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Offical Grand-Am GT RX-8 Thread

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Old Jun 6, 2009 | 05:00 PM
  #951  
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I agree. I haven't been much of a fan of the front-end redesign up until this point, but watching this race is seriously making me consider looking for an R3 and trading my '05 in. Sexy!
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Old Jun 6, 2009 | 06:15 PM
  #952  
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The #40 car has the redesigned front end too, I think it looks great in silver as well.

Pit stop penalty dropped us to 7th place. The #70 car is currently back in 5th, but is about 30sec behind with 1 hour to go. I doubt they'll get a podium finish...
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Old Jun 7, 2009 | 05:29 PM
  #953  
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Help support Racers Edge - buy a T-shirt

Racers Edge is selling T-shirts on their web site for 20 bucks. It's a great way to help support the team and Jon and his wife really appreciate it. Get the word out. makes a great fathers day gift.

http://www.racersedgemotorsports.com/

Bob
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Old Jun 7, 2009 | 09:54 PM
  #954  
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Originally Posted by Groundrush
I agree. I haven't been much of a fan of the front-end redesign up until this point, but watching this race is seriously making me consider looking for an R3 and trading my '05 in. Sexy!
Well the wide fenders and color matched beak dont hurt either...
Originally Posted by midlifer
Racers Edge is selling T-shirts on their web site for 20 bucks. It's a great way to help support the team and Jon and his wife really appreciate it. Get the word out. makes a great fathers day gift.

http://www.racersedgemotorsports.com/

Bob
Will do Bob...
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Old Jun 7, 2009 | 10:58 PM
  #955  
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great race for the mazdas congrats to segal and the 69 crew for 2nd place. the 70 had a great day as well except for the pit road penalty
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Old Jun 8, 2009 | 06:34 AM
  #956  
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You might have been looking at the 3rd practice results. The 69 placed 6th in the race and the 70 placed 4th. The 40 car placed 7th and the 30 placed 14th. It was a good day at the track. the weather was hot and the 69 car was running good all day. Just came up short. Here is a link to all the results.

http://www.grand-am.com/assets/WGIRolexResults09.pdf

Bob
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Old Jun 8, 2009 | 10:12 AM
  #957  
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woops sorry thanks. i saw most of the race except for the end, when the 70 was penalized.
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Old Jun 19, 2009 | 02:24 PM
  #958  
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Originally Posted by midlifer
Racers Edge is selling T-shirts on their web site for 20 bucks. It's a great way to help support the team and Jon and his wife really appreciate it. Get the word out. makes a great fathers day gift.

http://www.racersedgemotorsports.com/

Bob
Those are nice!
Gotta have one, thanks for the link!
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Old Jun 19, 2009 | 03:55 PM
  #959  
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Spread the work. Jon and his wife Shari are great people and they really appreciate our support. This is one way we can directly help them out.

Bob
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Old Jun 20, 2009 | 12:41 PM
  #960  
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TUNE-IN ALERT

EMCO Gears Classic


DATE: Saturday, June 20, 2009

TIME: 5 p.m. ET

NETWORK: SPEED

WHAT: EMCO Gears Classic (Rolex Sports Car Series)

*Excerpt from GA Newsletter
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Old Jun 20, 2009 | 12:44 PM
  #961  
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Qualifying Report

Racers Edge - 3rd
Speedsource #70 - 7th
Speedsource #69 - 8th
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Old Jun 20, 2009 | 12:55 PM
  #962  
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I think they are all moving up a spot!

In Acxiom GT qualifying, Eric Lux was awarded the pole position with a lap of 1:25.892 (94.640 mph) in the No. 86 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3. Teammate Leh Keen led qualifying with a lap of 1:25.257 (95.344 mph) in the team's No. 87 car, but the time was disallowed in post-qualifying inspection.
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Old Jun 21, 2009 | 10:14 AM
  #963  
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race was disapointing besides the 69's effort. I feel asleep through part of the race but it seemed like even less coverage was dedicated to GT this time around. So what broke on the 70 towards the end?
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Old Jun 21, 2009 | 11:20 AM
  #964  
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They probably blew a seal on 1 rotor.

Massive amounts of oil went out of the tailpipe, but the car was able to run still.
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Old Jun 22, 2009 | 01:29 AM
  #965  
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Originally Posted by lesper4
race was disapointing besides the 69's effort. I feel asleep through part of the race but it seemed like even less coverage was dedicated to GT this time around. So what broke on the 70 towards the end?
Originally Posted by Renesis_8
They probably blew a seal on 1 rotor.

Massive amounts of oil went out of the tailpipe, but the car was able to run still.
Truly disappointed for all of the Mazdas.
Great showing by all teams!
Terrible GT coverage.
I saw the oil loss with Sylvain... bummer.
What I want to know is what happened to #69's chance for the podium in the last 3 laps??

Didn't see any coverage of the corral either.
Anybody notice the Miata GT Pace Car??
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Old Jun 22, 2009 | 02:38 PM
  #966  
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Originally Posted by AirlockRX
Truly disappointed for all of the Mazdas.
Great showing by all teams!
Terrible GT coverage.
I saw the oil loss with Sylvain... bummer.
What I want to know is what happened to #69's chance for the podium in the last 3 laps??

Didn't see any coverage of the corral either.
Anybody notice the Miata GT Pace Car??
It was probably the Honda S2000 pace car, not a miata. The S2000 is the official MidOhio PC and I know it was there at the start of the race. Don't think they would have switched middle of the race but I guess ya never know.

Speed's coverage of the Grand Am this year seems even worse than last year in regards to DP/GT coverage ratio. We're lucky that Dempsey and the Speedsource guys are favorites on Speed. Imagine how the Porsche/Pontiac teams feel if they were treated the same way the Racers Edge or the 69 get treated.
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Old Jun 22, 2009 | 10:52 PM
  #967  
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I can confirm the pace car was an S2000...I did a parade lap behind it.

The Pontiac pacecars were there, but were parked at the entrance to the paddock...both a G8 and a G6. As for the 69 car, he was taken out by the Banner Pontiac that took third. Coming down the straight out of the keyhole, ALL of the drivers were pushing VERY hard. Jeff Segal braked late and got slightly sideways, but still had control. The 07 Pontiac was right on him, also braking late and trying to pass on the inside. The Pontiac didn't brake ENOUGH to avoid hitting Jeff, clipped him in front of the rear passenger wheel, and spun him backwards into China Beach.

Jeff quickly got out of the sand and got back on track, but not before losing a couple of positions, including his podium. I saw him afterwards in the paddock and looked at the car. There was a large crack in the bodywork immediately forward of the rear wheel, just behind the freestyle door. The Pontiac's left front was completely smashed. Those tards from Banner were smiling big after the race.

Jeff was clearly disappointed...he drove his *** off and commented that he was struck from behind...the Pontiac was in his blind spot, and I don't believe Jeff even saw him until after impact. I felt really bad for the guy...he's REALLY friendly...just got taken out by another driver. Jeff was doing a fantastic job of holding the Pontiac off for the last several laps of the race, really diving in hard to Madness, the series of esses at the bottom of the keyhole. A real bummer.

By the way...Sylvain and Nick are about the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. Sylvain actually came out to our corral on Friday and gave us some tech/engineering specs on the Speedsource cars. He was there with his kids, gave our cars a once-over and did an interview with Speed Channel that didn't get aired. I asked him, out of curiousity, how much it cost to run a car in a Grand-Am race like this one. His response? "Almost a telephone number".
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Old Jun 22, 2009 | 11:33 PM
  #968  
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Originally Posted by Groundrush
I can confirm the pace car was an S2000...I did a parade lap behind it.

The Pontiac pacecars were there, but were parked at the entrance to the paddock...both a G8 and a G6. As for the 69 car, he was taken out by the Banner Pontiac that took third. Coming down the straight out of the keyhole, ALL of the drivers were pushing VERY hard. Jeff Segal braked late and got slightly sideways, but still had control. The 07 Pontiac was right on him, also braking late and trying to pass on the inside. The Pontiac didn't brake ENOUGH to avoid hitting Jeff, clipped him in front of the rear passenger wheel, and spun him backwards into China Beach.

Jeff quickly got out of the sand and got back on track, but not before losing a couple of positions, including his podium. I saw him afterwards in the paddock and looked at the car. There was a large crack in the bodywork immediately forward of the rear wheel, just behind the freestyle door. The Pontiac's left front was completely smashed. Those tards from Banner were smiling big after the race.

Jeff was clearly disappointed...he drove his *** off and commented that he was struck from behind...the Pontiac was in his blind spot, and I don't believe Jeff even saw him until after impact. I felt really bad for the guy...he's REALLY friendly...just got taken out by another driver. Jeff was doing a fantastic job of holding the Pontiac off for the last several laps of the race, really diving in hard to Madness, the series of esses at the bottom of the keyhole. A real bummer.

By the way...Sylvain and Nick are about the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. Sylvain actually came out to our corral on Friday and gave us some tech/engineering specs on the Speedsource cars. He was there with his kids, gave our cars a once-over and did an interview with Speed Channel that didn't get aired. I asked him, out of curiousity, how much it cost to run a car in a Grand-Am race like this one. His response? "Almost a telephone number".
Great to hear you guys had a blast! How was the turnout?
Thanks for the clarification on the S2k Pace Car.
And last query: Pics?

There is still a chance that the interview will get broadcast later.


I was hoping that I would have been able to drop in, too much stuff going on right now. Wanted to meet you OH guys.

Glad to see parade laps and corral this time. I hope that Daytona IR and the other venues will allow for that as well in the future.

I knew that something went sour with Jeff in those last laps, but TV coverage showed nothing. I had to track the race on the GA/Laptrax Site.
That really blows! Why weren't the Banner boys penalized for contact? Not important?

The bias is really hard to break through when the Mazdas are spanking TRG...

All of the teams are really cool and receptive. I like hanging with all of the Mazda & Sahlen teams (Crew included, these guys share a lotta good stuff). I am also a loyal Brumos follower (since I was a Boy Scout) and like to hang out with their drivers too.

Okay, so now on to Daytona...

They better stay outta the way this time...
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Old Jun 22, 2009 | 11:46 PM
  #969  
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There is no way we will see any coverage of the GT race during the last few laps of the race..... its too bad, IMO they should do 2 windows, like how they show the start of the race. I thought that was pretty well done.

The Porsches are just too fast, the Farnbacher cars came from the back of the grid to win the race. They were also able to pass the Mazdas with ease when Speed was covering the 87/86 car.

With the RPM limit the Mazdas can no longer run away from the on the straights, which was the only advantage they had. Despite the weight advantage, they arent that fast thru and out of the corners compared to the torquey V8 and F6 motors.
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Old Jun 23, 2009 | 12:34 AM
  #970  
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Originally Posted by Renesis_8
There is no way we will see any coverage of the GT race during the last few laps of the race..... its too bad, IMO they should do 2 windows, like how they show the start of the race. I thought that was pretty well done.

The Porsches are just too fast, the Farnbacher cars came from the back of the grid to win the race. They were also able to pass the Mazdas with ease when Speed was covering the 87/86 car.

With the RPM limit the Mazdas can no longer run away from the on the straights, which was the only advantage they had. Despite the weight advantage, they arent that fast thru and out of the corners compared to the torquey V8 and F6 motors.
Excellent suggestion about the split screens, ever consider submitting the suggestion to SPEED? You should.
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Old Jun 23, 2009 | 07:43 AM
  #971  
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With the RPM limit the Mazdas can no longer run away from the on the straights, which was the only advantage they had. Despite the weight advantage, they arent that fast thru and out of the corners compared to the torquey V8 and F6 motors.

The officials at Rolex GrandAm really suck for this ruling. Mazda should take a more agressive posture trying to over turn the RPM limitation.
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Old Jun 23, 2009 | 04:17 PM
  #972  
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Originally Posted by PaPaBear
With the RPM limit the Mazdas can no longer run away from the on the straights, which was the only advantage they had. Despite the weight advantage, they arent that fast thru and out of the corners compared to the torquey V8 and F6 motors.

The officials at Rolex GrandAm really suck for this ruling. Mazda should take a more agressive posture trying to over turn the RPM limitation.
I totally agree (as you all know), but it needs much more contact and comments by us, the drivers and supporters to the GA committee. Are you guys willing to petition them?
If the RX-8 Club Staff and mods allow us, I think that we could muster the support of the entire forum if we have to.
Any more input/comments/soapboxers?
Mike
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Old Jun 23, 2009 | 04:39 PM
  #973  
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Originally Posted by PaPaBear
With the RPM limit the Mazdas can no longer run away from the on the straights, which was the only advantage they had. Despite the weight advantage, they arent that fast thru and out of the corners compared to the torquey V8 and F6 motors.

The officials at Rolex GrandAm really suck for this ruling. Mazda should take a more agressive posture trying to over turn the RPM limitation.
8's have been at or near the front of the pack in almost every race. This weekend the RacersEdge car led for a good chunk of the first hour of the race. The SpeedSource team wasn't able to tweek the car and get in a good run, due to weather, until Saturday morning when Sylvain managed some nice laps.

Both the 69 and 70 ran podium races but the 69 got bumped in the final laps and the 70 ran into what appeared to be engine issues.

Why are we protesting again? The 70 car has had more poles then any other car. They've had a crapload of bad luck starting with the 24 up to Saturday. Sure the RPM limit is stupid and really, really was unfair last year but SpeedSource has proven that they can win with this car with the limit (after an offseason of tweeking) and Grand Am has basically proven that any of the major teams have a chance to win regardless of the car manufacturer if the conditions are right, they run a good race, and they keep their car running good.

IF they removed that rev limit the 8's would be so dominate it wouldn't be funny. With Racers Edge driving so well this year I wouldn't doubt the 8's could manage all 3 spots on the podium.
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Old Jun 23, 2009 | 05:26 PM
  #974  
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You made sense of this for now, RK.
Your comments were calming. I may simmer down... at least until the Brumos 250 is over...
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Old Jun 23, 2009 | 06:58 PM
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I think the point is the 8's are doing great on wide open tracks or non traffic laps but in traffic it is much harder to pass with the rev limited.

I am sure the speedsource boys would do a lot better if it werent for all their bad luck.
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