HOUSTON TX, May 11, 2006 – James Weaver won the first pole of the season for Dyson Racing in qualifying this evening at the Lone Star Grand Prix in Houston TX. This is Dyson Racing’s fifty-third pole, fourteen of which have been earned by Weaver. This is also the first pole for the new AER powered Lola B06/10 in only its second race.
“I think one of the reasons we are quick here is that the Dyson team has always been good at arrive-and-drive races,” observed James. “The team is excellent with a limited amount of time in making the right calls and the right judgments. When you cannot engineer the car to death, you have to know motor racing and I think that is when you see how much strength and depth there is at Dyson Racing.”
The # 20 car of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith did not get a chance to qualify after it suffered electrical problems in the final practice session and there was not enough time to diagnose and fix the problem in the forty minutes between practice and qualifying. With no qualifying time, the car will start from the back of the grid. “It will make for an interesting race for Guy and myself,” remarked Chris Dyson. “Guy went from twenty-sixth to second at VIR a couple of weekends ago, so we will put our heads down and do what we have to do.”
“It does not matter how long you have been doing this, it never gets old,” James Weaver said. “The thrill of rolling down pit lane for qualifying with a new set of tires and a great car under you. You are feeling confident and there is a lot going on and it just gives you a tremendous buzz. If anything, it gets better. Since I must me getting close to my “sell by date,” you know it is not going to go on forever. You just savor it and enjoy it every moment you are in the car. It is just fantastic feeling.”
Dyson Racing is the premier sports car team in America with sixteen team and driver championships and sixty-one wins in the past twenty years. Tomorrow’s race will be broadcast on CBS at 1:00 PM EST on Saturday, May 13 (tape delay).
Pos | Car# | Class | Drivers | Differential | Car Make |
1. | 16 | P1 | J.Weaver/B.Leitzinger | 0 | Lola B06/10AER |
2. | 7 | P2 | Bernhard/Dumas | 0.022 | Porsche RS Spyder |
3. | 6 | P2 | Maassen/Luhr | 0.786 | Porsche RS Spyder |
4. | 2 | P1 | McNish/Capello | 0.923 | Audi R8 |
5. | 12 | P1 | McMurry/Willman | 2.170 | Lola EX257/AER |
6. | 3 | GT1 | Fellows/O`Connell | 3.576 | Corvette C6-R |
7. | 4 | GT1 | Gavin/Beretta | 3.631 | Corvette C6-R |
8. | 37 | P2 | Field/Halliday | 3.940 | Lola B05 40/AER |
9. | 007 | GT1 | Enge/Turner | 3.968 | Aston Martin DBR9 |
10. | 009 | GT1 | Lamy/Turner | 4.170 | Aston Martin DBR9 |