Robert Davis Racing (RDR) took three racecars - a new 2011 MAZDA2 and two Mazda RX-8s -- to Thunderhill Raceway for the 2010 running of the NASA's 25-Hours of Thunderhill, and returned home with two of the three cars on their respective class podiums. As with all endurance races, it was a hard slog through rain, cold, darkness and a track that at times looked more like an off-road mud-bog course than a paved race track.

The race started under cloudy skies, and the expected rain arrived just before dusk. Driven by Dennis Holloway, John Edwards, Eric Foss and Jeremy Barnes, the E1 RX-8's troubles started early, as a lengthy stop saw the transmission require replacement. As they had done so all weekend, RDR's crew jumped on the problem, and the car was back on track in less than 45 minutes. A series of electrical problems that started after an unfortunate collision with local wildlife further slowed the car throughout the night. Spurred by the Mazda sprit to never give up, the car passed some Mazda MX-5 on the very last lap of the race to finish in third place.

The E2- class RX-8 driven by Jim Holloway, Jim Daniels, Scott Shelton, Truman Pollard and Ken Saward ran the race almost without issue, except for a mid-race contact with another car, as the other car spun in front of the RX-8 and driver Jim Daniels was unable to avoid the accident. The impact damaged two of the car's PIAA driving lights and put a nasty crease in the front bumper, but the car continued otherwise unharmed. The car finished second in class.

The E3 class MAZDA2 made its formal MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development factory-backed competition debut in the hands of journalists Dan Edmunds (Edmunds.com) and Mark Gillies (Car and Driver), and Mazda employees Tim Buck, Nathan Edmonds and Jim Jordan. It ran trouble-free for the entire race, with only a small scuff on the left-front corner to show for nearly 1,700 miles of racing.

"Even more so than in sprint racing, endurance racing is a team sport," Davis noted. "Including our 14 drivers, we had 32 members of the extended RDR family on-hand to keep our cars running. Without their tireless efforts, experience and skills we'd never have been able to pull off the results we brought home. I'm proud to be associated with every one of them."