Team Sahlen continued their off season testing program by attending their second of three evening sessions at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  This October 8^th was a beautiful day, with sunshine everywhere and temperatures in the mid 70’s

This Test was the first time that Team Sahlen was able to roll out their new Mazda RX-8 that was acquired through SpeedSource Engineering.  During the 2010 season, the RX-8 was campaigned by SpeedSource as the #70, where it won the prestigious ROLEX 24 Hours at Daytona. 

The Team utilized the evening session that consisted of short three 20 minutes session to work on further development pieces.  In attendance were Team Sahlen Drivers Joe, Wayne and Will Nonnamaker.  Each driver took turns jumping from car to car, to give their feedback on the changes and how it affected the driving experience.

“It is always fun to get to drive a new race car, especially when it is a Mazda.  SpeedSource builds a fantastic car, and that was evident from the very 1^st lap out of the pits. The plan is for this RX-8 to be the Mazda that Memo and I campaign full time in 2011, so getting familiar with everything about it is essential to future success.” – stated Wayne Nonnamaker

“I had to miss the 1^st test at Mid-Ohio, so for me this was real fun to come out here and knock some of the rust off.  The new test pieces that we are developing are very interesting.  You can definitely tell the difference on the track.  Hopefully this will continue to lead to positive direction as we work towards the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT Class Manufacturer Champion.” – shared Joe Nonnamaker

“What a luxury to get to jump from car to car to car.  This test with 3 cars has really helped us in making further progress.  I am looking forward to next Friday’s test, as one last chance to try some small items before we head down to Virginia International Raceway for the Fall Grand American test.” Stated Will Nonnamaker

The 2010 Team Sahlen GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 & GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Campaigns will be supported by Mazda, Mazdaspeed, HRPWorld.com, HAWK Performance, Cool Shirt, Racetech Seats, BBS, Racing Print Media, Alcon, Mothers Polish, EMCO, TheRaceSite.com, Grassroots Motorsports, Holliday Canopies, Alcon, CM Racing