Join Team Seattle in Salt Lake City!
With just two races remaining in the 2010 Grand-Am Season, Team Seattle and Dempsey Racing are challenging for the GT championship title. We are offering you the chance to be a part of the grand-finale at Miller Motorsports Park on the 10th and 11th of September and watch Car No.41 make its bid for the 2010 crown.
To take part in this major Team Seattle event, we’re asking you to contribute a minimum donation of $500 per person towards Seattle Children’s Hospital. In return you’ll receive:A Team Seattle VIP guest for practice, qualifying and the raceFull access to Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle paddock areaFull access to a dedicated ‘Team Seattle’ hospitality suite at the trackLunch on both Friday and Saturday and an unlimited supply of snacks all weekendFriday morning Q&A with key drivers and staff from Dempsey RacingTeam Seattle dinner on Saturday night with team membersUnlimited access to any of Miller Motorsports Park grandstands (Fri, Sat, Sun)Finally, your tickets will extend to watching all races (incl. NASCAR K&N Race on Sunday)
You’ll be responsible for transportation and lodging, however, we’ve organized a discounted rate of $89 per night at the Team Seattle headquarters hotel, in downtown Salt Lake City. We will send you the hotel discount code and additional travel and hospitality information in your sign-up confirmation email.
Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to be part of Team Seattle history and watch James Gue and Leh Keen complete the first full season for Dempsey Racing, Team Seattle and most important, Seattle Children’s Hospital.
To sign up, follow the button below and donate (in $500 increments per person). Don’t forget to tick the box if your company has a matching program so we can make the most of your donation to Seattle Children’s Hospital.

At least this past weekend I was able to get to a race track and it was one of my favorites in Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. I drove the mighty Mazda RX-792P GTP car here for the second year in a row during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. I have always loved the GTP cars of the ‘80s and ‘90s and it is cool to drive a car from that era and see how it compares to our current Mazda RX-8 GT. It was also great to be able to see everyone from Mazda at one of their home tracks, my teammate Joe Foster also made the trip, and John and Jeri Graham from Global Diving & Salvage also took in their first Monterey historics event.

I really couldn’t think of anywhere I would have rather been than Mazda Raceway this past weekend unless, of course, it was the previous weekend! In that case I would have loved nothing more than to be at Watkins Glen watching our team take its first ever win

With his focus on completing a number of acting projects, Dempsey watched with pride from afar as James Gue, left, and Leh Keen, right, earned Demspey Racing's first win in the GRAND-AM Rolex Series at Watkins Glen. (LAT)

with James Gué and Leh Keen in the No. 41 Team Seattle/Global Diving Mazda RX-8 GT. The Glen victory was a fantastic step forward for Dempsey Racing as a team and everybody did a great job across the board in getting us to the checkered flag first. The boys provided James and Leh with a great car, great pit stops and things finally rolled our way.

As a team we felt The Glen owed us one too as Joe and Charles Espenlaub nearly won it in the No. 40 Mazda last year. James and Leh also came close to winning the Glen’s six-hour race in June, so this victory really was overdue for us. It was a great first win for Dempsey Racing, the first for James in the Rolex Series and the first win ever in racing for John and Jeri. We have also once again saw, as he charged to the lead, why Leh is the reigning GT Champion!

This year has been challenging as Dempsey Racing has grown to a two Mazda effort courtesy of John, Jeri and Global, and Team Seattle, but we have had some solid success in addition to learning many things along the way. Despite my crazy schedule, I keep up with Joe and the team on a daily basis and certainly feel like my presence is felt in the shop every day, as it always has been. I just like to keep current on what is going on now and, just as importantly, on how our long-term plans for the future are coming along, and we took a big step in fulfilling those plans with the team’s first victory.

The support we’ve received from Mazda has given us the stability to look ahead and partner with groups like Visit Florida and Team Seattle/Global Diving in an effort to get the team into a long term competitive position. More than just being competitive, we’re working hard to earn the respect of the other teams in the paddock and represent our sport well. Our successful efforts to generate funding for the Dempsey Center and the Seattle Children’s Hospital bear this out. Moving forward, Joe and I as team owners hope to consolidate the gains we’ve made during 2010 and continue to improve the competitive level of both cars week in and week out during 2011.

The toughest part for me, though, is missing races and I can’t wait to get back in the No. 40 Visit Florida Mazda RX-8 GT as soon as possible, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see that happen before the end of the season. Even though we knew my ‘day job’ was going to keep me away a bit this summer, I’m as determined as ever to see Dempsey Racing continue to grow as a team, and to advance myself as a driver.

Streaking in front of the Mazda chalet during the qualifying race, Dempsey overcame a first lap spin to get comfortable and set the stage for the longer race in the afternoon. (Marshall Pruett)

Driving the Mazda GTP car definitely helped me get back in the groove, and the first thing I noticed was the pressure. After being out of the cockpit for a few months, and having not seen the RX-972 for a year, jumping in to lead from pole position for Saturday’s qualifying race made for a few anxious moments.

Without the benefit of any test laps, it was straight into battle with no time for rehearsal, but as I’ve learned in the Rolex Series, that’s why it’s good to go through your checklist and try to calm down as much as possible and get into the necessary mental focus.

That certianly helped, but starting alongside a legendary F1 and sportscar driver like Stefan Johansson made for a little bit of extra excitement! We had one parade lap before the start of our 5-lap race, and although I tried to get as much heat into the tires as possible, the 600 plus horsepower from the Mazda 4-rotor lit up the tires when I floored the throttle at the start. That moved me back a bit, but I settled into the first and second turns without any problem.

If there’s one thing about racing that never changes, whether it’s in GRAND-AM or the Reunion, it’s that you want to win. I was eager to get back in front of the field and found out at Turn 3 that my rear tires needed just a little bit more heat before they were ready to charge. If you watch the video, I had a slow rotation, waited for the field to go by, and got back to business. But first and foremost, thank goodness nobody hit me!

I was sitting in the car for those few seconds thinking, “OK, Patrick, this isn’t how we wanted to start off the weekend…” Thankfully, there were no issues and I caught and passed cars right until the checkered flag.

GTP: 1992 Mazda RX-792P In-Car Monterey 2010 WMV from GrandTouringPrototype.com on Vimeo.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca announced today that Patrick Dempsey, the famous television and movie actor, race car driver and team owner, is scheduled to drive the Mazda RX-792P GTP car at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion on Aug. 13-15.

“I remember the GTP cars of the 1980s,” said Dempsey. ‘It will be fantastic to drive the most powerful Mazda IMSA car built in that era and compare it to my current RX-8 race car.”

Dempsey’s current team, which competes in the Grand-Am Rolex Sport Car Series GT class, fields Mazda RX-8 sports cars. He drives when his filming schedule allows it and other drivers take his place when he can’t. The Mazda RX-792P will be joined by 23 other GTP cars in the FIA Mfg. Championship & IMSA GTP race group at the event.

In 1981, purpose-built GTP prototypes were introduced in the World Endurance Championship. Brian Redman was the first champion of the GTPs, driving a Lola T600. 1984 saw the introduction of the Porsche 962, which dominated the series from 1985 to 1987. Nissan then took control of the series in 1988 but faced challenges from Mazda, Jaguar, Porsche and Toyota in the following years.

For Mazda, the GTP class was the final step up after dominating the GTU class in the 1980’s and winning the GTO Championship in 1991. The 1992 GTP effort utilized the four rotor engine design that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991. The car featured styling cues from the all-new 1993 third-generation RX-7 and was a crowd favorite. Unfortunately, the GTP class was dying out at the time and the team never achieved on-track success during its short competition life.

For Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion tickets and information, visit www.MazdaRaceway.com or call 800-327-7322.
Rolex and motor sportsRolex has been Official Timekeeper for 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 and Title Sponsor of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in North America since 1992. In 1965, Rolex added the name Daytona to the dial of its Cosmograph line in tribute to this great race at the International Speedway. Ever since then, the presence of the Rolex brand in automobile racing has grown steadily.

Rolex supports the tradition of auto racing through events that celebrate design, speed and passion including the Goodwood Revival (UK), the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (USA), the Pebble Beach Tour D’Elegance presented by Rolex (USA) and the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance and The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering (USA). Rolex affiliation also extends to three key figures in the sport: Sir Jackie Stewart from Scotland, one of the greatest drivers of his generation, American Roger Penske, a former driver turned successful businessman and owner of the team Penske Racing, and Danish driver Tom Kristensen, record eight-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

About Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was established in 1957. The world-renowned raceway has been operated since its inception by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), a not-for-profit 501C(4) corporation. Each race season, SCRAMP donates its net proceeds to the volunteer groups that help put on the races.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s world-class 2010 racing schedule includes the American Le Mans Series Monterey presented by Patrón May 21-23, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix featuring MotoGP World Championship July 23-25, the Pre-Reunion August 7-8, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 13-15 and the Global Tuner Grand Prix October 22-24.

Yesterdays race was a whirlwind race. At only 2 hours in length and each lap equaling to about 1 min 5 or so seconds, it was get in that car and go! Driver changes had to be meticulously thought out and executed as to not lose a lot of lap time and hope and pray to God that the car has no issues!

As a fan this kind of race is most exciting. We are bummed that it goes by so quickly but the entire time is fun to watch and be a part of.

Our Dempsey Racing guys had decent spots in the start line. The #41 started in position 4 with James Gue driving. And the #40 in 7th with Charles Espenlaub. Patrick Dempsey was not at the race this weekend because of filming Transformers 3.

Loved SpeedTVs coverage of the race this race. Usually they cover the DP cars before and in priority of the GT cars, but this time felt a bit more balanced to the fans. Really loved the coverage of the start line. The interviews were fun and it was fun to see the cars lined up for their start in the race.

The starting line seemed very Mazda-centric, with a start of Mazda, Camaro, Corvette, then Mazda, Mazda, Camaro, Mazda, Mazda, Mazda.

There is a new Mazda commercial out too, to which all the fans said AMEN at the sound of Patrick Dempsey’s voice, picture and many great Mazda racers were featured including our own Leh Keen.

Sylvan Tremblay in the Speedsource #70 car was in first the majority of the GT race. While the GTs seemed to be at a standstill for about the first hour of the race. Our boys went between position 4, to 3 (#41) and 7 to 5 and back down, etc for the #40.

The Watkins Glen people cleaned that mess up as fast as they possibly could and with 15 minutes left in the race, the caution was lifted.

The fans were completely excited as the race looked to have both Dempsey Racing cars in the top 5, the caution proved to be exceptionally good for the #41 as it put Leh into 2nd position. Joe Foster in the number 40 was in number 5, it was looking great for the team.

Leh Keen took advantage of this position and with 5 minutes left he moved into first position and made tracks to put distance between him and the number 2 car (#70 Speedsource)

Completely excited for Dempsey Racing‘s first win. Team Seattle, Leh Keen, James Gue and everyone involved did a great job and as usual Leh was a rock star and moved the car to where it needed to be.

With two more races left in the season, we are excited to see what the team can do!

Dempsey Racing/ Team Seattle #41 car is in position 3 in the series with 264 points.

Take a look at the awesome gallery below. Images can be purchased at http://www.pixxbytango.com

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People who make a $100 donation win instantly an autograph card and a “Kick Cancer” wristband !

Thanks to Eve for posting her fan notes of the race! If you would like to write fan notes of a Dempsey Racing Race, please contact me! We would love to hear from you.

Sunday, July 18th – It’s race day! I’m having a good feeling about this race, I think our boys will do well. I’m hoping for another podium for the #41 and at least a top 10 finish for the #40!
A few hours before the start of the race, I put on my DR shirt. The team normally doesn’t do very well when I’m wearing one of my shirts on race day, but I can’t be superstitious about that. When I woke up, I had a feeling both cars would do well… So let’s hope they will!

Once again, Patrick Dempsey couldn’t be at the race. He’s busy filming Transformers 3
And I for one can’t wait to see him back on the race track. Which hopefully won’t be long from now! in Chicago. But we all know he’ll be cheering the team on, just like I am!

The race starts with Joe Foster in the #40 in 8th place and James Gue in the #41 in 11th place.
The checkered flag waves and we’re off.
James quickly moves the #41 up to 9th place. Joe drops down to 11th. After 9 laps, Joe moves the #40 car up to 10th place.
We have our first full course caution 18 minutes into the race.
Some cars are pitting, James moves up to 6th, Joe drops down to 16th for reasons unknown.

Joe moves the car up to 11th position pretty quickly. Meanwhile, James drops down to 9th.
They stay in those positions for a while…
Lots of pit stops going on with 2 minutes left for the mandatory pit stop. Joe drops down to 14th, while James moves up to 8th.
Joe keeps moving up and dropping down in positions… Not sure what was going on, something might have been wrong with the car. (I know they had some trouble with it during practice)
An hour into the race, the #40 does a driver change. Charles is in the car. He goes out on the track in 16th position.
There’s a Joe interview after the driver change. Apparently the tires were to blame for the trouble they were having… Joe also said he misses Patrick and waved at the camera “Hi Patrick”. The fangirl in me couldn’t help but squee!

A little over an hour into the race, the #31 Corvette slides into the #40, destroying the left rear tire. Charles makes another pit stop to change the tires.
The Dempsey Racing team reported on Facebook later on that the Corvette had hit the door which caused it to not open or close anymore, so that caused a problem of course.
After the incident, Charles is in 17th place. Meanwhile the #41had moved up to 3th place.
1h20 into the race, the #41 has their driver change. They’re in 11th place when they get back out on the track.
Second full course caution 1h40 into the race. Both cars make a pit stop. The #40 changed drivers again, Joe is back in the car. After the second caution, the #40 is 14th and the #41 is 6th.

Third full course caution about 2h15 into the race, Leh is in 2nd place and Joe in 12th.
About 2h30 into the race, Joe spins out trying to pass the #33 Porsche in a turn. He manages to get back on track pretty quickly and no harm seems to be done to the car.
In the last 10 minutes of the race, Leh loses 2 track positions, putting him in 4th place.
And that’s how the race ends, with the #41 in 4th place and the #40 in 11th place.

Not the result I was hoping for, but both teams did pretty well. Too bad the #41 missed out on a podium finish, they were so close.

Next race is in 3 weeks at Watkins Glen. I’m hoping Patrick will be able to make it to that one. I miss seeing him race so much and we all know he does too.
So let’s hope he’ll be there! He’s the one that got me into racing after all!

~ Eve

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Dempsey Racing

For those of you who know of a live streaming site please post it below.

And as usual DR40Fans on twitter will be updating the race for you as it happens.

James Gué took a great start and was fastly at 3rd place. Charles Espenlaub was up to 9th to 7th place. My first impression was “it’s going to be an interesting race for the guys !”

Near the first hour, there was the first full caution due to debris on the track. Some cars took the opportunity to make  a pitstop. Charles went up to 4th place. At the restart James lost a place and was 4th and Charles 6th.

Shortly after, Charles went down to 10th place after a pitstop.

The race started 45 minutes ago, 23 laps completed and James has suddenly fallen to 11th place. Later, we’ll learn he got pushed wide.

30 laps completed, almost an hour in that race, Charles was 9th, James 11th then a second full caution due to debris in the chicane interrupted the race.

6 minutes later, always full caution, and a lot of pitstops was made. Charles and James have been propelled to places 3 and 5.

The next lap Charles and James did both a pitstop. Speedy Joe Foster and Leh Keen were in the car and back on the track at places 11 and 13.

35th laps is done and the race restart. Joe and Leh went up of one place due to a car which did a pitstop.

Fifteen minutes later, no move for our drivers until the laps 48 when Joe was at the 8th place and Leh 10th. Three laps later, our Speedy Joe was 7th.

45 minutes remaining Joe and Leh went up to 5th and 6th. Other cars did their last pitstop. And they finally went to 4th and 5th.

But unfortunately five minutes later -58 laps completed- Joe dropped to 8th. No one knew why. We were supposed that he just did a last pitstop. But the next lap was very slow again. He went down to 13th place with a lap time of 3:37.495.

Leh did not stop his efforts and was third.

This 58th laps was the last for Speedy Joe and the Mazda #40. We still don’t know why, nothing on Speed about the incident. Thanks to Jim Jordan who said on twitter a few minutes later that DPs ruined their race.

A few minutes before the 2-Hours of the race, Leh went down at the 5th place because  he tangled with another GT. And at tne next lap he did his last pitstop and was back on the track in P8. Few laps later he won a place.

He stayed at that place until the end of the race, with around 15 secondes late on the prior.

After 2h30, the checkered flag was waved.

Conclusion of the race:

♥  I still don’t understand why DP and GT race together if on Speed we never saw their battles which can be very interesting.

♥ I HATE the DPs which for the second times this year they damaged our Mazda #40

♥ The race is just to forget and I look forward to the next one.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 3, 2010) – A tough day for Dempsey Racing on the high-banked 3.56-mile road course at Daytona International Speedway saw James Gué and Leh Keen fight to a seventh-place finish in the No. 41 Team Seattle/Global Diving/Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 GT while the No. 40 Share a Little Sunshine/Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 GT was knocked out of the race by a Daytona Prototype (DP) while contending for a possible top-five finish in Saturday’s Brumos Porsche 250 At Daytona.

“Overall the car was pretty good,” said Gué, who joined co-driver Keen for their seventh consecutive top-10 finish. “We were one of the better Mazdas today but we are sort of racing in a different group of cars there with some of the others being faster right now.  We got off to a good start there but kind of got shuffled a little bit near the end of the first stint.  It is just kind of the nature of how things are going, the restarts and the tire wear you have late in a stint, with them going off a little bit.  I didn’t hand the car off in as good a position as I usually do with Leh, but the car was strong. We had a solid run but this is a tough series.”

The No. 41 ran as low as 12^th early in the race’s second hour but Keen managed to gain a few spots despite a late-race spin.

“We were pushing, and maybe pushing a little bit too hard and I kind of got tangled up with another GT car and had a spin,” Keen said.  “That costs us some positions and little bit of time and I am bummed out about that and feel sorry for the guys. The car was actually pretty good there at the end and we were running a pretty good pace.  It looks like the Porsches and the Turner BMW M6 are kind of in a different class, especially at this track.  It kind of shines and you can see it easier.  So we just ran our race, ran tough and ran as hard as we could and it all didn’t really go our way, or the way we wanted it too, but the car is still in one piece.”

Patrick Dempsey, who is wrapping up his latest filming commitments commented on his abscense and the progress being made by the team. “I had a great opportunity to do four races in a row at the start of the season and I am sure to be back for at least a couple more before the season is out,” Dempsey said.  “In the meantime, I am very pleased with the progress of the team and the speed that both of our cars are showing.  The No. 41 Team Seattle/Global Diving Mazda, as one of the new-spec RX-8 GT chassis, has shown its speed and I am sure Leh and James will win a race at some point when the breaks fall their way.  Joe and Charles also continue to impress in the older No. 40 car as we work hard on the sponsorship partnerships we need to get that car updated or replaced.  Overall, the team is moving in a great direction toward the front and I look forward to getting back in the No. 40 as soon as possible!”

Next up for Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle and the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is the New Jersey Motorsports Park 250 presented by Crown Royal on NJMP’s Thunderbolt Raceway, July 16 – 18. The race can be seen live on SPEED, Sunday, July 18 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.

If you’ve not done so already, be sure to keep up to date with Team Seattle via Facebook and Twitter where you’ll often find more recent and up to date information on the team throughout the season.