Gué and Keen Give Dempsey Racing First Podium Finish in No. 41 Team Seattle Mazda RX-8 GT in Grand Prix of Miami

Dempsey and Foster Finish Seventh In No. 40 “Share a Little Sushine” Mazda RX-8

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 6, 2010) – No. 41 Team Seattle/Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 GT drivers James Gué and Leh Keen gave Dempsey Racing its first top-three podium finish in team history Saturday at the Grand Prix of Miami in the same race where Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster co-drove to a solid seventh-place showing in the No. 40 “Share a Little Sunshine”/Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 GT.

With backing from Global Diving and Salvage and JG Sport, the No. 41 Team Seattle/Dempsey Racing Mazda only needed two races to score its first podium finish after the new team debuted at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January. Gué ran as high as sixth in the No. 41’s opening stint before handing the car over to Keen who moved to third just two laps from the finish.

“I knew the time was counting down pretty fast,” said Keen, who is the reigning Rolex Series GT Champion. “We really caught a break with a late caution, that really jumbled things up and we were able to run down the front guys up there. We got through traffic pretty good, and it was a little hectic, but I was able to pass the No. 70 Mazda with two laps to go. I actually wanted the race to keep going because I wanted to try to catch second-place too. It was a great result for Team Seattle.”

Dempsey and Foster earned their second top-10 finish in a row after placing sixth at the Rolex 24. Foster was also running sixth in the No. 40 late in the Miami race but was hit by Paul Edwards in the No. 07 Corvette as the clock was winding down.

“It was obviously exciting at the end,” Foster said. “A lot of little car-to-car contact which happens with Paul and I was off the road and that was it. He helped me off but it’s just racing in the last couple of laps and it’s all good. Patrick did a great opening stint and kept us in our starting position and preserved the car well.”

Dempsey was delighted with his team’s overall performance this weekend.

“I am thrilled for the team,” said Dempsey. “It was great. This is our first podium and to have our two car team just coming out of the box and to get that result in just our second race was really wonderful. The morale and everybody’s confidence just lifted and it is great for Mazda as well and it is really great for the overall championship for them. It was also good for us today, Joe and I finished seventh and that’s something to build on. We are finishing consistently in the top 10 and getting points.”

Gué drove a double stint in the No. 41 to start the race in entirely green-flag conditions.

“I am absolutely thrilled with the podium,” Gué said. “We fully expected that the first third of the year would be sort of working out problems and we thought we would be in this sort of position a little bit later in the year. So it is a little bit of surprise to be on the podium but we know all of the ingredients are here. Everything just came together a little sooner than we anticipated and I am just thrilled for John and Jeri Graham of JG Sport and Team Seattle. It is great to do this with Dempsey Racing and with such a good teammate like Leh.”

NOTEWORTHY

All four Dempsey Racing drivers met with more than 150 race fans at Homestead-Miami Speedway Saturday who supported a special ticket package and fund-raising effort for the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer, Hope & Healing, and the Team Seattle guild of the Seattle Children’s Hospital. A portion of each ticket sold was donated to the worthy charities. “It was very cool,” Keen said. “Even on your worst day here at the track with a bad result or finish, you still have the opportunity to do some good and raise some money for charity. It was cool being up on the podium today but it was just as special to raise some money for Team Seattle and the Dempsey Center.”

The No. 40 Mazda RX-8 GT couldn’t be missed at Homestead-Miami in its bright yellow “Share a Little Sunshine” paint scheme. The initiative by VISIT FLORIDA®, the Official Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corporation, hopes to boost Florida’s economy by encouraging tourism, which is an industry responsible for a million Florida jobs and about a fifth of the state's economy. “Everybody really loved the car and I think it popped on TV,” Dempsey said. “It was a lot of attention for them and hopefully it makes a difference and people will come to Florida and enjoy this wonderful State.”