GRAND AM: Dyson Team Sweeps Twin Sprints at Lime Rock
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
May 29, 2001
LAKEVILLE, Conn. -- The Grand American Road Racing Association tried something new at Lime Rock Park today, splitting their Rolex Sports Car Series race into two separate legs for the powerful prototype divisions. The result was a pair of runaways by the hometown-favorite Dyson Racing Team, who captured a sweep of the top-two positions in both legs of the race.
"A one-two finish is tough, even for a good team like we have," said team owner Rob Dyson who lives only 28 miles away from Lime Rock Park in Pleasant Valley, N.Y. "Finishing one-two is always our objective, but we haven't met that objective many times, and never in this series."
Englishman James Weaver dominated the first 40-minute sprint race in Dyson's #16 Ford Riley & Scott, while teammate Elliott Forbes-Robinson (Sherrills Ford, N.C.) finished second in the #20 Ford. After a 10-minute break between races to pit, change drivers and re-grid, the two cars returned to the front of the field for the start of the second race.
Butch Leitzinger (State College, Pa.) quickly took a strong lead in the #16 Ford during the second leg of the twin sprints, while Andy Wallace (England) in the #20 fought off both Jon Field (Columbus, Ohio), in the Intersport Racing #37 Judd Lola, and Didier Theys (Phoenix, Ariz.), in the Doran Lista Racing #27 Judd Ferrari, for second place. "My race was uneventful other than I was the one everyone was attacking for second place," Wallace joked.
Field eventually went out of the race with engine trouble, but Theys kept Wallace on his toes as he threatened, but never managed to capture second place and settled for third.
The SportsRacing Prototype II class was a far closer contest with Howard Katz (New York, N.Y.) winning the first leg of the twin sprints in the #22 Archangel Motorsport Services Nissan Lola, however it was the team's sister car, the #21 Nissan, that Andy Lally (Northpoint, N.Y.) took to the front of the class in the second half of the race for the victory.
Bruno St. Jacques (Montreal, Que.) was all over the SRPII field in the #89 Nissan. The Canadian led early, before dropping back to third behind the two Archangel cars. St. Jacques was then able to take advantage of the #22 Nissan sliding off the track, and moved into second place. With his speed back up at the end of the 45-minute second race, St. Jacques threatened the class leader, but ran out of time.
The conclusion of the Lime Rock Grand Prix marks the midway point of the Rolex Sports Car Series 10-race season. The series will now travel to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the ConAgra Foods U.S. Road Racing Classic, June 7-10.
Text provided by Christie Hyde
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