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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">SCCA TOURING</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">11/04/2004</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">SpeedSource Gives Mazda RX-8 First Win</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">Quick Thinking Takes Victory From BMW</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><img border="1" src="Storage/mazda-70-phoenix-r-04.jpg"></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"><B>SpeedSource Gives Mazda RX-8 First Win</B><BR> <BR> Sylvain Tremblay and David Haskell gave the Mazda RX-8 its first North American professional race win with their Grand-Am Cup Series victory in the Phoenix Sport Touring 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. A good pit stop strategy allowed the pair of drivers to pilot their SpeedSource No. 70 Mazda to a 27-second lead over the polesitting Turner Motorsports No. 95 BMW of Don Salama and Will Turner.<BR> <BR> While the No. 95 BMW team took on a full set of fresh tyres during its pit stop, the SpeedSource crew opted for only two in order to save time.<BR> <BR> "The car was fine," Tremblay said. "It wasn't as fast as four tyres, but the strategy was sound. The crew did their job in terms of the pit stop, and we stuck to our race plan."<BR> <BR> SpeedSource debuted the Mazda RX-8 in the Grand-Am Cup Series in January at the Daytona 250, and the car's first win comes in only its third race in the series.<BR> <BR> <center><IMG border="1" SRC="../Championships/Storage/lexus-2-start-phoenix-04.jpg" hspace="9 "></center><BR> <BR> "This is our first factory program," explained Tremblay. "We've been a team since 1995 and had a lot of winning programs and were the 2001 Grand Sport champion. (It's great) to have the confidence of a large corporation like Mazda to trust us with a racing program.<BR> <BR> "This is the future of the RX-8. It's wonderful for the team and wonderful for Mazda."<BR> <BR> Four different manufacturers were represented in the top four of the Phoenix Sport Touring 200, the second Grand-Am Cup Series race of the weekend at PIR. In addition to Mazda and BMW taking the top-two positions, Bill Fenton Motorsports drivers Bob Beede and Eric Curran put Acura on the podium in third place with its No. 27 Acura RSX-S, and Jason Bowles and Andy Lally finished fourth in the Team Lexus No. 3 Lexus IS300.<BR> <BR> <B>Sylvain Tremblay:</B><BR> "The car was fine. It wasn't as fast as four tyres, but the strategy was sound. The crew did their job in terms of the pit stop and we stuck to our race plan. Dave drove a very strong and mature first stint. He left me a lot of car. Once I got in and we had that gap, I wanted to manage that gap. The crew gave me wonderful feedback. Our platform has some weaknesses, but it also has some really good strengths. It was a very well-balanced race car.<BR> <BR> The whole crew has done a great job on the car. The tire wear was a big issue for us. We knew it would be very difficult to pass them on the race track. It was a calculated move, but in hindsight, it was the right move for what we needed to do with our particular strengths in our car."<BR> <BR> <B>David Haskell:</B><BR> "All year, they've been great competition. The whole class is just really tough. Luckily we came out on top today. The core group has been together for awhile, and they've done a lot of pit stop practice in the shop. We decided to take two tyres when the other teams took four. It paid off. Our car handled very well."<BR> <BR> <center><IMG border="1" SRC="../Championships/Storage/mazda-66-phoenix-r-04.jpg" hspace="9 "></center><BR> <BR> <B>Don Salama:</B><BR> "Another second. We're leading the championship. We've been reliable. We had a long pit stop because we took four tyres. It was the smart thing to do. It helped us get second. The Mazda teams did a fantastic job. They played it well, and they ran a fantastic race. I'll take that."<BR> <BR> 1. (70) David Haskell, Sylvain Tremblay, ST, SpeedSource Mazda RX-8, 125.<BR> 2. (95) Don Salama, Will Turner, ST, Turner Motorsport BMW 330i, 125.<BR> 3. (27) Bob Beede, Eric Curran, ST, Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura RSX - S, 124.<BR> 4. (3) Jason Bowles, Andy Lally, ST, Team Lexus Lexus IS300, 124.<BR> 5. (68) Scott Schlesinger, David Tuaty, ST, SpeedSource Mazda RX-8, 124.<BR> 6. (97) Tim Pappas, Dino Crescentini, ST, Turner Motorsport BMW 330i, 123.<BR> 7. (66) Marcelo Abello, Benoit Theetge, ST, SpeedSource Mazda RX-8, 123.<BR> 8. (67) Rich Walker, Nick Fanelli, ST, SpeedSource Mazda RX-8, 122.<BR> 9. (06) Alan Himes, Rick Ellinger, ST, ICY/ SL Motorsports BMW Z3, 121.<BR> 10. (78) Jason Briedis, Mario Rigoli, ST, Briedis Racing BMW 330, 121.<BR> 11. (12) John Tecce, Don Vickery, ST, TC Kline Racing BMW Z4, 121.<BR> 12. (29) Bill Fenton, Bob Endicott, ST, Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura RSX - S, 120.<BR> 13. (36) Ray Bailey, Karl Thomson, ST, Matt Connolly Motorsports BMW Z3, 116.<BR> 14. (71) Will Scott, Neal Sapp, ST, TC Kline Racing BMW Z4, 114.<BR> 15. (28) Bo Roach, Christian Kimball, ST, Roach Racing Dodge SRT4, 112.<BR> 16. (2) Chuck Goldsborough, Ian James, ST, Team Lexus Lexus IS300, 103.<BR> 17. (87) Manny Matz, Jason Potter, James Sofronas, ST, DF Motorsports BMW 328i, 57.<BR> 18. (96) Britt Ponder, James Green, Jeff England, ST, The Fat And The Furious Dodge SRT4, 15.<BR> 19. (39) Zach Arnold, Matt Connolly, ST, Matt Connolly Motorsports BMW 330ci, 15.<BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>