Mazda.....

 

Except for the wheel coming off, it went about how I expected.

They made it past 12 hours, better than I predicted, so maybe there's a chance at Sebring or the rest of the season.

 

I didn't expect the burn down of the #55.

 

Did they say what the cause of the fire was?

I had higher expectations with Joest, figured they'd at least finish the race given their pedigree. A mazda prototype going up in flames is starting to become a pattern now..

Here's hoping they get their **** together and are competitive this season.

 

Mazda finally has good partners.

you can fix fires etc.... you can't fix slow.

not a bad initial showing as far as speed.

P1 had the 77 car on the pole at 1:37.428
P2 the 55 car was fifth of 20 at 1:37.616
the 77 was 8th at 1:37.699

Qualifying
pole was 1:36:083
the 55 car qualified 9th of 20 at 1:36:633
the 77 didn't qualify

Race
fastest lap was 1:37:475

the 55 ran a 1:38:105
the 77 ran 1:38:175

there were 8 cars of the 20 in the 1:37s

as you can see Mazda is not much off the pace so it will be very interesting to watch the development of the RT24-P during the year.

Go Pack, Go Mazda.