Dyson wins Mid-Ohio duel

The winning Dyson Lola

Dyson Racing won an absolute classic race Saturday in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr¢n as Chris Dyson held off Patr¢n Highcroft Racing’s Simon Pagenaud by 0.506 seconds in the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. Dyson and Guy Smith each won overall in the Series for the first time, as did their Castrol-liveried, Mazda-powered Lola B09/86 coupe.

After Intersport Racing’s Clint Field dominated for the first two hours, Dyson led the final 24 laps in one of the best races the Series has seen. Dyson Racing won overall at Mid-Ohio in 2005, a race where Mazda also won its first Series race in LMP2.

Pagenaud and David Brabham were runners-up for the second straight race but maintained their LMP championship lead. Field and father Jon were third in LMP after the car failed to restart in pit lane.

The winning Risi Ferrari GT team celebrates

The other nail-biter was the GT victory for Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo and Gimmi Bruni in their Ferrari F430 GT. Melo drove the final 90-plus minutes on a reserve fuel pump when the primary system failed and dropped Melo to sixth place. He worked his way back into the lead by going around both of Rahal Letterman Racing’s BMW M3 GTs 55 minutes later. He beat Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin by 0.582 seconds.

Gavin and Olivier Beretta placed second in class, one year after Corvette debuted in the GT2 class.

The Bouchut and Tucker winning LMP Challenge car

Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker won in LMP Challenge for Level 5 Motorsports to extend their championship lead. Bouchut made the winning pass with less than hour left when he got around Green Earth Team Gunnar’s Gunnar Jeannette, who drove with Elton Julian.

Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen won their third GT Challenge race in four tries for Black Swan Racing. Pappas drove the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car from last to second after being hit at the start. Bleekemolen got around ORBIT/Paul Miller Racing’s Bryce Miller just past the halfway point and led the rest of the way.

With the victory, the BSR duo moved into the class championship lead.

GMG Racing’s James Sofronas and Bret Curtis were second, their highest finish of the season. Sofronas was a scant 0.247 seconds ahead of Alex Job Racing’s Bill Sweedler and Romeo Kapudija.

Saturday’s Results
1. (2) Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola B09 86/Mazda (1, LMP), 119.
2. (3) David Brabham, Maidenhead, GB; Simon Pagenaud, Montmorrillon, FR; HPD ARX-01c (2, LMP), 119.
3. (5) Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Christophe Bouchut, France; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 115.
4. (32) Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, CA; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola B06 10/AER (3, LMP), 114.
5. (6) Ricardo Gonzalez, Monterrey; Luis Diaz, Mexico City; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 114.
6. (8) Elton Julian, Santa Monica, CA; Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Oreca FLM09 (3, LMPC), 113.
7. (7) Brian Wong, Newport Beach, CA; Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Oreca FLM09 (4, LMPC), 113.
8. (10) Andy Wallace, England; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Oreca FLM09 (5, LMPC), 113.
9. (13) Gianmaria Bruni, Rome, IT; Jaime Melo, Milan, IT; Ferrari 430 GT (1, GT), 112.
10. (14) Olivier Beretta, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings, GB; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (2, GT), 112.
11. (18) Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; Bill Auberlen, Redondo Beach, CA; BMW E92 M3 (3, GT), 112.
12. (19) Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield, DE; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (4, GT), 112.
13. (20) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Ferrari 430 GT (5, GT), 112.
14. (16) Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo, Monaco; BMW E92 M3 (6, GT), 112.
15. (9) Christian Zugel, Holmdel, NJ; Frankie Montecalvo, Highlands, NJ; Oreca FLM09 (6, LMPC), 111.
16. (24) Seth Neiman, San Francisco, CA; Patrick Pilet, Le Chesnay; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT), 111.
17. (22) Bryan Sellers, Braselton, GA; Wolf Henzler, Nuertingen, DE; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT), 110.
18. (23) Paul Gentilozzi, Lansing, MI; Marc Goossens, Huntersville, NC; Jaguar XKRS (9, GT), 107.
19. (25) Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Jeroen Bleekemolen, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 106.
20. (27) Bret Curtis, Valencia, CA; James Sofronas, Newport Beach, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 105.
21. (29) Romeo Kapudija, Lincolnwood, IL; Bill Sweedler, Westport, CT; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 105.
22. (26) Luke Hines, Essex, UK; Bryce Miller, Summit, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, GTC), 105.
23. (28) Jerry Vento, West Palm Beach, FL; Shane Lewis, Jupiter, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (5, GTC), 103.
24. (33) Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Spencer Pumpelly, Mason Neck, VA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (6, GTC), 103.
25. (31) Doug Baron, Pacific Palisades, CA; Loren Beggs, Montclair, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (7, GTC), 103.
26. (4) Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B06/10 AER (4, LMP), 100.
27. (12) Toni Vilander, Kankaanpaa; Giancarlo Fisichella , Rome; Ferrari 430 GT (10, GT), 100.
28. (17) Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, FL; Ed Brown, Las Vegas, NV; Ferrari 430 GT (11, GT), 96.
29. (21) David Murry, Atlanta, GA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Design Ford GT (12, GT), 96.
30. (15) Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Roskilde, DK; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (13, GT), 49.
31. (11) Andrew Prendeville, Chatham, NJ; Chris Buncombe, London, UK; Radical SR9/IES (5, LMP), 44.
32. (1) Paul Drayson, London, GB; Jonny Cocker, Guisborough, GB; Lola B09 60/Judd (6, LMP), 39.