Nick Ham; #70 SpeedSource RX8 driver retiring

[Phoenix7]

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Ham, No. 70 win GT class


By SEAN KERNAN
Staff Writer


DAYTONA BEACH -- If the Rolex 24 At Daytona turns out to be the last race ever for Nick Ham, the 53-year-old Englishman went out a winner.The veteran racer led 58 laps in the GT Class, the most of any of the No. 70 SpeedSource Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 stable of drivers, in what could be his final race. He's been replaced in the Mazda team's Grand-Am Road Racing Series plans for 2010.


"If the opportunities don't arise, and I am going to not race any more, it's a great way to finish," Ham said Sunday afternoon. "The phone might ring or it might not. But you know, I've been doing this a long time, and this is such a nice way to finish it."


The No. 70 SpeedSource team completed the endurance race eighth overall and finished the marathon with 707 laps, four more than the No. 67 TRG Porsche that was second in GT.


SpeedSource owner Sylvain Tremblay had the lead for 51 laps, while rising Mazda factory driver Jonathan Bomarito -- who replaced Ham in the team's overall 2010 program -- had 36 laps out front. Team engineer and pit strategist David Haskell also spent more than three hours driving the No. 70 Mazda.


But in an ironic twist, the driver who doesn't have a ride for the 2010 season, might have had one of his best races.


"I'm so pleased and proud of how I drove this race, fast and safe, so that's such a nice memory to have," Ham said. "It's not like I'm that old. I'm only 53, but I seem to go through different stages in my life.


"There are other things I'd like to do as well. I'd really like to go to culinary school and become a good chef. Spending an afternoon cooking and drinking wine, that to me is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon."
So is cooking up a Rolex 24 victory, the SpeedSource team's second in three years.


The No. 70 Mazda survived an "incident" with the No. 55 NPN Racing BMW Riley shortly after midnight.


"We went back to the garage and Sylvain (Tremblay) and I grabbed a couple of strings to make sure everything was straight, and it was, except the steering wheel was all crooked," Haskell said. "So we sent Nick (Ham) back out there."


Ham was behind the wheel later Sunday morning when a tire went down.
"I knew we were going to go down a lap, but I really wanted to limp in because I didn't want to tear the car up," Ham said. "We just kept grinding and (the lead) came back to us."


Tremblay passed the No. 67 Porsche at 9:46 a.m. on its 563rd lap. Ham and Bomarito each put in another stint on the way to the victory.
"We were down by eight laps at one time," Haskell said. "Nobody gave up at all."