The 2010 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona is history and while on-track results were hampered by mechanical woes, the pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital came home a winner. Almost $400,000 was contributed by fans and supporters, making this one of the best fundraising efforts in the thirteen year history of Team Seattle’s participation in the race.
Determination and Persistence Pay Dividends
On the track, the #41 Mazda RX8 finished 14th after starting 9th in a field of 29 GT cars. The race began in rain soaked “wet track” conditions, but drivers Don Kitch Jr., James Gue, Leh Keen, and Dave Lacey maintained a strong pace and ran in the top ten for most of the early parts of the race. Then in the late evening a piece of track debris punctured the radiator and the car was taken to the garage for repairs. Shortly after returning to competition around eleven o’clock, electrical problems struck and the car spent more time off-track being repaired. This put the car several laps down from the leaders. The team soldiered on during the night and at one point Leh Keen was setting the fastest pace of the GT class.
During a cold and blustery Sunday the car moved up several places but there simply was not enough time to recover the lost laps and the Team Seattle car finished 67 laps behind the first place car. Nonetheless, each team member agreed that the race can be considered successful because the team came together so well under adverse conditions. This bodes well for the upcoming Grand-Am Season with the next race on March 5th and 6th in Holmstead, Florida.
Fans Cheer on the Team
A group of about 40 fans and supporters from the Pacific Northwest was on hand for the race and they poured out onto the pit lane at the end of the race to congratulate Team Seattle founder Kitch who had the honor of bringing the car across the finish line at the 24th hour. Then it was back to the Team Hotel for a celebration dinner and the early return flight to Seattle on Monday Morning.
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