For the past few seasons, Grand American has allowed the usage of Paddle Shifters in the Daytona Prototype Class in the ROLEX Series.  But only Daytona Prototypes that had Gentleman Drivers.  For 2012, Grand American has extended the usage of Paddle Shifters to the GT Class as well (with the continued proviso that there is a Gentleman Driver in the car).  Team Sahlen choose to jump on board with this new opportunity and went to work in installing the Paddle Shifter system in both the #43 and #49 Mazda RX-8s that are driven by Joe Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen respectively.

The crew has been very busy installing the Paddle Shifters in the off season.  Team Sahlen is the 1^st to install the system in a Mazda RX-8, so there have been many installation challenges.  And taking on 2 cars at once made the project to be extra adventurous.

“I am proud of the crew.  This was a big undertaking, but they all pulled together to bring this to fruition.” – stated Jay Chapman, Team Manager

“I am very excited about the Paddle Shifters.  It provides several benefits to allowing a driver to get the maximum out of the race car.  It’s a long way from the standard H pattern gearbox we had when I first drove a ROLEX car in 2006.” – shared Joe Sahlen

Added Joe Nonnamaker - “I have been driving my simulator at home with paddle shifter for years.  So I am well conditioned to how this will feel on the track.  I am sure there will be some differences once we get on track.  Like Joe (Sahlen), I too am very excited about this enhancement to the RX-8.”

Also at the Roar Before the 24, Team Sahlen will be welcoming driver Dane Cameron to the lineup.  Although new to Team Sahlen, Dane is no stranger to Mazdas, having already put 2 years under his belt behind the Rotary Machines.  In 2011, Dane drove the #41 Dempsey Racing RX-8 to 7^th in the GT Driver’s Championship.   His achievements did not go unnoticed as SPEED TV recently ranked Dane as the #10 Driver in the ROLEX GT and DP categories combined.

Shared Dane - “I can't wait to get on track at Daytona. It was great to be able to get locked in with Team Sahlen's so early but having to wait so long to try out the #42 has been tough! I am really excited to start working with Wayne and everyone at Team Sahlen's and becoming more settled into my new surroundings. Wayne was top Mazda qualifier last year so I think we will have a good base setup to build off of as we look to start off 2012 with a solid finish at the 50th Rolex 24.”

Returning for her 3^rd Year with Team Sahlen is Team Engineer Catherine Crawford Wallace, “Daytona is going to be both an interesting revelation with all the new cars, and a difficult undertaking for us. The track is not suited to our package but the length of the race should work in our favour with a tried and tested car. We have a few changes on the team for next year and the crew has been working hard already to prepare and make the car even better. I look forward to getting to the track and scoping out our rivals for the year to come!”

The Roar before the 24 Testing starts on Friday, January 6^th and runs through Sunday, January 8^th.  This provides Team Sahlen with just 2 weeks to prepare the Mazda RX-8 back at the North Canton, Ohio shop before returning to Daytona for the grueling ROLEX 24 Hours event.

The 2012 Team Sahlen campaign in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is supported by Mazda, Mazdaspeed, Cool Shirt, Racing Print Media, Mothers Polish, TheRaceSite.com, Western New York Flash, Grassroots Motorsports, ASC Industries, Iannetti  Design Ideas, CM Racing, Q    uarter Master, MSI Racing Products