LAKEVILLE, CT July 24, 2010 – Chris Dyson passed two cars at the start of the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix and led his home race for six laps in the #16 Castrol Dyson Racing Mazda Lola coupe. At the start of the seventh lap, he radioed that the car started to loose power down the front straight after changing up to sixth gear. He drove the car into the pits and after ten minutes, the car was pushed back to the transporter for further examination. The car was officially retired thirty minutes later.

“The car was mega,” a rueful Dyson said afterwards. “We had a shot at an outright win and it is a shame that all the fans who came to see us this weekend were not able to enjoy a full show of our competiveness. We won LMP2 last year and felt we had a stronger car this weekend.”

There is a reason they talk about “the vagaries of racing” and not the “vagaries of baseball.” Virtually every other competitive endeavor involves knowing how long the contest will last, whether it is nine innings, four quarters, eighteen holes or two halves. Racing is not quite as benevolent. The Dyson Racing team is one of the hardest working in the paddock and is known for their depth of talent and the longevity of their team members. But racing does not always provide a direct relationship between application and finishing position.

Dyson Racing first raced professionally at Lime Rock Park in the 1983 IMSA Coca-Cola Three Hours. They are the only team still racing today out of the thirty-seven entries from that race twenty-seven years ago. “We have a great record here,” noted Dyson. “It is never easy when you know you have a winning car and are deprived of the opportunity to reward the families of our team members who joined us this week. We will be back at Mid-Ohio, our next race, and back here next year with our resolve strengthened.”

Dyson Racing next races in two weeks time at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. The race is scheduled for 3:00 PM ET on Saturday, August 7th and will be broadcast on CBS August 15th at 12:30 PM ET. Live radio coverage will be available on American Le Mans Radio and Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 242. Live timing and scoring will also be available on Racehub at americanlemans.com.

Pos Car# Class Drivers Difference Car Make
1. 6 P Pickett/Graf 0 Porsche RS Spyder
2. 1 P Brabham/Pagenaud 27.810 HPD ARX -01
3. 99 PC Jeannette/Julian 9 laps Oreca FLM09
4. 52 PC Figge/Papadopoulos 9 laps Oreca FLM09
5. 45 GT Bergmeister/Long 10 laps Porsche 911 RSR
6. 92 GT Auberlen/Milner 10 laps BMW M3
7. 90 GT Mueller/Hand 10 laps BMW M3
8. 61 GT Salo/Kaffer 11 laps Ferrari 430
9. 4 GT Beretta/Gavin 12 laps Corvette ZR1
10 95 PC Tucker/Wallace 13 laps Oreca FLM09