Rolex - 2nd place in Lime Rock

In the same 2-3/4-hour timed race on the 1.50-mile configuration of the classic Lime Rock road course, Joe Foster and Charles Espenlaub – who is subbing for team owner and driver Patrick Dempsey in the next two races – finished a bruised-and-battered ninth in the No. 40 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 GT.

After qualifying a No. 41 team-best third in the competitive GT field earlier on Monday, Gué ran as high as second and stayed in contention for the lead during his opening stint before handing the car over to Keen for the final 90 minutes of the race. Keen then moved to second place in the race’s final hour and was part of an impressive Mazda RX-8 top-four sweep of the GT class.

“It was an awesome day today,” Gué said. “The car was great right off of the trailer and we qualified P3, which is our best, real qualifying effort this year, and we had a great start. I ran second for a little bit and then just tried to settle down in the front group. It was a little bit difficult in traffic but I just tried to keep it clean to make sure we had a good car to give to Leh for the end and he had a great run to the finish.”

While the No. 41 team had a banner day, the No. 40 struggled with a variety of contact incidents that were the result of the first double-class race at Lime Rock in GRAND-AM Rolex Series history. Espenlaub qualified a solid sixth and briefly hit the top five in the race’s opening laps before traffic became a race-long issue.

“We were hit by pretty much everything except the pace car out there,” said a frustrated Foster. “It is one of the unfortunate realities of putting both classes on this track, and the GT hardware is what comes up on the short end of the deal. Everybody is trying to race each others race. Certainly the Daytona Prototype guys have a fair race to run and the GT class has a fair race to run, but there is just too much contact. Charles got hit by one prototype and I ultimately got hit by three.”

Despite his disappointment, Foster, who is Dempsey’s teammate and racing business partner, was delighted to see the new No. 41 Mazda RX-8 GT team earn the great finish.

“We are super excited for the 41 car guys,” Foster said. “It’s their second podium of the season and Global Diving & Salvage has really made a huge commitment to that program and we are grateful. It shows you can get results on and off the track, with the off-track support coming for Team Seattle and Seattle Children’s Hospital.”

The No. 41 Mazda RX-8 GT is the first full-season racing campaign in support of Team Seattle.

“The real reason we are here is to continue to raise money for Seattle Children’s Hospital, so the further up the podium we finish the more money we can generate for the hospital,” Gué said. “That’s the ultimate goal and it’s an important cause for John and Jeri Graham from Global Diving as well, so it is great get ourselves up on the podium for them because they certainly deserve it.”

Keen isn’t surprised about the quick on- and off-track success.

“We have a good group of guys here, we are all on the same page, we all want results, we are capable of it and Team Seattle is a great cause,” Keen said. “James did an awesome job and all I had to do was fight to stay in it and we earned some great points. We got a third at Miami, now a second and the next time we hit the podium maybe it will be a win, and that could happen next week at Watkins Glen.”

Next up for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and Dempsey Racing is this Saturday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The race can be seen live on SPEED in two parts on Saturday, June 5, at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT and 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.