alfy28

Enjoy SpeedSource fans
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...with-nick-ham/

Nick Ham has been one of the top competitors in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT class over the last two seasons.

In 21 races since the beginning of the 2007 season, the Yorkshire, England-born driver has four victories, which includes this season's Rolex 24 At Daytona in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazdaspeed/Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8. Ham and co-driver Sylvain Tremblay have led the point standings from time to time, and are currently third in the driver standings behind Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards heading into Thursday's Rolex Series race, the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

Ham - who attended the Elf Winfield Racing School at Goodwood, England (he finished second for the Grand Prize in 1975) and has been racing since the 1970s - and Tremblay are seeking their third straight Rolex Series GT victory at Daytona. Now a longtime native of Evergreen, Colo., Ham took some time last week to discuss this weekend's race, his career and what he is expecting throughout the remainder of the 2008 season.

How long have you lived in the United States?

"I came here in 1977, so 31 years. I married an American girl (Pam) in England. We came to America, pretty much all the time in Colorado. We spent a little time in upstate New York where my wife's family is from. We picked apples, saved up to buy an old car, headed west and ended up in Colorado."

Your career in England didn't span that long, then, did it?

"Yeah, we really didn't have any money. The idea was that we'd move to America, make a lot of money, come back and race Formula Ford. Well, that didn't happen. We ended up moving to Colorado and enjoying living in America. I was out of racing for several years and came back to it in the late '80s."

You've done well racing sporadically in the Rolex Series, and last year marked your first fulltime season in the series.
"I ran in the Firehawk series early on, and the IMSA GT classes, and twice won the 12-Hours at Sebring. I raced in Europe in the FIA GT and the Le Mans 24 Hours in the late 90s. Then, I came back to it in the early 2000s and joined Sylvain again - whom I had raced with in the 90s when we were running Mazda before."

Talk about some of the things you like about racing for this series.
"For where I am in my career, it really is a perfect series. I like the combination of power and grip. I really like the series and the team I'm with. It's a very competitive team. It's a factory-supported team by Mazda. I think we are definitely one of the competitive packages in the series. Sylvain and I match up very well. I'm just thoroughly enjoying it."

Competition is fierce in the Rolex Series GT Class, as many thought it would be this year. We've seen Pontiac win five races this year, Mazda has won two and Porsche won at Mid-Ohio. Can you talk about how tough the competition is this year?
"Last year was our first full season and we had a very good season. We won three races and showed a lot of promise. We also had some problems and learned a lot. I think the same with the Pontiac Banner team. Even though they came into it with a lot more resources and experience, with Pratt & Miller behind them, I think last year they learned a lot, too. I think both teams are stronger this year. The Porsche teams have always been strong. Daytona this year was incredible. It was like a ‘who's-who' of factory Porsche drivers or worldwide Porsche 911 drivers. I'd say the competition is definitely stronger. Then of course there are the factory-supported Pontiac teams which are very good also. Then we have our sister car, the No. 69 Mazda RX-8, which is getting faster all the time. They won the six-hour race at Watkins Glen. The Racers Edge (Motorsport) group and the Hyper Sport teams are getting better as they learn their cars and learn the series. Yeah, it's just getting more competitive all the time. You've really got to be on your game to win in this series."

Up next is Daytona, and in the last one there the SpeedSource team dominated the last half of the race and won by seven laps. Obviously this is not the 24-hour race, but the two-hour, 45-minute sprint race. You have to like that you already have some momentum having won there already this year.
"Daytona is probably the single-best track for our car because the engine is small in our car. It's only 2-liters, so we don't have the torque like some of the V-8s and flat sixes of the Pontiacs and Porsches. Once you get our rotary wound up it goes like a rocket on the banking. Yeah, Daytona was really good for us. We also won the summer race there last year and so we're going for our third win at Daytona. We feel very confident."

What about the rest of the season? What's it going to take to win the championship?
"It's just going to take good, consistent finishes. We stopped the bleeding at Mid-Ohio (finishing seventh), since we finished higher than the No. 07 car. Now, we've got to put together a string of podium finishes. And, not wishing them bad luck, but we've had a couple of bad luck races and they haven't. If that happens to them, then we're going be right back in it. If it doesn't, then it's going to be very hard to catch them. We're only one point ahead of the No. 57 Stevenson team right now and so our main focus is trying to hold on to that second place. If we can catch the No. 07, great."

To the fans in Britain that are so used to Formula 1 and other styles of racing, what would you tell about the Rolex Series? How would you get them interested in it from an ocean away?
"I think it is similar to the FIA GT where you've got a lot of good, solid teams in it and some factory participation. You've got some classic, old time road racing teams that have been doing it and enjoying endurance racing a long time. I think there are great opportunities for racing in this series and this country, if they (drivers) can develop a good, strong relationship with manufactures. Take Robin Liddell for example. He raced in Europe and England a lot and developed a strong relationship here with Pontiac. He's doing very well and making a good living, I imagine. There's good international presence between the Daytona Prototypes and GTs. You've got some real opportunity for manufacture involvement because the cars are more based on production cars."

It's always interesting to talk racing with English-born drivers, Nick, but it's also fun to talk about another of the world's favorite sports - football, or soccer to the Americans. What is your favorite football team?
"I was born and raised Yorkshire...Middlesbrough is my team. They are classic underachievers but they continue to stay in the Premiership somehow, so I am fanatical about following them and watching them. I love British soccer. It's still my favorite sport."

Is there anything else you would like to mention?
"I'm just really enjoying part of the Mazda family. It's a very good car manufacturer and they have a real sporting heritage. They promote racing at the lower levels, so it's really nice to be involved with a company that truly like racing. I also like being involved with Sylvain and SpeedSource, which is a very good team. Sylvain does a tremendous job and I enjoy being his co-driver. I like my role on the team, which is being the starting driver, getting the car to the point in the race where he can take over and go for the win. I'm just very happy right now. I'm enjoying life and at my age, I've still got the speed to keep up with young kids. I've learned that I've got a little bit of wisdom now from all these I'm driving well and really enjoying it."

Rotr8

iTrader: (2)

awesome find ,,, thanks

JRichter

Good stuff, Alfy. I like the last bit.