ALMS

Detroit: Series spotlight - Dyson Racing

VOICES OF BELLE ISLE: DYSON RACING Just because Dyson Racing is going head-to-head with Penske Racing in LMP2, don't think the Dyson gang doesn't appreciate all the work that Roger Penske and his organization has done at Detroit's Belle Isle. As ...

Published: Aug 30, 2008, 7:07 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

VOICES OF BELLE ISLE: DYSON RACING

Just because Dyson Racing is going head-to-head with Penske Racing in LMP2, don't think the Dyson gang doesn't appreciate all the work that Roger Penske and his organization has done at Detroit's Belle Isle. As the American Le Mans Series prepares for this week's Detroit Sports Car Challenge presented by Bosch, the Dyson team discusses the high points and enthusiasm for Belle Isle.

Chris Dyson
"I think we have a much better car this year from race to race. Certainly, last year we had a very good car at Detroit. I'd say overall, the difference from 2007 to 2008 is that we have a car now that when we roll it off the truck every weekend, we have a reasonable idea of where we are going to be and that is a great way to start the weekend. So, I think based on last year's race and where we stand this year, we should be in a good position at Detroit."

Guy Smith
"Personally for me, last year in Detroit was one of my best races. I thoroughly enjoyed the circuit. I thought that Penske put on a great event. It was well-organized, well-managed and a beautiful setting. Hopefully, it will be just as nice this year and again looking forward to another good race."

Butch Leitzinger
"You probably couldn't get two more different courses. Because Mosport is extremely flowing, a traditional race course with the grass burns. Detroit is a street course, a very beautiful street course; they have done an excellent job there. Last year was my first time there, I think it was a lot of people's first time there and I think everyone was impressed with the facility. It wasn't what a lot of us expected really. The course is extremely challenging and extremely difficult. With street courses you are always afraid that it is going to be just a bunch of second-gear, right-angle turns. This has some really challenging sweeping turns. The first turn at Detroit actually is kind of a decreasing radius, fourth gear turn. I actually spun there last year which was interesting. But it makes for a real challenge for engineers to completely change the car around from what they had at Mosport to Detroit."

Marino Franchitti
"I really enjoyed it. It was somewhere that my brother (Dario) had raced before so he had talked about it a little bit. Roger Penske put on a fantastic show. Getting up early in the morning and going out for a session, Roger was already there organizing stuff right down to the final detail, as he does. And late at night going back to the bus he was still there and that is why it was a success, because Roger put his mark on it. To me, we have many great events. I've been here a long time. For a first-year event like that, there were no negatives at all. I felt it was 100 percent a great event."

The Detroit Sports Car Challenge presented by Bosch from Belle Isle is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 30. SPEED will broadcast the race live, and XM will air it from 5 to 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 31. Qualifying will be shown live online starting at 4:35 p.m. ET on Friday, August 29 on americanlemans.com and SPEEDtv.com. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage of all on-track sessions at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring.

-credit: alms

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Detroit: VICI Racing preview

Next article Detroit: Series practice one report

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix

NASCAR O'Reilly

NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly

Phoenix II

1 h

Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix

Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

4 h

Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team

NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

5 h

NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles

Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

6 h

Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts