Jeff Segal Leads No. 69 FXDD/SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 GT Team Through Productive Two-Day Test

MIAMI Dec. 4, 2010: Reigning GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GT co-champion Jeff Segal led the No. 69 FXDD/SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 GT team through a productive two-day GRAND-AM open test session at Homestead-Miami Speedway Wednesday and Thursday to close the curtain on the team’s 2010 racing season.

Jeff Segal tests the No. 69 Mazda RX-8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Credit: GRAND-AM.

“We had a long list of things that we wanted to get through, a lot of ideas in the off season on how to improve the car and how to bring the Mazda closer to the new Continental tire, which is very different,” Segal said. “We got through a lot of them at a couple of previous tests to this and really finished off the list here.”

While his 2010 co-champion and 2011 teammate Emil Assentato skipped the Homestead test to let Segal anchor the driving duties, Nick Longhi, Anthony Lazarro and Nick Ham all took turns behind the wheel of the No. 69 over the course of the two days. Longhi has joined Segal and Assentato in endurance races for the past several seasons while Lazarro also raced with the team in this year’s Rolex 24.

“We were able to get a lot of good data, we improved the car and got a lot of good seat time so that when we get to the Daytona test days with our finalized driver lineup, I think everybody will be comfortable, everybody will be going quickly,” Segal said. “It was a very constructive test and hopefully from here Daytona is just as good.”

The official Rolex 24 At Daytona driver lineup for the No. 69 Mazda is expected to be announced at next week’s Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show in Orlando. Segal will be in attendance.

“The PRI Show is always pretty interesting and busy, as busy as the race track, and maybe more so,” Segal said. “Mazda always has a big press conference with a lot of news and I anticipate they will make a joint announcement about the No. 69 and perhaps our No. 70 team car about our driver lineups for the Rolex 24.”

The next on-track activity for Segal and his No. 69 teammates will be the annual Roar Before The Rolex 24 Test Days at Daytona International Speedway, January 7 – 9. The test is the final preparation for the season-opening 49th Annual Rolex 24 At Daytona, January 27 – 30.