POUGHKEEPSIE, NY July 14, 2009 – Activities continued non-stop for Dyson Racing during the two month American Le Mans Series break for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Some highlights since May and ahead of this weekend’s race at Lime Rock:
• Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti came in second in P2 at the last race at Salt Lake City on May 17th, a half second behind the winning car. Chris Dyson and Guy Smith finished third in class in their BP Mazda Lola Coupe. Both Mazda cars led the race in Utah, underscoring the team’s rapid development of the new package.
• The team comes to Lime Rock second in the Team Championship with Chris Dyson and Guy Smith second in the Drivers Championship and Marino Franchitti and Butch Leitzinger three points back in third.
• Three of the four Dyson Racing drivers competed in the French endurance classic on June 14. Chris Dyson in the #25 RML AD Group LMP2 Mazda Lola Coupe finished sixth in class. Marino Franchitti in the #87 GT2 Drayson Racing Aston Martin was eleventh in class and the #40 Quifel LMP2 ASM Ginetta-Zytek with Guy Smith unfortunately went out in the third hour.
• Guy Smith and his wife Alicia celebrated the birth of their second daughter, Priya Mae Smith on June 3rd and Butch Leitzinger and his wife Kirsten adopted a baby boy, Henry Christian Leitzinger, on June 24th.
• The team tested during the second week of July at the gorgeous and brand new Monticello Motor Club circuit in Monticello, NY.
• Lime Rock is the team’s home track with the shop less than an hour away.
• Chris Dyson took his Skip Barber Competition Course at Lime Rock in 1995.
• Butch Leitzinger has raced at Lime Rock 18 of the past 20 years, including his 14 years with Dyson Racing. He has four overall wins, including the 1994 Lime Rock NASCAR Busch North race.
• The team will be hosting a small group of Tuskegee Airman from the NY area on race day at Lime Rock on July 18th. The Airman are part of the 332nd Fighter Group that flew 179 escort missions over Germany during the war. The Fighter Group shot down 111 enemy aircraft, destroyed another 150 on the ground and knocked out more than 600 railroad cars.
• Dyson Racing celebrated its 25th anniversary in professional racing last year at Lime Rock. The team continues its run as the premier sports car team in the US with seventeen championships, sixty-one victories, one hundred seventy podiums and fifty-six poles to its credit.
The Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 18th. The race will air live on SPEED. American Le Mans Radio and live timing & scoring will be available at Racehub on americanlemans.com. The race can also be followed on the Series on Twitter (almsnotes).
