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SpeedSource Mazda in Rebuild for COTA after Road America Crash

No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda P2 in rebuild after Road America crash…

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: John Dagys

SpeedSource will be back to full capacity next month at Circuit of The Americas, following a complete rebuild of the No. 70 Mazda P2 car after its heavy crash in warmup at Road America.

Team principal and driver Sylvain Tremblay escaped serious injury in the more-than 50g impact, which ended he and co-driver Tom Long’s weekend due to tub damage to the Lola-based prototype.

The car was sent to Multimatic for repairs that evening, with four crew members flying to Toronto to assist with its chassis development partner.

It returned to SpeedSource’s South Florida headquarters on Sunday, with work now underway in reassembling the diesel-powered prototype ahead of the Lone Star Le Mans.

“Luckily none of the suspension points were severely damaged, it was mostly just structural on the outside,” Tremblay told Sportscar365. “We’ve done a great repair.

“One of the nice things about Multimatic is that they had a lot of the pieces in-stock and with Carl Haas, there’s enough new parts. We’re not sweating components.

“Multimatic has been a great partner and have been very supportive through all of this. It was a collaborative effort to build a new car.”

With five weeks between the Road America and COTA events, it’s given the factory squad some additional time to refine the overall package, following a busy stretch of summer races.

“The goal was to show up at Austin with a better car that we had at Road America and this gives us the opportunity to do it,” Tremblay said. “Obviously having the longer break gives us the chance to go through the entire car and basically rebuild it.

“The damage had to be repaired in the autoclave, so every bit of wires, fuel cell… every single thing was removed so we had a bare tub.

“I guess in a way, we’re re-tubbing the car. We’re taking that opportunity to make things better, lighter, and clean up the wiring.

“As you race a car throughout the season, they only get fatter. So we’re taking a high-level look to see what we can do to improve the situation.

“I think we’ll have a great car in Austin. It’s a smooth track, which our car likes. We’ll try to get better.”

As for Tremblay, the two-time Rolex 24 winner sustained cuts and bruising to his leg but says he will be fit to race at COTA.

He recently took part in the Monterey Historics and felt no discomfort while driving a 1990-era Mazda 787 in the week-long event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

“The hit was big for a couple of reasons,” he said. “Luckily for us and the SpeedSource guys work really hard on cockpit environment, so we have a very good foam seat. We run very good belts.

“What caught us out was the intrusion. As it hit, the wheel folded over, the caliper bent. The anti-intrusion bar in the a-arms did their job but it pulled through the chassis. That’s what cut my leg.

“Going forward to improve that, we’re actually going to improve the padding structure where the legs are, to try to control that. We’re trying to make the car safer every single time.”

Tremblay said they have a shakedown for the rebuilt car scheduled for Sept. 10 at Palm Beach International Raceway, ahead of the COTA round ten days later.

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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