Rotary Speed Magazine

Speedsource Rocks the Glen

Emil Assentato smiled - really smiled. With young hot-shoe Jeff Segal taking the pole and long-time friend and co-driver Nick Longhi turning quick laps, Assentato's FXDD-sponsored No. 69 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 GT at last came to the winner's circle at the Rolex Sports Car Series Six Hours at the Glen on June 7. The 2007 winner of the Bob Akin Award got the win he's been diligently chasing for many seasons.

"Watkins Glen is one of the few remaining traditional road circuits the Rolex runs and to win here in the history-filled Six Hour event is as exciting as it gets," Assentato said. "The No. 69 Mazda has shown speed at a few of the prior events, but something always seemed to go wrong before the finish. But this weekend the FXDD SpeedSource No. 69 Mazda RX-8 GT handled flawlessly all race and the team and my co-drivers did a stout job in record-breaking heat without the aid of power steering and driver cooling. A fantastic job done by all. The pit stops went smoothly, the drivers drove a clean race, and at the end were up to the fight. Special appreciation goes to SpeedSource and Mazda for their effort in preparing a fine machine, without which a win would be impossible."

Speedsource Squeezes Lime Rock

Looking for a podium finish on the short, twisting track of Lime Rock May 26, SpeedSource knew it was time to be flawless. After a pit penalty at VIR contributed to an uncharacteristic 11th place finish for the fourth race of the Grand-Am Rolex Series season, the team regrouped to put the No. 70 RX-8 on pole in the GT class at Mazda's home track Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway May 17. But the win slipped away on a late-race off, and the team came away with third. Determined to leave the gremlins behind, the team came to this historic Connecticut venue focused on teamwork and tires.