24/10/06 - LAGUNA SECA ALMS ACTION
Lola sportscars finished an action packed and successful season of racing at the final round of the 2006 American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca over the weekend.

Dyson Racing rounded off the season by securing 2nd place in the drivers standings with James Weaver finishing off his long and triumphant career with a well earned 4th place in the LMP1 class with his team mate Chris Dyson.

Weaver announced his retirement in California, bringing to an end a 20 year career at Dyson Racing.

In his last race, Weaver showed that both he and the Dyson Lola B06/10-AER were still a match for the competition by carving out one of his characteristic charges to the front of the field. Starting 7th, the blue and white Lola was in 3rd place by the time of the first pit stops and Weaver had his sights set on the leading Zytek and the Audi R10 of Allan McNish.

When contact was made between the Audi and the Zytek in the second hour, Weaver was able to capitalise and lead for a lap in the turbo powered Lola.

After handing over to Chris Dyson at the second scheduled pit stop, the Dyson team were still in 3rd position as the race entered its 3rd hour.

When the safety car was deployed for an accident, Dyson was able to get the jump on Frank Biela in the second of the Audi R10’s and pull off a ‘Zanardiesque’ overtaking move in to the fabled Corkscrew downhill sweep.

Sadly for the team, some track resurfacing combined with lower temperatures in the evening meant that the scintillating pace of the Lola dropped in the final portion of the race. Chris Dyson also lost time with a final lap altercation with the Zytek but still finished in 4th place in LMP1.

“Driving with James in his last race is a great honour,” said Chris Dyson after the event. “He is what every driver aspires to be and more importantly, what every person aspires to be. There is no one more honourable, upstanding and giving as a person. He has been a member of our family, and he’s one of the most influential people in my life.”

Autocon Motorsports finished the Laguna Seca race in 6th place in LMP1 with their ex Dyson Racing Lola B01/60-AER. John Graham joined Bryan Willman and Michael Lewis on the driving side for the final round of the year.

Unfortunately, their race began badly when suspension damage necessitated a pit stop in the opening laps. After driving almost an entire lap slowly back to the pits and then losing many laps fixing the rear of the Lola, the team showed their tenacity with a dogged drive to the flag.


LMP2

Intersport Racing once again scored a podium place in the LMP2 category to finish a close second to the Penske Porsche team in the final standings.

Mirroring their race at Petit Le Mans three weeks ago, the Ohio based fought back after a large practice accident. The team once again worked wonders to get the car ready for the race itself and Jon Field started well, following the Porsches in 3rd place in the LMP2 class.

Both Jon Field and his son Clint drove largely trouble free stints, along with Liz Halliday, to finish in 3rd place in LMP2 and 12th place overall. It was the teams 9th podium position of the season and they finished just 18 points adrift of the Porsche pair of Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen. The Intersport Racing Lola also finished every race that it started on the podium during the 2006 campaign, showcasing the car’s impeccable reliability.

Horag-Lista entered their second event of the year in California with the Judd powered LolaB05/40 raced by Fredy Leinhard and Didier Theys.

After qualifying 6th in class, Theys started brightly and ran 4th at one stage. The Belgian then handed the Lola over to Leinhard who was making progress through the field when he was involved in a nasty looking accident when he spun at Turn 10 and was collected by the Gt2 Panoz of Scott Maxwell.

“I was doing quite OK,” Lienhard said later. “I was catching up on a slower Ferrari. The safest place to pass him was in Turn 10, but he closed the door on me. Then I spun about 90 degrees, and the Panoz behind me had nowhere to go and hit me. It was just a racing accident,” concluded the experienced Swiss racer.

As the competitors take a well earned winter break, Lola engineers are flat out back at their Huntingdon base developing and testing new aerodynamic and mechanical advancements on the LMP1 and LMP2 designs.

More wind tunnel testing at Lola’s state of the art, on-site facility will enable current and future customers to reap more successful results in 2007.

Just a few of the updates and major improvements for next season include:

- Performance gains at low and medium downforce tracks
- Significant weight saving through bodywork updates
- Additional development on third spring system for rear suspension
- Reduce ride height sensitivity in all downforce configurations
- Increased durability of gearbox to reduce risk of damage from abrupt shifts

ssmith@lolacars.com OR Please contact Lola Cars


RACE RESULTS

Pos Cl. Drivers Car Laps
1. P1 Capello/McNish Audi R10 TDI Power 159
2. P1 Pirro/Biela Audi R10 TDI Power 159
3. P1 Minassian/Primat Creation CA06/H-01 Judd 159
4. P2 Dumas/Luhr Porsche RS Spyder 158
5. P2 Maassen/Bernhard Porsche RS Spyder 158
6. P1 Weaver/Dyson Lola B06/10 AER 158
7. P1 Johansson/Mowlem Zytek 06S 157
8. GT1 Sarrazin/Lamy Aston Martin DB9 153
9. GT1 Beretta/Gavin Corvette C6.R 153
10. GT1 Fellows/O'Connell Corvette C6.R 152
11. GT1 Turner/Enge Aston Martin DB9 152
12. P J Field/Halliday/ C Field Lola B05/40 AER 151
13. GT2 Salo/Ortelli Ferari 430 GT Berlinetta 149
14. GT2 Bergmeister/Long Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 149
15. P2 Bach/Cosmo Courage C65 Mazda 148
16. GT2 Rockenfeller/Tiemann Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 148
17. GT2 Law/Neiman Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 145
18. GT2 Milner/Jeannette Panoz Esperante GTLM 145
19. GT2 Van Overbeek/Henzler Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 141
20. GT2 Auberlen/Hand BMW E46 M3 139
21. GT2 Bertolini/Mediani Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta 139
22. P2 Moseley/Vergers Radical SR9 AER 134
23. P1 Lewis/Willman/Graham Lola EX257 AER 127
24. P2 Devlin/Pecorari/ Van der Steur Radical SR 100
25. GT2 Sellers/James/Marks BMW E46 M3 80
26. P2 Theys/Lienhard Sr Lola B05/40 Judd 78
27. GT2 Brabham/Maxwell Panoz Esperante GTLM 76
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Fourth place in LMP1 for the Dyson Lola B06/10 driven by James Weaver and Chris Dyson (seen here).
(Picture americanlemans.com)
John Graham joined Bryan Willman and Michael Lewis in the Autocon Lola EX257/AER finished sixth in LMP1.
(Picture americanlemans.com)
An accident ended the hopes of the Horag-Lista LolaB05/40 and its drivers Fredy Leinhard and Didier Theys.
(Picture americanlemans.com)
Chris Dyson helps James Weaver strap himself into the Dyson car for the last time.
(Picture americanlemans.com)
Third in LMP2 and another reliable run for Liz Halliday and her Intersport teammates jon and Clint Field.
(Picture americanlemans.com)
The Horag-Lista car leads one of the Penske Porsche Spyders.
(Picture americanlemans.com)
Fredy Leinhard and Didier Theys qualified fifth in LMP2.
(Picture americanlemans.com)