Saturday In the Park
LAKEVILLE, CT July 7, 2012 – As is the norm for Lime Rock Park, today’s American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix did not want for action. In addition to the depth of the on- track battles, there were a surfeit of yellows that added more flux than normal to the outcome. Dyson Racing finished second and third in P1 on the shortest track of the ALMS calendar. Chris Dyson and Guy Smith were second overall in the #16 ModSpace Mazda-powered car and Michael Marsal and Eric Lux finished third in class in their second race with Dyson Racing.
Chris Dyson started from pole and came in from the lead an hour into the race to hand the car over to Guy Smith. Ten minutes later, Guy had to slowly motor back to the pits with a puncture, dropping the car down to fourth. Around the same time, the #20 car was hit in the rear. The damage did not measurably affect the car’s speed, but took its toll later in the race when two unscheduled stops to fix inoperative brake lights dropped the car down the overall running order.
Rob Dyson noted that, “Guy lost almost three laps with the puncture. It happened just as he went by the pits and he had to slow down to preserve the car and bring it back to the pits. It is one of those things. Our congratulations to Greg Pickett and his team. At the end of day, we have made a lot of progress and I think we have a good shot at taking it to them almost anywhere so we are locked and loaded. Hats off to everyone at AER who did a superb job giving us great engines.”
“It was a tough race,” summed up Guy. “We got a break when the Muscle Milk car had their gearbox problems early in the race, but that advantage was mostly negated by the puncture, and then they were able to get a couple of wave-bys during the yellows that put them back on the same lap as us. Ultimately, we did not have the speed in the car that we had in qualifying. We have definitely turned the corner from Mazda Raceway but still have some work to do and will go on to Mosport, a track we have been consistently fast at in the past.”
“This is the second race we have had with Dyson racing and our second podium,” said Eric Lux. “The guys worked really hard. All in all, the car was strong. We had some understeer when I got in but I was able to climb a number of positions, but we than ended up losing those fixing the brake light damage.”
Michael Marsal also worked traffic well and made up a number of positions in the #20 car’s first stint. “Dyson racing prepared a great car and we were strong. We pitted early for fuel, and went down a lap but was able to work my way back to fifth when Eric got back in the car. Unfortunately, he lost a lot of time in the pits, but overall, it was a strong finish and outside of that, we ran the race we wanted to. All in all, I am very happy to be here. The first race I ever attended was an ALMS race here with the Dysons and that is what made me decide to be a racing driver. I really cannot believe that now in 2012, I am here driving with them and that it has all come full circle.”