ALMS
Dyson Racing is seeking its third straight overall win and fourth straight in class at Mosport.
Courtesy of the American Le Mans Series
It's safe to say that Dyson Racing has figured it out at Mosport. Lately it seems that no matter the year, no matter the competition and no matter the circumstances, the New York-based squad has been the cream of the crop at the American Le Mans Series' only Canadian stop.
The two-car team will search again for its third straight overall win - and fourth straight in class - at this year's Mobil 1 presents Labour Day Weekend Grand Prix of Mosport. A victory this weekend would go a long way toward keeping Dyson in the hunt for the LMP1 championship.
The Dyson-Lola combination has worked well in the past at Mosport. Chris Dyson and Andy Wallace gave the team its first class win there in 2003 (LMP675). In 2004 and '05, James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger beat its sister car and the Audi R8, among others, for overall victories. Dyson Racing also has had a monopoly on pole positions and fast laps since 2003, taking both for three straight years.
"We have always had strong cars at Mosport, dating back to the team's first win here in 1995," said Chris Dyson, who will team with Guy Smith this weekend. "It's the track where we have enjoyed the most success over the past 10 years, and it's a true team favorite. We have always felt a strong connection to the track because it's fairly close to home and the fans are always very well-informed and supportive."
Instead of the Lola EX257 the team has campaigned for the past few years, Dyson Racing has entered two Lola B06/10-AERs, built to the newest LMP1 regulations from the ACO. The 2006 cars are considerably heavier than the older cars, which were based on the ACO's LMP675 classification. The new car is heavier, has a more powerful engine and has larger tires and produces better grip.
"The old car needed higher speed tracks like Mosport," Leitzinger said. "If we would go to a slow-speed track, like a street course, we'd be completely out of water because the car needed air going over it to create grip. The new Lola is much better suited.
"The MG was pretty magic around (Mosport) because it was so light and so nimble and you could really stick it into the corners," Leitzinger added. "You do have to drive this car a bit differently. It's fast in different places. The new car is faster in some of the second-gear, slower speed turns. But in the higher-speed turns we're having to lift a little more than we're used to."
It was Leitzinger who last year drove one of the season's best stints to claim the Mosport win. After Weaver was sent off track by contact with an Audi R8, Leitzinger held off a furious charge by JJ Lehto for a scant 3.625-second victory. The deciding moment came when the No. 16 crew, holding only a 40-second lead over the Audi, decided not to put fresh Michelin rubber on the car during its final pit stop with about a half-hour to go. Leitzinger emerged from pit lane just as Lehto was coming out of the final turn and held on in a spirited battle.
"That race really was all about the strategy call in the pits," Leitzinger said. "We were planning to do a left-side tire change, and the crew rightly saw that if we did that we were never going to win. They asked me if we could go without the tire change, and I said 'yes.' It was a bit of a gamble but the car was working so well that we weren't abusing the front tires."
The next round of the 2006 American Le Mans Series is the Mobil 1 presents Labour Day Grand Prix of Mosport, set for 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 3. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel. American Le Mans Radio's live play-by-play and IMSA Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.