Halfway home. 12 hours down, 12 to go. It's been a rough first half. The seven Mazdas have taken some hard punches but no one is giving up. The early race rain made for a difficult track with lots of spins and more contact than we'd like. Leading the Mazda cars are the two SpeedSource entries. #69 started from the pole, but lost multiple laps when a spin into a tire barrier meant being towed in. They are now in 5th.


The #70 Castrol Syntec RX-8 team that won in 2008 lost a lap early on when a caution flew after they had pitted.  Being punted by a DP cost them about 10 minutes behind the pit wall.  They are in 6th after also being as low as 13th.  The Dempsey Racing #40 car is running in 8th place up from 20th after the first hour.  The Team Sahlen RX-8 has been steadily moving forward, running in 9th, having moved up from 19th.


The second Dempsey car, running in conjunction with Team Seattle, is running in 18th place after a long stop to replace a damaged radiator.  They had been running in the top-ten. The Racers Edge RX-8 and the second Sahlens car are both retired from the race.  The Racers Edge car had led early on

Dean Case
MAZDASPEED@MazdaUSA.com
(310) 318-4582