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Northern Red Lights

Chris Dyson and Guy Smith finished the accident shortened Grand Prix of Mosport fifth in LMP in their Castrol Mazda Lola after repairs from an on-track incident put them down the running order. “The car was quick, and at the end, was fastest it had been all weekend,” noted Smith.

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Chris Dyson started the #16 entry from the back of the twenty-nine car grid after discovering two punctures after qualifying and the team elected to change all four tires. He was seventeenth after the first lap, eleventh on the second and sixth on the fourth. He passed David Brabham for third on the thirty-third lap and was second three laps later. On the fifty-fourth lap, a little more than an hour into the race, Dyson got pinched between two cars going into turn two and was hit on the left rear. He brought the car in for damage assessment and fuel, tires and a driver change. Smith came back to the pits a lap later to have the left rear suspension toe adjusted.

“I had a good run going down to turn two and there was a hole. I took advantage of it, but it got closed and I was moved over and hit on the left rear,” said Dyson. “From there it became a run for championship points with Guy driving a head’s down race. Unfortunately our fight back to the front ended when the race was red flagged early.”

Two hours into the race, the #48 Porsche was tapped in the rear and crashed heavily into the Armco barrier on the Andretti Straight. The driver walked away, but the barrier was severely damaged. After fifteen minutes of yellow, the race was red flagged for forty–five minutes and than ended with a parade lap behind the pace car when it was determined that repairs would take three hours or more.

“Chris’s pace today showed that we had a car capable of challenging for the win,” said Smith. “We made some good changes to the car overnight that were quite bold and the car was very quick. We learned from the weekend and all and all it was quite positive. We were fast in qualifying and look forward to showing our strengths at Petit.”

The 13th annual Petit Le Mans ends the 2010 American Le Mans Series season on October 2nd. Over forty-five entries are expected including Peugeot and Audi. Dyson Racing won LMP2 last year, making Mazda the only manufacturer to have won both the 24 hours of Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans.

You can also check our extensive Photo Coverage of the American Le Mans Series at Mosport by clicking HERE 

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