SEBRING, FL January 24 – Three days and 726 miles – a totally smooth run. Dyson Racing tested the first of their two new Porsche RS Spyders at the three day official American Le Mans Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway January 22 -24. “The car ran perfectly right out of the box,” said Chris Dyson. “The fundamentals of the car are quite good. Aerodynamically it is very well balanced and the engine runs like a Swiss watch. It is typical Porsche, from stem to stern, no stone left unturned.”
Observing the action on Tuesday was Andy Lally, who will be joining the team as the third driver along with Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace in the #16 Thetford/Norcold entry for the 55th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring on March 17. “This is an absolute honor to be part of this team and part of this program,” said Lally. “It is something I have desired to do since I got into sportscars. Dyson Racing is the benchmark for other teams and to be a part of it is a dream come true. This is my eighth year in a row doing Sebring and it is one of the events I look forward to, this year even more so with the competition from Penske and Acura. I know the Dyson Racing guys will put together a very competitive effort.”
“We welcome Andy to our team. He has tested with us twice including back in November of 2003,” noted Dyson. “We have watched his progress as he has put together an impressive record in sportscars.” Lally is the 2006 Grand-Am Rolex Series GT champion. He won Grand-Am championships in 2004 and 2001 and is the only three-time Rolex champion. When not claiming a championship the last seven years, he was runner-up four times.
The team set the fastest time of the test on the last session of the third day. “I really appreciate the job that Porsche has done to develop the RS Spyder,” stated Andy Wallace. “It is a drivers car. The dynamics of the car takes precedence over everything so when you drive the car it is under your every command. Normally to me, a car has a front and a back, and you are conscious of what the front is doing and what the back is doing and you try to balance yourself between the two. This car has a middle – it is like the whole car is connected. It is a great feeling for a driver and inspiring for the team to go into the first race of the year with a car like this.”
“There is going to be a tremendous fight this year between Porsche, Acura, Intersport, and Mazda,” said Dyson. “You look at the depth of the competition and it will be as solid a prototype field as this series has ever seen. It will be an even, hard-fought battle and that has everyone energized for the year.”