POUGHKEEPSIE, NY, MAR. 4, 2004 -- In the biblical story of David and Goliath, diminutive Davidused a slingshot to slay the giant Goliath. For Dyson Racing, a small and leanteam from upstate New York that over the past two decades has taken on and beatensome global giants, the equivalent of a slingshot has been the team's abilityto forge strong and lasting technical alliances with partners both local and fromaround the world.

"Racing is a complex and highly technical activity,"said team principal Rob Dyson. "Success ultimately comes down to the qualityof the people who are working for you and with you, and everyone's ability tocommunicate with one another. And that's an important differentiation. Our employeeroster tends to be very stable, so internally our guys know how to work effectivelywith one another. But no matter how many people you have working in your shop,you are also dependent on your external partners. Even the major Formula One teams,with hundreds of employees, call on outside partners to provide tires, electronicsand engines."

Dyson notes that with just 12 full-time employees workingin its Poughkeepsie shop, the team depends on having excellent working relationshipswith the organizations that supply key components. "We've worked with bothGoodyear and Bosch for nearly a quarter of a century," Dyson said. "Overthe years, our guys have gotten to know their guys pretty well, so communicationon technical matters is quick and clear. This matters."

Choosing When To Change

Not that everything is set in concrete when it comesto technical partnerships. Since its arrival at the highest echelon of North Americansportscar racing twenty years ago, Dyson Racing has won more races and championshipsthan any other top-tier professional sportscar racing team. The team's initialsuccesses came with prototype cars from Porsche in Germany. Then, after nine yearsthe rules for sportscar racing changed, and Dyson Racing began a long and fruitfulassociation with Indianapolis-based Riley & Scott, campaigning its Mk. IIIto victory twice in the Daytona 24-hour race, and to a combined total of 15 driverand team championships.

"We had a wonderful relationship with Riley& Scott for many years," said Chris Dyson, who in addition to his outsidebusiness activities, as Sporting Director oversees the team's day-to-day operations."And they are a terrific car company. But changes in the rule package inthe American Le Mans Series (ALMS), where we chose to compete, forced us to findan alternative chassis manufacturer. We're fortunate to have developed the samesort of excellent relationship with Lola Cars International in England."

Team manager Randall Kelsey, who at 26 is in his 11th season with DysonRacing and serves as an example of the stability of the team's internal relationships,notes with satisfaction the quality of the Dyson-Lola working relationship. "Wemay be separated physically by the Atlantic Ocean, but our lines of communicationare quite strong and we get everything we need from them."

Theresults are clear. In 2003, the first full season running the Lola, Chris Dysoncaptured the American Le Mans Series 675LMP Drivers Championship and the teammatched the speed of the vaunted Audi factory team, with Dyson drivers James Weaverand Butch Leitzinger winning overall at Sonoma, Calif. last summer.

"Wehave two English drivers with Andy Wallace and James," said Rob Dyson, "andtwo Americans with Butch and Chris. James has driven for us since 1987 and Butchand Andy since 1995. And like Randall Kelsey, Chris has literally grown up withthe team. He doesn't remember when he wasn't going to races with us. Everyoneworks well together and this kind of stability means that when we're setting upthe car at the race track, there's not a lot of wasted motion."

Whenexamining Dyson Racing's most recent successes, the last piece of the puzzle isrepresented by another overseas partner, Advanced Engine Research (AER). "Thehigh-tech rules we race under in the ALMS meant that we needed to develop a partnershipwith an organization that could design, develop and manufacture a very high-technologypure racing engine for us," Chris Dyson noted. "In AER we found thatpartner. We've worked together on the development of the engine, giving them ourfeedback. And they've been tremendously responsive.

"Last year we wereable to match the Audi's performance most of the time," the younger Dysonobserved. "With our partners support, we've made a good deal of progressover the winter, and it's our expectation that this year we'll be fully competitivewith them and everyone else from the first race this month at Sebring and at everyother track on the schedule."