APR. 17, 2005 — Dyson Racing finished second in the second race of the American Le Mans season here today at Road Atlanta. The Chris Dyson/Andy Wallace #20 Thetford/Norcold Lola finished behind the winning Audi R8 of J.J. Lehto. It was a Dyson Racing story the first three quarters of the race. James Weaver and the #16 car led from the pole for the first 73 laps and its sister car, the #20 with Andy Wallace, took over the lead for the next 17 laps, until relinquishing the lead on lap 90 while pitting under the yellow. The Audi R8 took over the lead and held it to the checkered flag. While running a secure second, The James Weaver/Butch Leitzinger car ended up tenth when the gear box broke seven laps from the end.
Rob Dyson: “The whole race was very even and this is a sign of things to come for the year. We are going to be able to fight these guys every single race on the calendar and that is exciting for everybody. They capitalized a little bit better than we did on the yellow flag periods today, but the car was great and the team executed very well.”
Andy Wallace: “We raced the Audis today, more so than at Sebring and we are quite happy for that. We are getting to know the Michelin tires better and I think that is the biggest thing for us, finding a new set up for the Michelins. We are about maybe 40% of the way there. When we finally get that, we can be more of pain in the side of the Audis.”
Butch Leitzinger: “Coming up over the hill, under the bridge, something in the gearbox went out, it lost all drive and managed to coast around through turn three. There was some gear box oil coming out of it and that caused a small oil fire, but the car and I are OK.”
Pos | Car# | Class | Drivers | Differential | Car Make |
1. | 1 | P1 | J.Lehto/MWerner | Audi R8 Audi | |
2. | 20 | P1 | C.Dyson/A.Wallace | 44.785 | Audi R8 Audi |
3. | 2 | P1 | E.Pirro/F.Biela | 1 lap | Lola EX275/AER |
4. | 37 | P2 | C.Field/J.Field | 4 laps | Lola EX275/AER |
5. | 3 | GT1 | R.Fellows/J.O`Connell | 9.551 | Lola B05/40/AER |
6. | 4 | GT1 | O.Gavin/O.Baretta | 5 laps | Courage C-65/AER |
7. | 35 | GT1 | A.Bertolini/F.DeSimone | 11.075 | Courage C-65 Judd |
8. | 63 | GT1 | T. Borsheller/J.Mowlem | 34.327 | Chevrolet Corvette C6-R |
9. | 5 | P2 | A.Figge/R.Daiziel | 6 laps | Chevrolet Corvette C6-R |
10. | 16 | GT1 | J.Weaver/B.Leitzinger | 7 laps | Riley & Scott MK111 C |