Back from Daytona

[jimmacsrx7]

Hey all. Made it back from the Rolex 24 and what a great time we had!! The cars and atmosphere was fantastic. I got lots of great pics,signed posters,sunburn etc.... The speed and technical skill of all the teams was amazing. The fanzone had a bunch of historic cars on display,very nice. Man i am so pumped to hit the track!! To stand on the fence after start finish as all the cars roared by at 180 mph just feet below you was awesome!!!! Man i'm such a geek. I'll be back next year. Jim ________________ mazda rx7TT #074 spa

[Stynger]

Wasn't there an RX8 in the field? What happened to it?

[mr2sc]

Hey all. Made it back from the Rolex 24 and what a great time we had!! The cars and atmosphere was fantastic. I got lots of great pics,signed posters,sunburn etc.... The speed and technical skill of all the teams was amazing. The fanzone had a bunch of historic cars on display,very nice. Man i am so pumped to hit the track!! To stand on the fence after start finish as all the cars roared by at 180 mph just feet below you was awesome!!!! Man i'm such a geek. I'll be back next year. Jim ________________ mazda rx7TT #074 spa

Gosh...same here...everything you say above. Must've been right near you snapping pics of the cars crossing the line at the end.

Its amazing how accessible all my racing heroes were, and a personal friend (quasi mentor), JF Dumoulin was one of the drivers of the #22 Fiorano Racing GT3 Porsche (the orange car held together with red duct tape at the end).
He (they) finished 10th in class, but he's a former 2 time GrandAm Cup champion in ST and has had some amazing drives in years past in GS. He also moonlights as one of the Russell instructors at MT.

Also had a nice time with the GRM folks and a chat with Tom Hwatniy <sp> Dream Car Garage and none other than Derek Bell (there for son Justin). I had noticed him driving in behind me in his BRG Bentley Continental GT and struck up a conversation. WOW...so sociable and willing to chat.

had an absolute blast \:D/

[jimmacsrx7]

Hey Tommy,we probably crossed paths many times,lots of fun.... Yeah Les, there were actually 3 rx8's in the gt field, the Speedsource #70 qualified 3rd!! for a brand new car!!. Oh and man what a great sound that 3 rotor made at around 9k. The car actually led for a bit and was extremely fast when it was out there. I was timing it and they were running 154,155's.... I heard they had fuel problems?? for the dnf but it was hard to get info at the track. If they can get the reliability,i think they have the speed to contend. The Porsches were fast and solid as a rock. Good stuff.

[jimmacsrx7]

Tommy, We noticed the #22. In a haze that next morning we were saying that the orange car has looked fast every lap we saw it. On a side note we just happened to be sitting in the infield grandstands and witnessed the two big crashes. The one where the defending DP car hit the blue BMW broadside was a very hard hit. Good thing everyone was ok. Jim

[mr2sc]

Tommy, We noticed the #22. In a haze that next morning we were saying that the orange car has looked fast every lap we saw it. On a side note we just happened to be sitting in the infield grandstands and witnessed the two big crashes. The one where the defending DP car hit the blue BMW broadside was a very hard hit. Good thing everyone was ok. Jim

Omigod...I must've been right beside you when Wayne Taylor t-boned the M3. The M3 got the right rear onto the dirt (at track-out) in that left-hand kink and Taylor's DP had nowhere to go. At the time, I was in that stand (just inside where the ferris wheel was) and saw the bimmer lose it...and just waited till the next car came. What a thud and flash of flame.