I had a great few days testing at the Roar Before the 24! We did a lot of planning prior to the event so we could pinpoint what our goals were and how to accomplish all of our objectives during the Roar at Daytona International Speedway. It was apparent from the first test day that all of that planning and hard work truly paid off: we were able to accomplish our goals, and now we have a very clearly-defined list to finish our preparations for the grueling Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month.
Everyone on the SpeedSource team deserves a shout-out for the incredible amount of time and effort they have put in to get the cars to where they are right now. Not only did it show in the practice results at the Roar, but we anticipate further payoff as we move into the first few races of the season. What’s going to bring us success isn’t the new parts on the cars, but the strong teamwork, relationships and dedication that this team has shown from the beginning of the Mazda prototype program.
There were a lot of highlights of the weekend. Mazda Motorsports announced our additional teammates for the Rolex, with Indy Lights champion—and soon-to-be competitor in the 100th running of the Indy 500—Spencer Pigot in the No. 55 and our teammate for the past two years, Ben Devlin, in the No. 70. We made the announcement during a press conference in the Daytona press center, which also included the unveiling of our new engine package for this year.
As you can see in this video, we had fun practicing our launches out of the pit box!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjZHVy18j5c]
Our progress continued on Sunday, and we achieved our best pace of the weekend. Having the chance to drive the car with the new engine and package really made me appreciate its speed and drivability. It was a thrill to be out there gauging our competitiveness against the other IMSA WeatherTech prototype entries. The success we anticipate this season will taste that much sweeter because of all of the hard work that has gone into getting us to this point in the program.
The Classic Mazda Pre-Race Exhibition is happening on Saturday! Fans in the Central Florida area can see the Mazda prototypes, meet the team, and watch the Boy Scouts compete in the pinewood derby. Feel free to dust off your pinewood derby car and compete in the Old Guy class against the Mazda drivers, who will be defending their 2015 win in the Mazda prototype pinewood derby car!