SpeedSource Faced Extreme Challenge
by: kraig
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Word Count: 716
The SpeedSource Race Engineering team had a long road trip
at
The team faced a test of having only a few short days to
make adjustments to the #69 Mondial Forwarding/Freedom Harley-Davidson
sponsored RX-8 that suffered in the closing stages of the Laguna Seca race
which took place the weekend before the Lime Rock event. Nonetheless, the #69
did a good job. And that is because of the assistance of the folks at
MazdaSpeed who had all the necessary parts flown straight to
Drivers Jose Armengol and Dan Allen were both new to the
scenic yet thrilling 1.53 mile circuit and both were impressed.
Armengol said that they have been warned that the track
seems simple, but that it takes lots of time to learn and he can now attest for
that firsthand. He added that there are nuances that he only picked up on at
the end of his race weekend, and he was sure that they would still be learning
the track if they spent an entire month at Lime Rock Park. According to him, in
a tenth of a second around, this track is really something and making a clean
pass in this track is quite difficult with the field as close as it is.
Having qualified 18th, the #69 would begin the
race from the 9th row.
With Armengol in the car, after dropping back to 22nd
early, the #69 reached 14th slot an hour into the 2.5 hour long
race. In almost the midway point of the race, Dan Allen took the controls of
the SpeedSource RX-8. Unfortunately, during a pit stop, the team went a lap
down to the leading racers. The team never gave up despite dropping all the way
back as the 24th and one lap back as Allen posted lap times as
compared to the leaders of the race. In the later part of the game, the #69
would make it all the way back to run in 11th place and back on the lead lap.
Unfortunately, due to a gearbox failure, the car was stuck in top gear.
Allen said that the only gear that was available was the
6th so they went on to at least finish the race and collect some points. He
added that their team learned a lot from last weekend’s race and will apply
their efforts towards their next upcoming Canadian race.
In the Drivers Championship points tables for the Koni
Challenge Series ST Class, Allen and Armengol remain in the third place. The
team looks every ready again and challenged for podiums and wins at the Mosport
in
About SpeedSource
The 2007 Mazda RX-8 campaign of SpeedSource Race
Engineering is supported by Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development, Mazda North
American Operations, Road & Track, Racing Hart, Sparco, Motec, Hawk
Performance Brakes, Dynamic Suspensions, Mothers Wax and Polish, Goodridge,
SIRIUS Satellite Radio, and Mechanix Wear.
More than any other brand of automobiles, Mazda vehicles
have the most numbers on road-race tracks on any given weekends. It race cars
are MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models with
top of the line Mazda mud flap. Every Mazda vehicle has the soul
of a sports car that is why more Mazdas are seen on the track than any other
brands.
The fastest growing road-racing class in the
About the Author
Kraig Johanssen is a native of Connecticut and holds a degree in Software Engineering. He now works at a software development firm in Alabama. His love for writing and great interest on cars makes him a proficient contributing author to various automotive magazines.
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