SpeedSource Takes GT Honors in Rolex 24
 

Speedsource Mazda takes Honors at 24 hr Rolex GT

It was an awesome event and it was good to watch MAZDA take on the likes of Porsche, BMW etc and pulling off the win.

Going from third down to 14th position and back to first. Good job SpeedSource.

I'm going out to take a victory lap around Vegas! brb

http://www.grand-am.com/images/conte...nners_2010.jpg
http://www.speedsourceinc.com/client.../news/4168.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2755/...8fb6293aa9.jpg

Some excerpts..
"The SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 of Jonathan Bomarito, Nick Ham, David Haskell, and Sylvain Tremblay took the GT title in 2010 as it did in 2008. The 2010 win was a textbook endurance race win: don’t be the fastest, don’t race the hardest, just last the longest."

"By 10:30 Sunday morning, the Porsches and the Camaros were battered, beaten, and behind the 70 SpeedSource Mazda. And the SpeedSource team kept ahead, while the competition, broke, crashed, burned … failed."

Source : EPOCH TIMES "SpeedSource Repeats in GT"

Pic of #70 leading Porche...
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/mamb...ce96299725.jpg

Word... I missed watching this but this is awesome... Grats Speedsource...

Does anyone know how the other Mazda teams faired?

Cool! Here a pre-race lap video of Todd Lamb's Racer's Edge (not Speedsource) Mazda RX-8 #30 to give a feel for what it must be like. Amazing that they're flat out with the 3-rotor in 6th gear so often. Must be a rush!

http://s.maxthon.com/?q=Rolex+24

(Position in Class)
#70 Speedsource took the win in 1st
#40 Dempsey was 6th
#43 Sahlen was 7th
#41 Dempsey was 14th

#69 Speedsource was 16th, retired on lap 488 (of 707) due to engine failure. The video clips of it before it retired showed it on fire, but it was actually just oil overfill spillage onto the headers, and it was out before the 69 got back to the pits, but water gushed out of the tailpipes when they restarted after confirming the fire was out. Engine failure likely caused by something failing in either the fire or the crash into the tire wall earlier.
#30 Racers Edge was 28th, retired on lap 69 for unknown reasons, came to a stop on the track and was towed off without any follow-up by Speed
#42 Sahlen was 29th, retired on lap 27 for unknown reason. Was never mentioned by Speed.

Congratulations to Speed Source, Inc. on the great WIN!!!!!!!

http://twitter.com/toddspeed
I assume that's they lost their e-shaft. Crazy that two (and possibly three) 8s had terminal engine failure. Usually those engines hold up a lot better and these enduros.

Without knowing what the actual engine failure cause was for the 69, I have a hard time blaming the engine itself. It was crashed into the tire wall, then had an oil fire, before the engine died. Either issue could have easily started a chain reaction to get to the failure point.

I agree with RIWWP it hit those tires pretty hard and was surprised it was even running after that accident.

Sad thing is that #69 was supposed to be one of the stronger 8's out there on the track, if not the strongest.

Good Going SpeedSource !!! the last thing I heard was they had crashed with that BMW. I'm amazed and delighted to hear they came backand won!!!

Yeah, it was tearing right along until that. I still think the crash caused the eventual engine failure, and if wasn't for that, they would have been 1st or 2nd finishing. (barring any other problems). They were running right with the 70 for most of the time, posting some of the top GT lap times.

Ah well.

I was watching the first day and didn't think they stood a chance against the powerful Camaro and Porsches that were leading after the rain. I believe the closest 8 was a lap down....

Later that night, I ridiculed the TRG streaming online with "Go Mazda!" on their 24hr coverage im/chat.

Then tuned in for Sunday to find out 70 was in the lead!!!:SHOCKED:

Worth my $2.00 extra a month for Speed Channel, plus I get all the sports channels. Go Mazda and Speedsource! Too bad Nick Ham is retiring.

Mmmm...Morgan...:yum:

HAH! I saw that "Go Mazda!" on TRG :)

Quite a few Mazda people on that chat, most of the 8 owners I believe, from their handles in the chat. I didn't have it up at all Sunday, and dropped it occasionally Saturday. Only had my laptop over by the TV, and it couldn't handle all the windows with the live feeds (512mb RAM is the culprit there, soon to be corrected)

I have the full 16hrs of coverage recorded on the DVR, I am trying to figure out how to transfer it to an external hard drive. It's got USB plugs in the back....

I would love to see all of this video and if its possible you could upload it somehow that would be amazing :)

Uh, probably not :) Even non-HD, you are talking 32gb of video probably.

I'm gonna see if I can figure something out though let people watch it that missed it...without breaking any copyright laws or anything.

Ehh, HD if possible... But most Desktops have more than enough storage... so why the hell not? ive got 177GB's left, more than enough let me know of you can man, id be greatly appreciated :)

Lol, I don't think he's worried about the storage, more about the transfer. Unless you can somehow meet him in person to transfer it via an external HD

Yeah, transfer is the issue at stake. First I have to figure out how to transfer off the COX DVR to my 500gb external drive, then find somewhere to put it up, and then actually upload it, etc...

Transfer and hosting is the issue. I'll be in Houston in early March, though that's what, 4-5 hours away from DFW?

Thats about right 4-5 hours... Ish :) You should wait till April 30th to make it to the Texas8 State Meet... :)

Morgan thanks for the video.

Oh yeah and..


How you doin? :kiss::naughty:

The first day Speedsource held back. They wanted to wait for the weather to clear up and the cool air at night before making a move.

Hey wait a minute :) Is that Morgan in the video behind Sylain?

Business trip for the week, not something I can just move around at will. :)

Ahh i see, well if you happen to pass by DFW I would love to meet you and exchange some video but I wouldnt have the time to drive all the way down just for that so :dunno: , If i see you great, if not then no big deal :)

i love you even more :)

I was at the track. Now I have to get back home to watch the recording. Your view at the track is limited. Even with listening to the scanner, I missed a lot.
Morgan was at the track? Now theres something I really missed. I did get to meet Swoope.

Hahaha. I thought I was the only RX8 fan on there at 4am.

I recorded the last two hours but it went over, (should've known it would) and it cut off the last hour or so.

If you could get some of that up it would be awesome. If I had enough memory on my DVR I would've recorded the whole thing. Damn you Cox cable.

Morgan looks even cuter on HD.

They broke a tension bolt. There are 16 of them that hold the engine together. Depending on which one breaks, you'll get a coolant leak. Unfortunatly since it probably broke right near the thread, it would mean a complete engine teardown to get to it as they thread into the front housing.

A tension bolt is something that should never break in a race engine. You get harmonic vibration in them as they don't fit tight against the housings and merely hold the engine together front to rear. They resonate. Mazda made some better ones for race engines that had a small rubber part on them that allowed them to contact the intermediate housing to hold down this resonance. An easier thing is to just coat them in gasket sealer before installing them which is what I do on all of my engines. If I were building a race engine though I'd use stronger studs rather than bolts. You'd never break one again. In this case, that simple issue that could have been prevented cost them an entire race.

Is that true with the 3-Rotor engines used by Speedsource for the Grand AM Grand Touring? Or are you referring to 2-rotor engines used in other competitions? Just curious. Great information.

Well fred we don't know why it broke. maybe it had some defect from manufacturing that wasn't caught in QC.

alnielsen, any pics to share :)

omg morgan! that is you at 2:02!!

im so jealous!

and you look way cute in the video.

I want to find out what happened to the #69 too.
________
Park Royal 2 Condo Prathumnak

Congrats to Speedsource. I got to hang with them last year at a show, and ask lots of questions. There a great bunch of guys. Long live the rotary!!! =]

I took pictures with my cheap camera. However, they are all washed out, not worth posting or keeping.
I thought you were going to be there. I didn't see you around the Mazda camping area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bv37pJFmDc

Short clip:

Morgan was the SS pit fluffer. Officially.

that was a good race wish i was there to watch it :sad: but watching it on tv is almost as fun!

I talked to Nick Ham in the pits on Friday and asked him about the rest of the season and if he would drive the Rolex 2011. He said Rolex 2011 is open and he might come back for the 24 hour race. Nice guy. Also talked to David Hobbs and Bob Varsha from SPEED.

I also asked Nick what advantage Tem SpeedSource had over the other Mazda teams. One word: experience.
By the way, they moved the exhaust from the right side to the rear of the car.
Will post some detail shots of the inner working of the SpeedSource cars.

I was there. You see more on TV. I'm watching it now off the DVR.
It was in the 40's and windy. It wasn't a pleasant time. If you want to go south to a race, go to the Sebring 12 hr. It isn't GrandAm but the weather is nicer.