Grand Am GT - Segal Survives Rough Road America Debut

ELKHART LAKE, June 25, 2011: Jeff Segal’s career debut at Road America Saturday in the Rolex Sports Car Series 250 Driven by VISITFLORIDA.com started in a way he liked but finished in a way he didn’t as he joined co-driver Emil Assentato for a disappointing 10th place result in the No. 69 FXDD/SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 GT.

Assentato started the FXDD car but only had a few laps of green flag racing before the event was slowed for a 51-minute full course caution period for lengthy track repairs after two other GT entries came together and crashed in Turn 1. Segal took the wheel of the No. 69 during a pit stop under caution just past the race’s 30 minute mark.

“We were right there when the race went green after the long caution,” said Segal, who ran as high as fourth. “We were with the lead group of cars and things were looking really good. On the restart, when everybody was on cold tires, our car was just as good as anybody’s, so it was really encouraging. I had some really good races with the 59 car and some other guys around there.”

Segal’s first setback came when he lost a few positions to avoid a spinning car, but it also soon became apparent the No. 69 was lacking the pace of some of the competition.

“I lost a few track positions when the 57 went off the track and I had to kind of avoid around him, but really we just didn’t seem to pick up the pace when everybody else did,” Segal said. “I was really fighting the handling of the car and it seemed like, for a variety of reasons, we just couldn’t produce the lap times. Slow on the straight, really having a lot of trouble braking and handling, and when you don’t have straight-line speed, you don’t have handling, you don’t have braking, you don’t really have much.”

Segal was also assessed a drive-through penalty for what GRAND-AM Road Racing officials deemed “avoidable contact” when the No. 69 and No. 41 Mazda RX-8 GTs came together while battling for position in the late stages of the race.

“Every position is important,” Segal said. “You look at how close the championship is this year, one or two points is a big, big swing. Near the end of the race we weren’t where we wanted to be, but we can’t give up those positions, we can’t afford to do that, and I think the other team is probably thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, at this point of the season, not leading the championship, we don’t have much of a reason to be conservative. If somebody does something a little bit outlandish, we are not going to let them get away with it. I am going to hold my ground.”

Despite Road America’s rough outing and result, the No. 69 FXDD/SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 GT team moved up to fifth in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GT Team Championship standings with 171 points. The team is just five points out of fourth place and 20 markers behind the current class leaders.

Next up for Jeff Segal and the No. 69 FXDD team is the Continental Tire Festival of Speed Powered by Mazda, July 7 – 9, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The race can be seen in next-day coverage on SPEED, Sunday, July 10, at 1 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT.

Noteworthy: Road America wrapped up a whirlwind schedule for Segal that started with the back-to-back stretch of races at Lime Rock Park and Watkins Glen International on Memorial Day and the first weekend of June. “In the last few weeks since Watkins Glen, I've been extremely busy,” Segal said. “I went straight from the Glen race to Mont-Tremblant for some work with the Ferrari Driving Experience, and then took off from there to Montreal for the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Besides doing some private coaching for clients in the Ferrari Challenge support race, I did double duty and also was a guest of Red Bull F1, thanks to our mutual affiliation with FXDD. Around 20 VIP guests with FXDD were in attendance for the weekend, so it was a great time taking in the sights of the F1 paddock with them, and then enjoying the nightlife in Montreal during the weekend. Finally, a quick pit stop at New Jersey Motorsports Park for more Ferrari Challenge coaching, a day in Miami to re-pack my bags, and then I was off to Road America for the Wednesday test day.”… Segal is looking forward to the race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “Laguna Seca is a great track, one of my favorite tracks, I have always had a good time when we go there,” Segal said. “I don’t expect some magical turnaround of speed once we get there, but at the tighter tracks we have a better shot at it, like our pace at Lime Rock showed. So I think we will have a better chance at Laguna.”