- Smith sets race’s fastest lap on his way to third place.
(Poughkeepsie, NY, 24 August 2015) Guy Smith marked a successful return to Bentley Team Dyson Racing with a third-place finish in his Bentley Continental GT3 in Sunday’s Pirelli World Challenge race at Miller Motorsports Park. Smith set the race’s fastest lap during the course of a race-long battle with the Ryan Dalziel piloted Porsche, who wasn’t settled in Smith’s favour until three laps from the end.
“Ryan is a world-class driver and he’s trying to win a championship, so he was very motivated to keep me behind him,” Smith said following the race. “My Bentley and his Porsche were very closely matched. The rear-engine configuration of his car meant maybe a bit more traction coming off the turns, but I had an advantage under braking. Ryan was fair, but he was also very good at not giving much opportunity to make a successful move on him. But I kept the pressure on and eventually he bobbled.” Smith’s Bentley quickly pulled out a comfortable lead over Dalziel.
The duel for third place between the Bentley and the Porsche proved the highlight of the race for spectators who attended the race and promises to be a major focus of the CBS Sports Network broadcast (Sunday, 30 August, 4:00 PM Eastern GMT -5.) In recognition of Smith’s triumph in his race with series point-leader Dalziel and for setting the fastest lap of the race, Smith was honoured in the post-race ceremonies with the “Move of the Race” award.
“Our team overcame some setbacks this weekend,” said Bentley Team Dyson Racing founder and CEO Rob Dyson. “We were all pleased with Guy’s performance this weekend. And I think we will be quite competitive next weekend at Sonoma.”
Brian Gush, Bentley Director of Motorsport, was at the track and congratulated Smith and the team on their performance. “The competition is tough in the Pirelli World Challenge, as it is in all the series around the globe where Bentley competes. It was great to see a strong result here on Guy’s part to back up Chris Dyson’s win for the team at Road America last month.”
Dyson started Sunday’s race in 13th position and finished 14th after getting caught for most of the race behind a knot of slightly slower cars. “Guy and I drove together for several years in prototype racing and he did a great job for us when he drove one of our Bentleys at the end of the 2014 season. I’m very pleased that he’s re-joined us. I’m looking forward to Sonoma next weekend.”
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