Dyson Racing claimed their second class pole of the season in qualifying for the 13th running of Petit Le Mans, Guy Smith placing the Lola-Mazda atop a P2 battle where three-tenths separated the top three.
Smith who will be joined by regular teammate Chris Dyson as well as Andy Meyrick for the 10 hour or 1000 mile race lapped the 2.54mile track in in1:10.417, bookending the season with pole positions – the team's previous pole coming at Sebring in March.
“This qualifying shows the progress we have made,” said Smith. “Andy Meyrick got in the car this weekend and the first thing he commented on was how much the car has improved.”
“The engineers did a great job for qualifying. We thought we could get pole position, but knew it was going to be close. It was an exciting qualifying session and it bodes well for tomorrow. The race is going to be your normal ten-hour endurance race here – it is going to be a battle all the way through. We feel confident we can do well and it would be great to end the season on a high.”
“This has been the most competitive year in the ALMS,” noted Dyson. “We enter the last race of the season with all championships up for grabs in all four classes. We have numerous Mazda and Castrol guests here this weekend. We gave them something to cheer about today and will work to do the same tomorrow.”
