12.19.06
>>Well
the big news is that Dyson Racing has purchased two Porsche RS Spyders
and will be leaving the LMP1 ranks for LMP2. Will Dyson's results
be any different vs. uber Team Penske? For their sake let's hope
so...It is understood at this time that the team's Lolas are up for sale.
Full press release
follows:
Dyson Racing
and Porsche Partners Again
POUGHKEEPSIE,
NY Dec. 18 – Dyson Racing and Porsche are back together: the Thetford/Norcold
team will be running two LMP2 RS Spyders in the American Le Mans Series
in 2007. The team ran Porsche 962s in IMSA GTP from 1985 through 1991,
winning a dozen races with nineteen podium finishes and four consecutive
Porsche Cups. They won the first race they ran with the Porsche at Lime
Rock in May of 1985. In the two decades since, they have not relinquished
their title as America’s premier sports car team.
“The 962 was an exquisite
looking race car,” noted Rob Dyson. “And like the old air plane adage,
if it looks right, it will fly right. It was a great car to drive and that
is what Porsche does best, building ultimate customer race cars with their
renowned
engineering and
support behind them. To combine that Porsche perfection with our successful
tradition brings a whole new level of enthusiasm to our team for the upcoming
season. This is a reuniting of old family members, building on our partnership
of mutual respect and a shared winning history.”
Hartmut
Kristen, head of Porsche Motorsport worldwide, was pleased that a team
of Dyson’s caliber has decided to embrace the RS Spyder program. “When
we announced our ALMS participation, it was our target to have the RS Spyder
being raced by customer teams in 2007,” said Krisen. “We will continue
our development work together with the Penske Motorsports team. The results
of this work will be made available to our customer teams. The RS Spyders
for Penske and Dyson are exactly the same 2007 models, and the engines
we are providing to the teams are identical as well.”
“We will be competing
next year with a proven package that has race data and advancement behind
it,” Chris Dyson said. “Porsche won the ALMS championship last year and
that is a strong selling point. Our team will be racing at the most
competitive level in ALMS, where new teams, drivers and manufactures are
going to be focusing their considerable resources. We will be able to showcase
who we are as a team and concentrate on winning races and championships.”
Dyson
Racing has sixteen team and driver championships and sixty-one wins since
that first GTP win at Lime Rock twenty one years ago. Anchoring this new
package and era for Dyson Racing will be the familiar #20 blue and white
Thetford/Norcold entry driven by Chris Dyson and Guy Smith and #16 with
Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace. The team will be testing their first
car at the January 21 – 24 ALMS Winter Test at Sebring and racing both
at the first race of the season, the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring March
17.
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