Petit Le Mans

BRASELTON, GA October 5, 2007 – This weekend marks the tenth running of the Petit Le Mans which was also the first race for the American Le Mans Series. Dyson Racing has an extensive history at the Petit Le Mans and expanded it further today. Butch Leitzinger qualified the #16 Porsche RS Spyder a second under the LMP2 record and Chris Dyson missed beating it in the sister #20 Thetford/Norcold entry by a tenth of a second. The 16 car qualified fifth in the LMP2 class and the #20 car will line up eighth in class.

“The track was very green from all the rain we had since yesterday and there was virtually no rubber down,” noted Leitzinger. “That changed the conditons enough that we had quite a bit more understeer than we had yesterday. But the track will rubber up throughout the race. We may make some small changes, but we will be careful not to chase the track because the track will come to us.”

Chris Dyson noted that “we tested here two weeks ago. It was important for us to understand the surface changes with the repaving. We built a data base on tire wear and damper and aerodynamic settings that served us well this week. The key here is to concentrate on getting a drivable car for a thousand miles.”

And make no mistake, this is a classic endurance race. James Weaver once computed that the amount of time you are full throttle at Road Atlanta is a higher percentage that even at Le Mans. Both Andy Wallace and Butch Leitzinger were in the first Petit Le Mans and have more experience here than virtually any one else in the field. Endurance specialist Andy Lally joins Wallace and Leitzinger for this race and Chris Dyson has finished off the podium only once in the past four years including a runner up finish in 2005 with Guy Smith. A good combination to have for a long road trip in the red clay hills of Georgia.

The 10th running of Petit Le Mans, the annual 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic at Road Atlanta, is set for 11:15 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 6. SPEED will broadcast live from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 6:30 to 10 p.m. ALMS Radio and IMSA’s Live Timing and Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.