 TONY BURGESS
American Le Mans Series veteran Tony Burgess rejoined Dyson Racing for the 15th annual Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda, driving the #20 entry along with co-drivers Chris McMurry and Mark Patterson. At the conclusion of the nine and a half hour, 394 lap race, the trio was third in ALMS P1 points. He first joined Dyson Racing for his home race, the Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport on July 22nd where he finished third in P1 followed by the Road Race Showcase at Road America on August 18th, garnering a third place finish at the end of the four-hour race.
“I am very much looking forward to driving again with Dyson Racing and reteaming with Chris McMurry," said Burgess before the season-ending race. "The Mosport and Road America races were enjoyable and hard fought, and it will be good to get back in the car again. The Petit Le Mans is a classic endurance race and this will be exciting and competitive opportunity.”
“We have been speaking with Tony for some time about putting a program together,” said team V.P. and Sporting Director Chris Dyson. “I’m delighted we were able to come up with the right situation for his home race at Mosport and also to get him on board at Road America and now the Petit Le Mans. Tony’s got a wealth of experience in prototypes. He runs consistently and keeps it clean, and he has a great attitude towards the team. He has proven himself to be great addition to the #20 car lineup, and we’re looking forward to utilizing his capabilities again.”
Tony started his racing career on enduro motorcycles, including a 24 hour motorcycle race at Mosport, and switched to racing on four wheels in 1990. He began racing sports cars in international events in 1997 and has sixteen 24 hour sports car races to his credit at Le Mans, Daytona, Spa and Bathurst. His first 24 Hours of Le Mans was in 2000, where he finished third in class in GT2. Tony started racing in the American Le Mans Series the same year and has been a regular competitor in the ALMS the past twelve years. He got his first taste of prototypes while racing in the 2006 European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class. He moved up to LMP1 in the ALMS the following year, capturing third place at Mosport with Autocon Motorsports. He continued racing the familiar orange cars of Autocon through the 2011 season finishing fourth in the ALMS drivers’ championship.
He is closing in on one hundred sports car races since his start in 1997. During those years, he has raced in more than ten countries and has fifty-five ALMS races under his belt. Tony lives in Toronto and has a degree in aerospace engineering from Ryerson University.
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