USRRC: Theys Spins and Wins Lime Rock Thriller
1 June 1999
LAKEVILLE, Conn. - Didier Theys, of Belgium, came back from a late-race spin to pass Rob Dyson, of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., with less than two minutes remaining to win the two-hour, 15-minute USRRC Can-Am and GT Championship race, part of the Dodge Dealers Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. Theys, who teamed with Fredy Lienhard, of Switzerland, in the No. 27 Lista/Michelin/MOMO Ferrari 333 SP, led only the final two laps to beat the No. 20 Goodyear/Bosch/Hella Riley & Scott Ford driven by Dyson, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, of Sherrils Ford, N.C., and Butch Leitzinger, of State College, Pa., by 0.968-second, averaging 97.677 mph in the race slowed by only one caution for six laps.The race started with contact in turn one between Forbes-Robinson and Lienhard, putting the No. 20 car, which started second, to the back of the pack by the end of lap one. The Dyson Racing No. 16 team car of England's Andy Wallace and James Weaver started from the pole and led Jon Field, of Dublin, Ohio, in the No. 28 Banana Joe's Lola Ford until a lap-seven caution brought out for an accident in turn five involving Jim Matthews' No. 36 Michelin/MOMO Ferrari 333 SP and Forbes-Robinson. The Ferrari sustained left-front damage and was unable to continue.
On the lap-13 restart, a four-car battle waged for the lead, including Wallace, Field, Scott Schubot's No. 8 Support Net Riley & Scott Ford and Forbes-Robinson. The lead pack was separated by no more than 1.5 seconds for the next 10 laps until Field and Forbes-Robinson were held-up in traffic. On lap 28, Wallace and Schubot came together, resulting in the Dyson car spinning back to fourth and Schubot gaining an advantage he would hold for the next 21 laps until he and Forbes-Robinson pitted.
Leitzinger took over the No. 20 car and the lead in the pits on lap 50, a spot he and Dyson would maintain until the No. 16 car of Wallace re-took the point on lap 122. Five laps later, the Riley & Scott was in the pits with battery problems handing the lead back to Dyson with Theys on the move and only 14 minutes remaining. Theys made up the 11.9-second margin in five laps and looked to make a move in traffic on Dyson with six minutes remaining, but spun passing a lapped car in the fast "Downhill" corner. Theys continued his charge after his spin, catching and passing Dyson in turn one with two laps to go.
"It's hard to find the words to express this day," said car-owner Lienhard. "This was my first victory in the U.S. and with so many guests and employees of (Leinhard's company) Lista at the race, we are very happy that the race was so close and so exciting. I knew it was a long race, so I had to find a way to keep the race close and give Didier (Theys) a chance to get on the podium. Today is a day to remember."
Dyson held on to second to keep Forbes-Robinson and Leitzinger in the Can-Am points lead, with 62 points, over Wallace, with 58. Schubot and co-driver Henry Camferdam finished third, one lap down, to equal the team's best Can-Am finish.
"I didn't want to ball the car up and I was too conservative in traffic," said Dyson. "I knew Dider (Theys) was running hard, and he probably had a better feel for when to make passes in traffic. I thought our team did a pretty good job, but Didier is one the best sports car drivers in the world. He had the experience to make a superb save on the downhill right-hander in seven. I just didn't get the job done."
Joao Barbosa, of Portugal, Loic Depailler, of France, and Canadian Stephane Roy teamed to take the GT2 class win, sixth overall, in the No. 30 Mosler Automotive Mosler Raptor, averaging 89.236 mph to top the Porsche of Stephen Earle and Michael Schromm by three laps. Barbosa set the Lime Rock Park GT2 lap record, with a time of 0:56.131 (98.768 mph) to beat the mark of 0:57.130 (97..041) set by Marc Duez in 1998.
"The race was more difficult for us than it may have looked," said Depailler, son of the late Formula One star Patrick Depailler. "It took three months to modify this car from the GT1 class to a GT2, and we came into the weekend with no basis for our setup. This was a nice weekend for our team, and we are very proud."
Boris Said, of Carlsbad, Calif., and Austrian Hans Stuck led a BMW sweep of the top four positions in GT3, despite having to pit for a splash of fuel in the late stages. Driving the No. 10 Yokohama/Flextronics/Level One BMW M3, Said survived a high-speed, off-course excursion after contact with a Can-Am car to hand the car off to Stuck, who averaged 89.166 mph to top the No. 6 team car of Peter Cunningham and Mark Simo by 17.57 seconds. The third Prototype Technology Group BMW of Brian Cunningham and Johannes van Overbeek finished third.
"I was very happy to be teamed with Boris (Said) this weekend," said Stuck. "The car was really fine, and I couldn't be happier. I knew if I maintained a consistent lap time then I would catch the leader, and I also had to account for the splash-and-go. After the splash-and-go I was happy to still be in the lead, and am proud to achieve this win."
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