AMR wins on ALMS return as Dyson clinch title

Aston Martin Racing proved there’s still plenty left in its mothballed LMP1 coupe by winning on its return to the American Le Mans Series last Sunday, while second position was enough to give Dyson Racing the outright title.

The #007 machine shared by Stefan Mucke, Adrian Fernandez and Harold Primat overcame the #16 Lola-Mazda of Chris Dyson, Guy Smith and Jay Cochran late in the six-hour event at Laguna Seca to ease what has so far proved a miserable season for the Prodrive-run team.

Having been forced to change an engine after morning warm-up, Chris Dyson began the race strongly from pole but soon slipped back behind Mucke, team-mate Butch Leitzinger in the sister Dyson machine and Muscle Milk Aston Martin of Lucas Luhr.

But while one Lola-Mazda was going backwards, the other was making ground and soon passed Mucke for the lead. The two Aston Martin coupes then embarked on a titanic scrap that resulted in contact on two occasions, Luhr receiving a penalty for the latter. 

Although Dyson’s pace had dropped, staying on the lead lap allowed the combination of Guy Smith and the team’s rapid pit-work to leapfrog the #16 car back to the head of the field at the 90 minute mark.

And by the end of his stint the team had opened out a decent cushion over the chasing works Aston. Cochran though was unable to maintain Smith’s pace and would eventually lose the lead, before briefly putting the championship champagne on ice when first a puncture and then a spin cost the car third.

But by that stage an engine problem had already cost the Muscle Milk Aston over an hour in the pits, all but ending its title chances, and when Humaid Al Masaood was also forced to make a number of unscheduled pit visits, second was once again Cochran’s for the taking.   

GT provided great entertainment as Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW pair Joey Hand and Dirk Muller clinched the crown with second place. Both they and class winners Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long in the Flying Lizards Porsche passed Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander’s fuel-deprived Risi Ferrari on the final lap, before a post-race penalty for contact also promoted Extreme Speed Ferrari duo Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek.

It was actually a GT 1-2 for Porsche whose experimental hybrid 911 finished first on the road, but outside the classification, in the hands of Romain Dumas and Richard Lietz.     

Just three tenths separated LMPC class winner Elton Julian and Gunnar Jeanette at the chequered flag while GTC was only resolved four minutes from the finish when Spencer Pumpelly passed Jeroen Bleekemolen. 

Catch live American Le Mans Series coverage on Motors TV.


Tom Hornsby