The Dyson Racing Team scored its first-ever win in the American Le Mans Series Sunday with an exciting, come-from-behind victory in the Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway, presented by the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa and Foster’s Lager.
James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger not only gave team owner Rob Dyson his first ALMS win, but made history as the first drivers to score an overall win with an LMP 675 car. The two drove a Lola EX257-MG.
Frank Biela and Marco Werner finished second overall and first in the LMP 900 class in the Infineon Team Joest Audi R8. Johnny Herbert made an exciting last-lap pass to take third place for he and teammate JJ Lehto in the ADT Champion Racing Audi, beating the Doran Lista Dallara-MG of Bill Auberlen and Didier Theys. Olivier Beretta and Gunnar Jeannette finished fifth in the JML Team Panoz.
Though the Dyson team has been one of North America’s most successful sports car racing teams of the past 15 years, the team had not won a race in the ALMS since the series was formed in 1999. Team owner Rob Dyson invested in the new Lola-MG machine last year with the goal of scoring overall wins, as well as class wins.
“I’m sure it was exciting,” said Leitzinger, from State College, Penn. “I think this win is a very good thing for sports car racing. This class was formed to give the privateer teams like Dyson a way to take on the big factory teams. We’ve just proven the vision for the sport. For a team like Dyson to be able to put up a fight is good for the sport overall.”
Scott Atherton, President and CEO of the American Le Mans series, agreed.
“This is a very significant and historical occasion for the American Le Mans Series. Our most sincere congratulations go out to Rob Dyson to to all of the members of this team for what they have accomplished. They worked very hard with testing and development of
the car and this is their reward,” he said.
“When the ACO introduced this class of car a few years ago, they had the vision that with the right set of circumstances – the right team, right drivers, right track – that the LMP 675 could compete head-to-head with the LMP 900,” he said. “We saw today that the ACO
had the correct vision because this was one of the most exciting and competitive races in sports car racing history, not just for the overall win but also for the class wins. This bodes well not only for the rest of the 2003 season but also for the future of the American Le Mans
Series.”
Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell won the GTS class in the factory Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, barely edging the second factory Corvette of Oliver Gavin and Kelly Collins. The win was the third consecutive in ALMS competition at Infineon Raceway for O’Connell and Fellows.
“It was a great fight,” said Fellows. “The cars (Corvettes) were evenly matched. There were places where they were better and places where we were better. A great, great race. This is a great race track to have this kind of fight. It’s tricky and then you throw in the traffic and it’s like high-speed chess.”
David Brabham and Jan Magnussen, making their debut in the Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello, finished third in the GTS class.
Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr won the GT class in the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS, with Luhr snatching the lead from fellow Alex Job Racing driver Timo Bernhard on the next-to-last lap. The Porsche of Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister finished second, .524 second behind, with third place going to the Risi Competizione Ferrari 360 Modena of Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro.
The American Le Mans Series heads to Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, for Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres Aug. 1-3.
The finish order of the Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma, with starting position in parentheses, drivers, hometown or country, type car (class), laps completed, reason out, if any, winning time and margin of victory:
1. (1) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; James Weaver, England; Lola EX257/AER MG (P675), 102, 2:45:57.739, 3.708 seconds.
2. (3) Frank Biela, Germany; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi R8 (P900), 102.
3. (4) JJ Lehto, Finland; Johnny Herbert, England; Audi R-8 (P900), 102.
4. (5) Didier Theys, Belgium; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Dallara MG (P900), 102.
5. (6) Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Panoz LMP01/EPP (P900), 101.
6. (32) David Saelens, Belgium; Benjamin Leuenberger, Switzerland; Panoz LMP01/EPP (P900), 101.
7. (2) Andy Wallace, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola EX257/AER MG (P675), 100.
8. (27) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny OConnell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C5-R (GTS), 97.
9. (8) Oliver Gavin, England; Kelly Collins, Corona Del Mar, CA; Corvette C5-R (GTS), 97.
10. (17) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; David Brabham, Australia; Ferrari 550 Maranello (GTS), 96.
11. (9) Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Rick Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Lola B2K10/MG (P900), 94.
12. (31) Peter Kox, The Netherlands; Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Ferrari 550 Maranello (GTS), 94.
13. (30) Lucas Luhr, Germany; Sascha Maassen, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 93.
14. (13) Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Timo Bernhard, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 93.
15. (14) Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Anthony Lazzaro, Acworth, GA; Ferrari 360 Modena (GT), 93.
16. (16) Kevin Buckler, Sonoma, CA; Cort Wagner, Pacific Palisades, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 93.
17. (15) Johnny Mowlem, England; Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 92.
18. (12) Jason Workman, Gainesville, GA; Dave McEntee, Novato, CA; Lola B2K/40/Nissan (P675), 92.
19. (19) Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; David Murry, Cumming, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 91.
20. (35) Peter Baron, Deerfield Beach, FL; Leo Hindery, New York, NY; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 91.
21. (18) Michael Schrom, Ghent, NY; Pierre Ehret, Santa Rosa, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 90.
22. (11) Emanuelle Naspetti, Italy; Domenico Schiattarella, Italy; Ferrari 550 Maranello (GTS), 90.
23. (25) Jay Policastro, Latrobe, PA; Joe Policastro, Latrobe, PA; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 89.
24. (20) Scott Bader, Santa Monica, CA; Oswaldo Negri, Miami, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 87.
25. (24) Eliseo Salazar, Chile; Stephan Gregoire, France; Ferrari 360 Modena (GT), 87.
26. (26) Vic Rice, San Rafael, CA; Keith Alexander, New York, NY; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 87.
27. (23) Terry Borcheller, Phoenix, AZ; Shane Lewis, Jupiter, FL; Ferrari 360 Modena (GT), 87.
28. (21) Marc Bunting, Monkton, MD; Chris Gleason, Johnstown, PA; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 81.
29. (36) Robin Liddell, Scotland; Alex Davison, Australia; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 72
30. (29) Jean-Philippe Belloc, France; Aaron Povoledo, Canada; Dodge Viper GTS-R (GTS), 71, Engine
31. (7) Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Tomy Drissi, Hollywood, CA; R&S MK IIIC/Lincoln (P900), 45, Oil Leak
32. (22) Andy Lally, New York, NY; Spencer Pumpelly, Washington, DC; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 44, Suspension
33. (28) Andrea Garbagnati, Monaco; Ludovico Manfredi, Key Biscayne, FL; Ferrari 360 Modena (GT), 31, Electrical
34. (34) Joe Foster, Lawrenceville, GA; Rick Skelton, Atlanta, Brad Nyberg, Houston, Panoz Esperante GT-LM/Elan (GT), 28, Suspension
35. (10) Jeff Bucknum, Lake Havasu City, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Pilbeam MP91/Willman 6/1EX (P675), 24, Suspension
36. (33) Duncan Dayton, North Salem, NY; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Lola EX257/AER MG (P675), 0, did not start.
