I was very happy to see the news that Guy Smith took pole position for the ALMS race today at Leguna Seca. If you recall, Guy Smith is the driver who, in 2003, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans as one of the Team Bentley drivers. I'll post a picture of that car in a moment. I've met and spoke with Guy Smith a couple of times and I can say he is a very down to earth Gentleman and one hell of a fine driver; Dyson is lucky to have him! If you do Twitter, you can follow Guy: @GuySmith16. See the rest of the press release below.
For Immediate Release Contact: Brian Wagner: 760.215.9086 wagnerindy@sbcglobal.net
Fastest Mazda at Mazda Raceway
MONTEREY, CA May 21, 2010 – “There is no better place to put a Mazda on pole than Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,” commented Chris Dyson on Guy Smith’s pole-winning effort for tomorrow’s American Le Mans Series Monterey Presented by Patron. This is Smith’s first pole for Dyson Racing, the first overall pole for Dunlop in the series, the first of the year for isobutanol-fueled Dyson Racing, and the first for ARCO.
The team was fastest in all practice sessions prior to qualifying. “The ARCO Mazda car has been great all weekend. Qualifying was a bit fraught though,” said Smith. “I would push for half a lap and than hit traffic and I was getting frustrated. I was driving up to the Corkscrew, had a little word with myself to take it easy and find some track space, and I was able to find a clear lap. I put my head down and was just determined to get pole position. We have come close many times and I just made up my mind that we were not going to lose it this weekend.”
This is the second ALMS race this year with the LMP1 and LMP2 classes merged into one prototype class, making this the first overall pole for Dyson Racing since Portland of 2006. “Guy is like the mailman, he always delivers,” said Rob Dyson. “It is nice to see all the hard work of our team and the development work by our partners paying off. The Dunlop tires have been great here. Working with Dunlop is a two-way conversation and they are listening to us to help develop better tires.”
Joining the team for tomorrow’s six-hour endurance race will be Andy Meyrick who partnered with Chris Dyson and Guy Smith at the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring. This is Andy’s first time at Mazda Raceway. “This is known as one of the more challenging circuits in America. I have found the elevation changes are quite something and the Corkscrew is like falling off the edge of the world, but I am enjoying it all.”
Guy Smith ran the 26 mile London Marathon in less than four hours last month. Good training for six hours around the iconic eleven-turn 2.238 mile Mazda Raceway!
Tomorrow’s 2:30 p.m. PT race will be streamed live at americanlemans.com in partnership with TodoCast.tv. CBS Sports will broadcast the event from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 29. Live radio coverage will be available on ALMS Radio as well as Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 242.
Pos Car# Class Drivers Best Time Car Make
1 16 P Dyson/Smith/Meyrick 1:12.338 Mazda MZR-R
2 1 P Pagenaud/Brabham/Franchitti 1:13.009 HPD ARX-01
3 6 P Gidley/Graf/Maassen 1:13.855 Porsche RS Spyder
4 37 P Field/Field/Konstant 1:15.208 Lola B06 10
5 12 P Willman/Burgess/Ehret 1:15.775 Lola B06 10
6 8 P Drayson/Cocker/Pirro 1:16.297 Lola B09 60
7 52 PC Mowlem/Papadopoulis/Lewis 1:17.800 Oreca FLM09
8 99 PC Jeannette/Julian/Zugel 1:17.971 Oreca FLM09
9 55 PC T ucker/Bouchut/Wilkins 1:18.212 Oreca FLM09
10 36 PC Sutherland/Weickardt/Marcelli 1:18.256 Oreca FLM09
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