TOOELE UT July 11, 2010 – Dyson Racing was running strongly today at the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix when the Castrol Mazda Lola Coupe pulled over on the front straight with mechanical problems thirty-minutes from the end of the two-hour and forty-five minute race. “It is unfortunate,” said Chris Dyson. “We will go back to the shop and look through the data and see what happened. We were the quickest car on track for the majority of the race weekend’s practice sessions and we were in play for a good finish.”
Guy Smith was driving the car when it stopped eighteen laps from the end. “There was no prior warning,” Smith said. “We always look forward to the challenge of this track and it is a shame we were not able to improve on our good showing from last year.” The Dunlop-shod entry finished its last pit stop fifteen laps earlier with Chris Dyson bringing the car in third place and handing over to Smith. The car ended up garnering sixth place points, helping to solidify third place in LMP drivers’ points for Dyson and Smith.
This race is first of five in eight weeks for the American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patron. The series’ next stop in two weeks time is the Northeast Grand Prix in Lime Rock CT, Dyson Racing’s home track with the team’s shop less than an hour away. Last year the team won the LMP2 race there, giving Mazda its first prototype win of 2009. The track was also the site of the first professional race win for Dyson Racing in 1985 with Rob Dyson and Drake Olson in their Porsche 962.
“Lime Rock is a touchstone for Dyson Racing,” commented Chris Dyson. “From Rob running his 1974 Datsun there to our celebrating our twenty-fifth anniversary in professional racing at the track in 2008, to our win last year, Lime Rock personifies the long-term commitment and passion for racing that has been our core from day one. We will leave here knowing that hard work ultimately wins in racing.”
The American Le Mans Series Northeast Grand Prix is scheduled for 2:05 PM ET on Saturday July 24th with live coverage on SPEED. 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. | 1 | P | Brabham/Pagenaud | 0 | HPD ARX 01 |
2. | 8 | P | Drayson/Cocker/Pirro | 19.116 | Lola B09 60 |
3. | 6 | P | Pickett/Graf | 90.374 | Porsche RS Spyder |
4. | 37 | P | Field/Field | 3 laps | Lola B06 10 |
5. | 55 | PC | Tucker/Bouchut | 5 laps | Oreca FLM09 |
6. | 99 | PC | Jeannette/Zugel | 6 laps | Oreca FLM09 |
7. | 52 | PC | Figge/Hyatt | 6 laps | Oreca FLM09 |
8. | 95 | PC | Tucker/Wallace | 6 laps | Oreca FLM09 |
9. | 62 | GT | Melo/Bruni | 6 laps | Ferrari 430 |
6cl. | 16 | P | Dyson/Smith | 18 laps | Mazda MZR-R |