USRRC: Dyson Cars Battle Each Other to One-Two Mid Ohio Can-Am Finish
7 June 1999
SCHUMACHER, REISER/CALLAS PORSCHES TAKE GT2 AND GT3LEXINGTON, Ohio – England's James Weaver and Andy Wallace captured the U.S. Road Racing Classic Can-Am Championship race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after a fierce battle with their Dyson Racing teammates, Butch Leitzinger and Elliott Forbes-Robinson. Larry Schumacher and John O'Steen, both of Cincinnati, Ohio, won in the GT2 class, with England's Johnny Mowlem and David Murry, of Lilburn, Ga. winning in the GT3 class.
Weaver, who started from the pole in the No. 16 Goodyear/Hella/Bosch Riley & Scott Ford, got the jump early on Leitzinger, driving the No. 20 team car. Over the next two hours, with Wallace taking a stint in the No. 16 car and Forbes-Robinson in the No. 20, the two cars paraded around the 2.25-mile circuit, swapping the lead occasionally, but never being more than three seconds apart.
With 18 minutes remaining in the two-hour, 15-minute contest, Weaver made a bold move heading into two, darting to the left then right before moving inside Leitzinger, bumping him several times before taking the lead. With two laps remaining, Leitzinger responded by diving inside Weaver in turn one, bouncing over the curb and into Weaver. Neither car missed a beat, with Weaver maintaining the point to the finish, 0.591-second ahead of Leitzinger. Weaver and Wallace averaged 90.396 mph over the contest, covering 204.75 miles.
"I thought that I had it covered until two laps from the end," said Weaver. "Then I tripped over a backmarker and I had my hands full. My tires were going off and Butch took advantage of my delay. He got alongside of me once, but I wasn't going to let him pass!"
"It was great to race James (Weaver) like that even though we got caught out on the short end when it was all over," said Leitzinger. "I almost caught him because it looked like his tires were gone. I got alongside him once two laps from the end, but I couldn't get past. He had a bit left."
Scott Schubot and Henry Camferdam teamed to finish third in their No. 8 Support Net Riley & Scott Ford for the second-straight week. John Mirro and Simon Gregg finished fourth in Can-Am followed by Jon Field and Ryan Jones.
Despite qualifying second in GT2, nearly five seconds behind the polesitting Mosler Intruder of Joao Barbosa, the No. 99 Schumacher Racing Porsche 993 GT2 of Larry Schumacher and John O'Steen took the class win. The team led from the 40-minute mark and never looked back, winning by eight laps over the next-closest car. The No. 30 Mosler was plagued by mechanical problems throughout the race and eventually finished third–41 laps behind.
Taking their first win in GT3 was the No. 02 Reiser/Callas Rennsport team of Mowlem and Murry. The team led flag-to-flag despite stiff competition from the No. 07 Jennifer Fund Porsche RSR of Cort Wagner and Darren Law and the No. 51 Aspen Knolls BMW M3 of Shane Lewis and Andy Pilgrim, who finished second and third, on the same lap. The No. 02 car won by only 3.752 seconds.
"There were some really tough cars out there today, but the car ran flawless and I had a great co-driver," said Murry. "This is a new team, and its great to be able to run so competitively and so fast this year."
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