Dyson Racing had an encouraging test of their newly liveried Lola LMP2 Coupe at Sebring last week. Chris Dyson, Marino Franchitti, Guy Smith, Andy Lally and Ben Devlin all sampled the Mazda powered LMP2 racer ahead of the Sebring 12 Hours next month.

The test, organised by Michelin was scheduled over three days and the Dyson squad ran two of those. Delivery of their second car took place the week before and half of the team remained at their Poughkeepsie base to build up the car for a pre Sebring shakedown shortly.

Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos shared two full days’ running in the Lola LMP1 Coupe at the new Algarve circuit in Portugal last week. The Brazilian completed most of the initial set-up work before AD Group’s CEO, Mike Newton stepped aboard. “It’s all gone exceptionally well,” said Phil Barker, Team Manager at RML. “We managed to fulfil virtually everything we’d had scheduled for the two days, and worked on getting everything in line with the new engine and aero package. We made changes overnight that allowed us to work on collecting specific data for this track, and I think we’ve achieved a very good foundation for when we return here in August.”

“The weather has been perfect, and we’ve enjoyed two particularly successful days,” agreed Thomas Erdos. “The guys did a great job in putting the car together, and it didn’t miss a beat throughout all our running. We’ve gained some very valuable data about the circuit, learned lots about the car, and can head off to Paul Ricard with some confidence.”

The Italian Racing Box team completed their first test of their brand new Lola B08/80 LMP2 Coupe at Misano on Friday and Saturday.

The Judd powered Lola sportscar was driven by Mike Hezemans and Andrea Piccini on the 2.4 mile track near the Adriatic coast. Each completed over twenty laps without significant problem, with Piccini setting a best time of 1m33.21s.

The team were planning to run again this week at Vallelunga near Rome before the traditional pre-season test at Paul Ricard in two weeks time.

Matteo Bobbi will be the third driver in the teams first chassis. Thei second car will be driven by Filippo Franchioni, Ferdinando Geri and Andrea Ceccato.

Racing Box will undertake a two car campaign in the 2009 Le Mans Series, as well as hoping to race in the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. The entries for the 77th running of the great race will be announced later this week. Lola could have up to nine entries at La Sarthe this year.

Pictures courtesy of Dyson Racing/Marcus Potts/Racing Box.

The Dyson team discuss their LMP2...



...as it takes to the track at Sebring.



The RML LMP1 car went very well...



...and is seen against the stunning backdrop at the Algarve circuit.



The first outing for the Racing Box team at Misano in their new LMP2 B08/80.