 HUMAID AL MASAOOD
Humaid joined the American Le Mans Series at Lime Rock in July. Driving the #20 Oryx Dyson Racing Lola Mazda, he came in third in his first race in the series. He continued his strong run throughout the remainder of the season, culminating in winning the Baltimore Grand Prix, his fifth race in America. For both him and his co-driver Steven Kane, this was their first experience in an LMP1 car and the first time racing on the tracks of the American Le Mans Series.
Already a widely recognized driver in the Speed Euroseries, Humaid Al Masaood became the first United Arab Emirati to take part in top-level international sportscar racing when he joined the series for the July, 2011 race in Connecticut. “We joined the ALMS series at Lime Rock with a strong start and we could not have hoped for more. The win in Baltimore was awesome. The car ran great all year and all the guys at Oryx Racing and Dyson Racing put together a car that worked well at every track we raced at. It was a great year.”
Prior to racing here in America, Humaid was active in sprint and endurance sports car racing in the UAE and Europe. He was third in the 2008/9 UAE Radical Championship and continued to race the Radical SR3 in the 2009/10 season. He also ran selected races in the UAE GT championship in an Aston Martin GT4 and took an SP3 class win in the 2009 Dubai 24 Hour. Humaid raced the Aston Martin in a number of rounds of the 2010 FIA GT4 Championship in Europe with good results including a fifth at Paul Ricard. His overseas' 2011 season started well with a second place finish in the SP3 class in the Dubai 24 Hour with his own team. Humaid’s ultimate goal is to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and to that end, he is now competing in LMP1 in the ALMS in cars that are considered the pinnacle of prototype sports car racing – the front running cars raced in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the European Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“We set ourselves the target this year of running the car professionally with good consistent lap times. With the help of everybody at Oryx and Dyson, we more than exceeded those initial expectations. The car is amazingly responsive. Everything about it is honed to perfection: the acceleration, mechanical grip, aerodynamics and braking are all world class.”
Humaid has performed well in every category he has raced in and his new chapter in the ALMS with Dyson Racing is a natural progression. “Humaid has the passion, the focus and the drive that is necessary to succeed in top-line motorsport” observed Chris Dyson. “Most importantly, he recognizes the effort that is required and his application is excellent. We look forward to working with him as he further develops his very promising racing career.”
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