LONG BEACH, CA April 14, 2012 – Dyson Racing occupied four of the six positions on today’s podium for the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. Chris Dyson and Guy Smith came in second overall and second in P1 while Michael Marsal and Eric Lux took home third place honors in P1 in their first race in the top prototype class.
“It was a challenging weekend for Michael and Eric and they did great,” noted Chris Dyson. “We got in only a few very slow laps in the rain yesterday and the first time they drove the track at speed was in the race today. Michael had never been here before and he started the race, handled traffic well and ran competitive laps. Eric’s lap times continued to come down during his stint and they have a podium finish to their credit for their first ALMS P1 race.”
Smith started the race from pole and held off Lucas Luhr in the Muscle Milk entry for the first sixteen laps of the two-hour race. “We led a good part of the race,” commented Smith. “This is only our second race with our new Lola Mazda coupe and we continue to find more speed.”
Dyson got in the #16 G-OIL/ModSpace Lola Mazda on lap forty during the only pit stop for the car and led for eighteen laps. “Our guys gave us a great pit stop and were able to regain the lead,” said Dyson. “There were no yellows for the last part of the race and we had to be mindful of fuel. This will be a very competitive season and these are good points to add to our first place points from the 12 Hours of Sebring.”
After the race, Lux gave his thanks “to everyone at Dyson Racing for giving us a solid car for the race. We had absolutely no time to test this set up. So their knowledge produced a competitive car off the truck. Mike drove an awesome stint for never seeing the track and got up to speed very quickly and handed me a great car to work with.”
Peter Weston, Technical Director of Dyson Racing, said that “you have to rewind a week on how we arrived at today’s set up. We tested at the north track at Sebring which a lot of people use as a street course simulation. It is a 55 second lap, very busy, with lots of braking, and has a good correlation for a Long Beach base set up. If it had been dry yesterday, we would have done an aero sweep because you run less drag here and ride heights can be very critical. A millimeter or two, 40, 80 thousandths of an inch either way, can make a large difference. Our sums ended up working well here today.”
“That is what is so great about working with the Dysons,” noted Marsal. “They have the resources and experience to master any situation thrown at them. This weekend was a good way to start our season together.”
The third race of the ten-race season will be in a month’s time, the six-hour American Le Mans Monterey at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, May 12.
You can follow Dyson Racing at dysonracing.com Facebook; Twitter and our YouTube Channel.
