Andy Meyrick, the 25-year-old British driver who partnered Chris Dyson and Guy Smith at the Sebring 12 Hours and Laguna Seca 6 Hours earlier this year, may not have raced Dyson Racing\u2019s Mazda-powered Lola B09\/86 coupe since May, but he has been far from idle.<\/p>\n
Welsh-born Meyrick made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June in the French AIM Team ORECA Matmut 01 prototype, securing a magnificent fourth place overall behind the three Audi Sport entries.\u00a0\u00a0 Following that career zenith, and alongside a regular and intense fitness regime, designed to keep him 100% race fit, he has made a visit to Road America in August to spend time updating himself with Dyson Racing team\u2019s developments since May.\u00a0 He has also taken part in the Silverstone 1000 Km race (the inaugural round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup) in a Lola Aston Martin prototype for Aston Martin Racing so now feels fully race-ready as well as race-fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So it is to Road Atlanta, Georgia that he now turns his attention for the ALMS season finale, Petit Le Mans.\u00a0 The 1000 mile, or 10-hour (whichever comes first), race is one of the high points of any sports car driver\u2019s calendar and Meyrick can\u2019t wait to be there as a competitor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to Petit Le Mans last year as a spectator, just to meet people and to watch,\u201d Andy remembers.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s an awesome place!\u00a0 I arrived in the middle of one of the practice sessions and there was Gil de Ferran and David Brabham battling it out in their Acuras.\u00a0 Despite having driven the Audi R10 last year, it was the first time I\u2019d watched a prototype from the outside, as it were, and I hadn\u2019t appreciated just how quick they went.\u00a0 I thought then, that\u2019s where I want to be next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cDyson Racing won the LMP2 class in that 2009 rain-shortened race, making Mazda the only manufacturer to have won both the 24 hours of Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans, although Chris and Guy were officially \u2018unclassified\u2019 as the car was running on iso-butanol for the first time.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Andy continues, \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to returning to Dyson, and being with Chris and Guy again; it should be good fun.\u00a0 It will, however, be a tough race with Highcroft Racing going for a championship title and the Cytosport Porsche which will be very quick with Luhr, Maassen and Graf.\u00a0 It might be a small class but it\u2019s going to be very competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of his pre-race preparations, Andy will running a half-marathon on Sunday morning (September 26) near his home in Cheshire.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been training hard but you have to adopt a different approach to when you are racing regularly.\u00a0 You have to structure and plan your training more specifically, especially with leg and neck endurance work although it\u2019s hard to simulate actually being in the car.\u00a0 The best preparation though was racing at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago as not only was there a big field, just like we\u2019re expecting at Petit Le Mans, but it also has a number of high speed corners.\u00a0 I felt really good there so am sure I\u2019ll also be fine at Road Atlanta.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n