LAKEVILLE, CT – July 9, 2011 – The #16 G-OIL ModSpace/Construct Corps Lola Mazda with Chris Dyson and Guy Smith started first and finished first and the #20 Oryx Dyson Racing Lola Mazda with Humaid Al Masaood and Steven Kane started second and finished third in today’s American Le Mans Series race at Lime Rock Park. The #16 Dyson entry was the car to beat all day, leading 165 laps of the 187 lap race. Smith set fastest race lap and Kane pulled down the second fastest of the race.
This was the first time Al Masaood and Kane have raced here in America. The #20 car started the race with a deficit after battery problems necessitated starting the car from pit lane. Al Masaood took the car from thirty-first to seventh. Kane got in the car on lap fifty-nine and did the podium run, taking the car to its third place finish.
Dyson started his pole-setting Mazda and traded the lead with the Muscle Milk car four times, leading forty of his sixty-lap run. Smith drove the final stint and took the lead for good on lap seventy-eight, setting fastest race lap forty-one laps latter.
“This win ranks right up there,” stated Rob Dyson. “But it is made even more special by being able to welcome Humaid Al Masasood and Steven Kane to the family. They did an absolutely phenomenal job and both cars ran well for the whole race. I think it is going be great for the remainder of the season. I do want to say that the Muscle Milk guys are terrific guys to race against – they are straight up, fair and very competitive. It is tight and hard racing and that is what you really want to see.”
Both Humaid and Steven enjoyed their inauguration into American racing and the bullring competition of Lime Rock. “This feels really good, and I am very happy to have finished well here,” said Al Masaood. “That was our goal to come here and do a good job and we are looking forward to the next round.” Kane echoed those sentiments: “This is probably some of the most fun I have had in racing. Working the traffic is quite the challenge. The fact we were a tenth off fastest lap is a great achievement for the whole team.”
“Maintaining the championship lead is a good feeling,” said Smith. “Chris and I were talking about that before the weekend: we have to treat every race as necessary to win. You cannot get conservative because you are leading the championship. You have to keep on pushing to maintain that lead. This weekend our game plan was to get up front and lead the race and Chris did an awesome job in qualifying. Steven is going to have a bright future in the ALMS and Humaid as well. They are a great fit for our team. A one-two qualifying was great and to top it off with a win was the icing on the cake.”
Chris Dyson noted that today was his first pro win at Lime Rock. “One of the first races I can remember as a youth was watching dad and Drake Olson win her in 1985. It has always been a goal of mine to come here and do the same thing. It was a dream weekend to be on pole and to win the race with Guy a person who I really respect – he is really like my brother. To be honest, it is better than I imagined it would be. When you are seven years old you imagine in your minds eye what it would be like and the reality is much better than you ever thought it was going to be.”
