameras.

The Mazda team line-up

Team: SpeedSource #70

Car: Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8

Drivers: Sylvain Tremblay, Nick Ham, David Haskell, Jonathan Bomarito

2008 Result: GT Class Winner

Notes: The SpeedSource Castrol Syntec team returns to Daytona as the defending race champions. The team led 323 of 664 laps in the 2008 Daytona race. The team finished third in the 2008 championship with three wins, and ten top-ten finishes. Nick Ham led a season high 236 laps over eight races. The team is racing with a special purpose this year in the memory of Carol Tremblay who was tragically killed in a highway accident in December 2008. New to the team for 2009 is Jonathan Bomarito, a rising star and the 2008 Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda Championship runner-up.

Team: SpeedSource #69

Car: FXDD Mazda RX-8

Drivers: Emil Assentato, Nick Longhi, Matt Plumb, Jeff Segal

2008 Result: Fifth

Notes: The breakout Mazda team of 2008 scored their first win in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen in June. The team finished ninth in the championship with eight top-ten finishes.

Team: Dempsey Racing #40

Car: Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Mazda RX-8

Drivers: Patrick Dempsey, Joe Foster, Charles Espenlaub, Tim Lewis Jr., Jep Thornton

2008 Result: 24th

Notes: Hypersport has transformed into Dempsey Racing for 2009 reflecting Patrick’s increased involvement with the team. For the Rolex 24 the team is partnering with the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer to create a fundraising contest called the Dempsey Racing Challenge. This contest is designed to motivate participants in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer to reach their highest fundraising goals ever. The top fundraiser from each of the nine Avon Walks this year will special guests of Dempsey Racing at the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex 24. The car will race in new black, white and pink graphics as Patrick noted that “Yes - real men wear pink.” Go to www.avonwalk.org for more details.

Team: Racers Edge #30

Car: 3-Dimensional Services Group/ Idemitsu Mazda RX-8

Drivers: Doug Peterson, Dane Cameron, Bryan Sellers, Dion von Moltke

2008 Result: Tenth

Notes: The team set the second-fastest GT-class lap time in the final pre-season test. Equally important, both car and drivers proved competitive in each session throughout the test, under varying track conditions, fuel loads and traffic situations. “I’m obviously pleased with how fast the car went, but even more so with the way the team and drivers worked together and improved every time we went out on track,” said Jon Mirachi, owner and team manager of Racers Edge Motorsports. “In addition to our on-track performance, we focused on our pit stop procedures and reduced the time it takes to service the car and change drivers by more than ten seconds. There is even more speed in the car, and we know where to find it, so add it all together and I think we have reason to be optimistic about our chances in the Rolex 24.”

KONI Challenge Series — Fresh From Florida 200

Mazda will also be represented in the KONI Challenge season opener by with RX-8’s and MX-5 Miata’s in the Street Tuner (ST) class.

On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle.  At the track, you’ll see MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has the Soul of a Sports Car.  In fact, the largest road-racing class in the U.S. is the SCCA’s Spec Miata class, with nearly 1,500 first- and second-generation Miatas tearing up America’s racetracks, making it the most-raced production car in the world.  Mazda’s involvement in motorsports extends to its relationship with Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, one of the world’s premier road-racing circuits, and the Skip Barber Schools for driving and racing.

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Mazda North American Operations oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers.  Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario, Canada, and in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.

24 Hours of Daytona, Events, GT, Grand Am, Koni Challenge

Check out some of the early photos at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

24 Hours of Daytona, Grand Am