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GT Victory for No. 69 FXDD SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 in Miami

Mar. 6, 2010 Homestead, FL - Jeff Segal passed SpeedSource teammate Sylvain Tremblay on the race's lone restart with only 13 minutes remaining and proceeded to win GT class honors in Saturday's Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8.

The win was the third GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series in the last six races for Segal and teammate Emil Assentato, who was named the top Pro-Am driver in GT. The next race for the GRAND-AM Rolex Series will be the Porsche 250 held at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL on April 10, 2010.

 

Segal, Assentato Go From Last to First for Second Rolex Sports Car Series Victory at the Utah 250

Sept 19, 2009 - TOOELE, Utah - Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato won GT class honors at the Utah 250 in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8, taking the lead two laps from the finish when Robin Liddell and Dirk Werner tangled on the backside of the 24-turn, 4.486-mile road course.

Despite starting last on the 13-car GT grid due to an engine change after qualifying, Assentato and Segal battled all the way to first in the Acxiom GT class. Then, Segal had to do it all over again following a pit stop to take the team's second victory in the last three races.

"(Team strategist) Gerry Green called our strategy to perfection," Segal said. "I was sitting in the car fighting back and grinning and just my luck, I was so disappointed when we got that yellow flag. But the car never missed a beat and we came back through the field. We've been in the wrong place at the wrong time enough times - especially this season - so I don't feel lucky at all. We earned this one - the entire team."

FXDD MAZDA chiến thắng cuộc đua ROLEX GT SERIES tại WATKINS GLEN

Ngày 7 tháng 8, 2009 - tại Watkins Glen, NY -- Jeff Segal và Emil Assentato đã đem về chiến thắng trong chiếc xe Mazda RX-8 đời 69 với thành tích 0.774 giây vượt qua chiếc Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 đời 87 của Dirk Werner và Leh Keen, đồng điểm dẫn đầu để giành chiến thắng trong cuộc thi Acxiom GT Class. Sự kiện này đánh dấu chiến thắng thứ hai của Segal và Assentato sau chiến thắng vang dội lần đầu tiên vào tháng sáu 2008 tại Watkins Glen, mặc dù với chặng đua dài hơn 3,4 dặm. Cuộc đua của ngày thứ sáu đã được tổ chức ở đường đua dài 2,45-dặm.

Segal đã phát biểu rằng" Mọi thứ cần diễn ra tốt đã được thực hiện đúng như vậy ngày hôm nay và cuộc đua đã thực sự diễn ra thật tuyệt vời. "Chiến thắng của năm ngoái tại đây đã đến sau một thời gian dài. Chúng tôi biết chiếc xe tốt ngay khi đội SpeedSource dỡ nó xuống vào cuối tuần, và tất cả mọi thứ ngày hôm nay đã diễn ra rất tuyệt ."

FXDD Mazda wins Rolex Series GT Race

Posted (06/07/2008) - Watkins Glen, NY -- Jeff Segal further boosted his position as a star of the future as the 2007 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Champion had a big weekend at Watkins Glen for the traditional Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on Saturday.

Segal, who recently broke through as a first-time winner in KONI Challenge competition, extended his hot streak to the upstate New York facility as he took his first career Rolex Series pole position on Friday before converting that effort into a maiden Rolex Series victory in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8 on Saturday with Speed Source Engineering co-drivers Emil Assentato and Nick Longhi.

Battling a 26-car GT class field and record-setting high temperatures, with a momentary rain storm early in the race to boot, Segal shrugged off all the challenges as he led a race-high 61 laps on his way to the victory.

"It’s been a great few weeks for me,” said Segal. “The FXDD car was awesome. The motor in that Mazda just keeps going. We knew that this kind of track was going to suit the RX-8, so to score a win in the Six Hours feels fantastic. It wasn’t easy out there-we had problems with our power steering and the cool suit didn’t work so the heat was really a factor all day long. But the Speed Source guys did a fantastic job preparing the RX-8 and I’m really happy to share this win with Emil and Nic.”

SpeedSource MAZDA RX‐8 WINS GT CLASS at 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona

Posted (02/05/2008) - Daytona Beach, FL -- After 24 hours of close competition among 41 cars, the SpeedSource Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 team won the GT class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona to kick off the 2008 GrandAm season. The SpeedSource driving team of Sylvain Tremblay, David Haskell, Nick Ham, and Raphael Matos started from the pole, and led 323 of 664 laps, on their way to ninth overall and the class win.

The race was a severe strategic challenge as there were intermittent rain showers for over half of the race and a total of 24 caution periods, many the result of on track incidents. The SpeedSource team was challenged by the slippery conditions with multiple spins, one of which resulted in minor body damage to the rear of the car including a broken taillamp. Other than the taillamp however, the rotary-powered Mazda ran flawlessly throughout the day-night-day race.

The SpeedSource Mazda team beat the runner-up Porsche by over five laps. The win was the 22nd class win at the race for Mazda and a ended a lengthy winning streak by Porsche at the biggest 24 hour race in America. Along the way, the SpeedSource number 70 car beat over two dozen Porsche 911 GT-3s, a handful of Pontiacs, a pair of Ferrari 430 Challenges, a Corvette, and a BMW M6. There were a total of 55 lead changes among 10 cars in the class, but no one could pass the RX-8 for the final 185 laps.

“This was a great win for the entire SpeedSource team. Endurance racing in particular is a team sport and I am so proud of our collective effort. Thanks especially to our new partners at Castrol, who believed in our ability to deliver. Thanks also to Fresh from Florida for their support of our in-car camera, as well as the many rotary enthusiasts who have supported our efforts, “ remarked SpeedSource owner/engineer/driver Sylvain Tremblay.

Backing up the Castrol Syntec RX-8 were two other SpeedSource-built RX-8s in the top ten. Finishing fifth in the GT class was the SpeedSource FXDD RX-8 of Emil Assentato, Jeff Segal, Nick Longhi, and Lonnie Pechnik. The final top-ten car was the RX-8 of Racers Edge Motorsports driven by Ken Dobson, Robert Thorne, Craig Stone and Drew Staveley.

SpeedSource Home Again In 1st Place at Daytona

Posted (07/09/2007) - Daytona Beach, FL -- With prophetic words in his post-Mid-Ohio interview, SpeedSource owner Sylvain Tremblay couldn't be entirely happy with second place, saying, "Mazda wants us to win. We come to these races to win." Under a clear night sky at the Brumos Porsche 250 in Daytona July 5, Tremblay and co-driver Nick Ham did exactly that.

With Ham's quick lap of 1:52.681 in qualifying, the Florida-based No. 70 SpeedSource Mazdaspeed GT RX-8 started from pole and never looked back, taking the team's third win of the Grand-Am Rolex Series season by over 9 seconds. It was the win they needed - salve for the results at Lime Rock and Watkins Glen, and inspiration for the Iowa-Barber pairing in the weeks to come.

With just a single day of track time in conjunction with NASCAR's Pepsi 400, Tremblay and Ham quickly dominated the morning practice and qualifying, with Ham setting down a single hot lap to secure the top spot. Commenting on team strategy, Tremblay said, "With the weather threatening, and limited track time, we knew we had to be ready. Daytona is an important track for us; with a top-five class finish from the Rolex 24, we felt confident we could win this race."

To complete the mandatory early pit, team Technical Director David Haskell brought the No. 70 for fuel only on lap 8. Ham led the field for all but one of his 38 laps. Tremblay took the wheel on lap 39, dropping to third spot for the pit stop. Tremblay steadily gained on the race leaders and turned in the rotary's fastest race lap of 1:54.532 on lap 56. He passed for the top spot on lap 59 and continued to put the seconds behind him, taking the checker on lap 66. In all, the zoom-zoom power of the rotary engine led the field for 45 of the 66 laps.

Also posting a good day, the No. 69 FXDD Mazda GT RX-8 of Emil Assentato qualified in fourth spot, the highest starting position of the season. Making an excellent start, Assentato leapt to second position to put both SpeedSource Mazda GT RX-8s on the front row for the first corners. Despite the fatigue induced by intense humidity, Assentato drove a long stint and handed off to co-driver Nick Longhi on lap 36, in fifth place. Both drivers ran laps in the top ten for the majority of the race; Longhi brought the No. 69 home in 8th for another solid finish.

And to top off the day, Assentato received accolades from Grand-Am officials at the pre-race driver's meeting, where he garnered four Bob Akin awards for each of his highest finishes by a privateer, the most of any privately-held car to date this season. The Bob Akin award recognizes the accomplishments of the privateer driver in professional racing, and our hats are off to Emil Assentato. This indeed is a huge accomplishment for this racer who gives 110% of his heart and energy to his racing efforts. Congratulations, Emil.

The team travels next to Iowa Speedway for the Rolex GT race on July 14. The following weekend, SpeedSource takes to the rolling hills of Barber Motorsports Park on July 21. For information on SpeedSource's 2007 season, please visit Speedsourceinc.com.