GRAND-AM Road Racing

Buford Impressive in First Rolex GT Test

Jul. 24, 2009

DELAND, Fla. (July 21, 2009) - Young, talented race car driver Jade Buford earned his first taste of competition in a Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT car earlier this week when he tested the Races Edge Motorsports Mazda RX-8 at Barber Motorsports Park.

Buford finished fourth in his KONI Sports Car Challenge race Saturday at Barber, then stayed around to participate in the official Rolex Series test Monday. His first experience consisted of over 50 laps around the challenging Barber track, sharing it with other Rolex Series machines from both the GT and Daytona Prototype classes.

Team owner and veteran driver coach Jon Mirachi said he was impressed by Buford's day at the wheel of his team's red No. 30 machine.

"He showed a tremendous level of maturity for such a young driver," Mirachi commented. "We gave him some homework to do to prepare for the test, he studied it thoroughly and was definitely prepared when he showed up. He took a very methodical approach to his first day in the new car but nonetheless settled into a comfortable rhythm very quickly. By the fifth lap, he was already shifting quickly and smoothly, even though he had never driven a sequential shift race car before. We challenged him with learning left foot braking at the same time, which he hadn't done before either, and by the end of the test he was outbraking even highly experienced, professional Mazda GT drivers!

"Aside from his abundant talent behind the wheel, Jade was a joy to work with," Mirachi continued. "At various points during the day we spent time reviewing his driving data from the car's on board data collection system. He was able to understand my comments and advice for improvement and put it to use on the track. He's a fine young man with all the right attributes for an aspiring professional driver. I look forward to working with him again in the future."

Buford also spoke positively of his experience.

"That car is amazing!" he said. "Not only is it really fast, but it was surprisingly easy to drive. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the shifting and left foot braking techniques came to me. I was actually comfortable with everything in just a few laps. It was a great learning experience and I look forward to future opportunities to work with Jon and his team."

Next up for Buford and Racers Edge are plans to do another test with an eye toward racing sometime in the future. In the meantime, Buford will also continue to race his Mini in the KONI Sports Car Challenge.

For further information about Jade Buford, please visit his website at: www.jadebuford.com and for more information about the Racers Edge Motorsports team, you can check out their website at: www.racersedgemotorsports.com.