American Spirit Racing President and C.E.O. Jon Lewis intends on running the uprated R&S in selected American Le Mans Series events in 2003, with engine support coming from longtime Dyson partner Lozano Brothers Porting.

James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger showed the Mark C`s promise in American Le Mans competition last season, finishing on the podium at Mid-Ohio and fourth at Mosport.

Dyson Racing welcomes American Spirit Racing to the ALMS grid.

“The series can always use quality entrants, and Jon is very committed to putting a proper program together next year,” said Chris Dyson. “He is putting the pieces together for a solid debut season in the ALMS.”

Over the past eight years running the venerable Mk3, the team has won a category-leading 36 races, including three victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona (twice overall) and three wins in the Watkins Glen Six Hours. The only race which stymied the Dyson R&S juggernaut was Sebring, where the team finished second– by two of the closest margins on record– in 1997 and 1999.

The R&S also carried James Weaver, Butch Leitzinger and Elliott Forbes-Robinson to drivers championships. From 1997 to 2001, between them Dyson drivers scored six drivers titles.

The car proved to be the most versitile of a balkanized period of sportscar racing, when sanctioning bodies changed names and the cars designations differed from year to year. But whether it raced as an IMSA World SportsCar, a USRRC Can-Am spyder, a Le Mans Prototype or a Grand-Am SportsRacer (or SportsRacer Prototype), Dyson R&S`s would likely be at the head of the field.

There may never be a glossy book to celebrate the R&S mk3`s history, but the car can probably best be remembered as the bane of the Ferrari`s 333 sp program`s existence. Ferrari drivers and teams enjoyed terrific scraps with Dyson R&S cars over the years, particularly from 1995 to 1999. The R&S cars provided color and diversity to sportscar grids, and gave potential owners a viable alternative to Maranello`s million-dollar machines– which they were beating with regularity.

Rob Dyson, who commissioned the first R&S mk3, has many fond memories of the car. “I saw what Ferrari had to offer, but the Riley suited our team so much more,” Dyson said. “We would have control of our engines and we could do development work freely. Plus I think we brought back the historic Ford-Ferrari rivalry by running these cars. We had so many great races with these cars. In a way it is sad to see them go because they are just such wonderful cars, and so easy to work on and maintain. But times have moved on, and eight years is an exceptional time period to have a competitive car.”

James Weaver, who has won more races than anyone in Dyson R&S machines, is also complimentary of the car he affectionately dubs the “snotter.” “Bob Riley has never been given the credit he deserves with this car,” Weaver said. “It is a wonderful car with so much downforce. When it had 700 horsepower it was really incredible. There was nothing like fighting with those Ferraris all those years. It is a special car. It fits right up there alongside the Porsche 962 and the Ferrari 333sp in the annals of history.7quot

Chris Dyson enjoyed his first season of prototype racing in the mk3`s last, scoring three victories with James Weaver. 7quotI always liked these cars, and it was the perfect car for me to hone my skills this year. To watch our guys racing all those years, I saw so many fantastic races. It is hard to believe the era is over, but we have got lots to look forward to, and we move on.”

The November 10 Daytona Finale will be televised live on the Speed Channel at 1 PM EST.

Leading the team`s two-car effort will be James Weaver and rookie Chris Dyson in the #16 Ford-R&S mk3. The 24 year-old Dyson trails Doran-Lista`s Didier Theys in the championship standings by nine points heading into the race. Dyson can still win the championship with a victory, but Theys can finish no better than fifth overall. To bolster the team`s assault, Watkins Glen 250 winners Butch Leitzinger and Rob Dyson will be sharing the sister #20 R&S mk3.

With a win, Dyson and Weaver can secure the Series Team Championship this weekend if the pairing of Theys and Fredy Lienhard, Jr. finishes third or worse.

“I am excited about this weekend,” Chris Dyson said. “It has been a couple of months since we raced in the Rolex series, and I would really like to end this year on a high. It has been a great rookie year and to have had a championship at stake all season has been a blast. We won here in July and we are confident that the car will be even better this weekend.”

Weaver and Dyson shared victory in the Jani-King Paul Revere 250 in July. When asked about the Finale, which he won in 2001 with Butch Leitzinger, Weaver was optimistic. “We have raced here so many times with this car and that helps because we always roll off the truck with a fast car,” Weaver said. “The Goodyears work particularly well here on our car, historically.”

The race marks the last competitive outing for the Dyson team`s Ford-powered R&S machines.

The team will begin practicing for the Daytona Finale on Thursday. Sunday`s race will be televised live on the Speed Channel at 1 PM EST.

After breaking the lap record for LMP675 cars on Saturday, Weaver started his #16 MG-Lola EX257 an impressive third on the grid. The race proved that qualifying was no fluke for the Dyson team. Five laps into the race, and the English star was outbreaking Tom Kristensen`s all-conquering Audi for second spot.

“I think I should be given the O.B.E. after that pass,” the irrepressible Weaver joked afterwards. “Really, the car`s fantastic. We are really getting there, and I am pleased with the progress we have made this weekend.”

To the delight of the crew, Weaver held down second position before making an early pit stop for left side tires. He remained in the car for another half-hour and handed the controls to Leitzinger during a full-course caution period at the one-hour mark. The Pennsylvanian was soon scrapping with David Brabham`s Panoz for the overall lead. The battle became fierce, and both Joest Audis joined the fray along with Jim Matthews Riley and Scott mk3C. Unfortunately, the battle would be short-lived, as Leitzinger was forced to pit early when his right-front tire picked up a puncture just before the start / finish line. Leitzinger had to limp around the course to return to the pits, and after a driver swap to Andy Wallace the team found itself two laps down.

“The car is great,” Leitzinger said later. “It is good in traffic, the power delivery was good, and it was great to be fighting with the Audis. It was a shame about that puncture but it happens sometimes, unfortunately.”

Wallace picked up the pieces and embarked on a stellar stint, picking off cars gradually and moving up to fifth overall. He was engaged in a spirited duel with the #2 Audi of Emmanuele Pirro for several laps. The cars ran nose-to-tail through traffic and down through Road Atlanta`s thrilling downhill sweepers.

The exhilarating duel came to a rather sudden halt when the car experienced a small fuel fire that would prove terminal. Wallace had radioed into the pits that he smelled fuel, and soon afterwards the car had burst into flames entering the medium speed Turn 6. The Briton slowed immediately, and just as he backed off for the slower Turn 7 the whole rear end burst into flames. “It was something with the fuel system that caused the fire,” Wallace said. “It was too bad because the car was just so good– this package and the engine are just superb.” To compound the team`s problem, as Wallace slowed the trailing Audi rammed into the back of the car and broke the MG-Lola`s right-rear suspension. Wallace had the presence of mind to quickly bail out of the car and help marshals to extinguish the blaze, which thankfully turned out to be not as bad as originally suspected.

Afterwards, team boss Rob Dyson was proud of his team. “We are very excited about this package,” he said. “We have really only run the car in three races and we are getting closer to where we need to be. It was great to see James and the guys up there scrapping today for the overall lead. I would have loved to have seen us have a good result today– this has become a great event. But they knew that we were here today, and that is important. We are looking forward to the offseason and working with Goodyear, Lola, and Advanced Engine Research, who have done great work so far on this new project . Next year we are adding another car and we are going to keep working hard to stay at the sharp end of the grid. The crew have done an absolutely fantastic job all year and I am very proud of them. We wil be back at this race again next year, for sure.”

The Dyson Racing team`s 2003 American Le Mans Series season starts next March at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

The Anglo-American trio have combined for some stellar results over the years. They shared overall victory in the 2000 Watkins Glen Six Hours and came up an hour short of winning outright at the Daytona 24 Hours last year.

This weekend will be Wallace`s first experience driving the team`s #16 MG-Lola EX257, and the Englishman is typically thrilled. “It has been great to run some races with this team this year,” said Wallace, who won the VIR 500 with Chris Dyson six weeks ago. “I am really looking forward to running with James and Butch again. I think we make quite a good lineup. I am also excited about getting in the MG. I raced against it at Sebring and Le Mans and it will be great to see what it is like.” Wallace is no stranger to success at Road Atlanta. In 1999, he co-drove to victory in the second annual Petit Le Mans.

The Dyson team`s last two outings with the LMP675 car have yielded two runner-up finishes. Weaver is confident that the car can win its class and possibly challenge for an overall podium. “It is a mega little car,” said the English star. “We are working on our Goodyear tire development, and if we can get the tires to work properly we should be in pretty good shape.”

Practice for the Petit Le Mans begins on Wednesday, and the ten-hour (or 1000 mile) event starts at 11 AM on Saturday and will be televised live on the Speed Channel.

James Weaver drove the first hour of the race before handing off to Butch Leitzinger in a routine pit stop. The Pennsylvanian went to restart the car after the car had been fueled, and the turbo AER four cylinder unit did not fire. The team quickly traced the problem to the starter motor. Since a car must start under its own power in the American Le Mans Series, the crew behind the pitwall so Leitzinger could be push started and rejoin the race. The team lost nearly eight laps in the process, and Leitzinger spent the remaining hour and a half chasing down the second-placed Pilbeam-Nissan. On the last lap, Leitzinger caught the slower car and overtook for a hard-fought result.

“We struggled to generate tire temperature this weekend,” James Weaver said afterwards. “But the car is almost there. I think we will be in much better shape (at the Petit Le Mans) in Atlanta next weekend.”

Leitzinger was pleased with the car`s progress, epecially later in the event. “We seemed to be much closer to the lead pack when the grip levels went off, so that is encouraging,” he said. “I am looking forward to the Petit.”

The team heads northward this week to Road Atlanta, for next Saturday`s Petit Le Mans. British star Andy Wallace will be re-joining his Dyson teammates for the enduro. Testing begins on Wednesday.

This weekend`s race–a two-hour, forty-five minute affair– marks the third time in the 2002 ALMS season that the series has been showcased on a temporary street course. In the early nineties, prototypes raced on nearly the same grounds where this weekend`s race will be held, on the Miami waterfront and along Biscayne Blvd. Due to some changes in the city`s infastructure, this weekend drivers will be faced with the challenge of learning and racing on a tight new 1.57-mile, 15-turn layout.

Weaver and Leitzinger are no strangers to Victory Lane in the Miami area, having scored a Rolex Series win together at nearby Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2001. Weaver himself scored an emotional victory for Dyson in the 1988 Miami Grand Prix, sharing a Porsche 962 with Price Cobb. The Englishman returns to downtown Miami this weekend as the only active past overall winner of the event.

Weaver is upbeat about this weekend`s events. “I think the track is going to be quite narrow, and street courses generally have very little grip,” he said. “We have made some big progress with the car in a month, and Goodyear`s working hard on their end. It is going to take some time but I am glad we are here to assess the car on a point-and-squirt layout.”

“It was always a huge race, this one,” Weaver added. “Great atmosphere, lots of buzz. It should be great.”

The action gets underway on Friday, with practice and Qualifying. Saturday`s race starts at 4 PM and will be televised live in its entirety on the Speed Channel.

James Weaver started the race and ran second for the bulk of his fifty-five minute first stint. “The car lacked grip in the first stint, so I was taking it easy and looking after the tires,” the English star said. “The track rubbered up later in the race and the car was much better.”

With Ron Fellows Corvette was stranded in a gravel trap before the race`s one hour mark, the Dyson team expected an immediate full-course yellow and called Weaver into the pits, where Leitzinger was standing by for a driver change. Unfortunately, the race stayed green for two more laps, allowing the leading Knighthawk MG to use a pace car waveby to stretch a two lap lead before driver Chad Block pitted for a driver change.

With Leitzinger at the controls, the #16 Thetford / Norcold machine hauled in Knighthawk`s Steve Knight at the rate of two to six seconds a lap. After an hour of green flag running, Leitzinger had overtaken the rival MG for the class lead and moved into eighth overall.

The Dyson team was aggressively charting its fuel consumption, and with a half-hour remaining Leitzinger pitted for fuel and James Weaver replaced him. The car`s clutch pedal had failed, and Weaver did well to return to the circuit on his own power, leaving in a cloud of turbo flame and Goodyear rubber. But the team had lost precious seconds in the pit lane and Knighthawk`s Claudia Huertgen had taken the lead. Try as he may, Weaver cut the German`s lead to 32 seconds, but he ran out of time at the end.

After the race, Leitzinger commented on the result: “We were struggling for grip today, but the team has made some big progress with the car. I am sorry we did not win our class but sometimes that is how it goes. I am looking forward to the rest of the year.”

The team`s next American Le Mans race is the Miami Grand Prix of the the Americas, on October 5.

Wallace, who started the team`s #16 Crawford-Judd on the outside of the front row, ran a consistent second throughout his sixty-three lap double stint before handing off to Chris Dyson. The 24 year-old rookie chased down leader Fredy Lienhard, Sr. in the Dallara-Judd and overtook the Swiss for the top spot on lap 83. Dyson had stretched the lead to more than a lap when, entering the fast downhill turn two, the car snapped sideways, sending him into the wall. Dyson was unhurt in the incident but the car suffered a damaged rear wing.

“It was a strange sensation,” Dyson said. “I was cruising along, I knew we had a big lead so I was concentrating on making no mistakes. Then I turned into turn two on my normal line and the car spun like a top. We have looked at the data after the race and thankfully we have ruled out wing failure or any component breakage. We think it might have been some debris or possibly some oil. It is a shame because I honestly believe we were capable of a better result today.”

The Max Crawford-led crew worked hard to return the car to action, and Chris Dyson resumed the controls fifteen laps later with some ground to make up.

Gradually, Dyson and then James Weaver began to chisel through the field and they moved up into seventh overall at the flag.

The Dyson Racing team will take their MG-Lola westward to Laguna Seca next weekend, where Weaver will be joined by Butch Leitzinger in the American Le Mans Series race.

This weekend marks the first time the Rolex Series has visited the historic Canadian venue, which hosted World Championship rounds in the sixties and early seventies. Set amidst the lovely Laurentian mountain region, the track`s high-speed sweepers and elevation changes look like they will become a team favorite.

“I always love racing on these classic North American tracks,” Weaver said. “They are wonderful and they still have a lot of character.”

Chris Dyson comes into this weekend six points behind championship leader Didier Theys with two rounds remaining. “I am really excited to have such great co-drivers,” the 24 year-old rookie said. “The track looks great and everyone at Crawford`s been working really hard after VIR to get the car set-up for it. These longer races are really what sportscar racing is all about. We are very lucky and honored to be here, racing. It should be a great weekend.”

Andy Wallace rejoined the Dyson team at VIR and came out on top. “I am really happy to be back with Dyson Racing driving the Crawford. It will be great fun having James with us this weekend.”

The action begins with a track promoter`s test day today, followed by practice on Friday and Qualifying on Saturday. Sunday`s Six Hour Race starts at 11 AM and will be broadcasted live from 11 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 5 PM on the Speed Channel.