The 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24 At Daytona finished at 3:30pm on January 29th, with the #70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 GT finishing 6th in the GT class. Meanwhile, the #40 Dempsey Racing Visit Florida RX-8 GT took 10th and the #42 Team Sahlen RX-8 GT finished 12th. The #70 RX-8 GT with Sylvain Tremblay, Jonathan Bomarito, James Hinchcliffe and Marino Franchitti behind the wheel started from 25th on the grid. They drove cleanly for the entire 24 hours and never encountered any major trouble. In this year's running of the event, the #70 entry completed 722 laps, 15 more than when the car won after recording 707 laps in 2010. All drivers did their jobs perfectly and on schedule.
John Doonan, Director of Motorsports at Mazda North American Operations, commented: “SpeedSource raced perfectly. There were no mistakes, no accidents, and no trouble. It was a very clean race. They also managed the tyres and kept the fuel strategy on schedule. I'm hugely satisfied with such perfect race management. It's just unfortunate we couldn't take victory this time. Still, I feel encouraged because we've done exactly what we set out to do.” Dempsey Racing took a 10th-place result, having finished 3rd last year. In the race's closing stages, the team decided to opt for a no-tyre change, showing their never-say-die attitude right up to the finish line. Mazda USA was unable to succeed in their aim of taking the 24th class victory by a rotary-engined racecar in the event. However, the way they fought relentlessly toward their goal impressed many fans.