ALMS

Road America: Guy Smith race report

Guy Smith recorded fourth place in the LM P2 category of the American Le Mans Series at Road America yesterday The 34-year-old from Beverley led his class 40mins in to the 165mins race, setting a lap time an impressive eight-tenth's of a second ...

Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:21 PM

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Guy Smith recorded fourth place in the LM P2 category of the American Le Mans Series at Road America yesterday

The 34-year-old from Beverley led his class 40mins in to the 165mins race, setting a lap time an impressive eight-tenth's of a second faster than the "sister" BP Lola-Mazda Coupe of erstwhile leader Marino Franchitti.

But running short of fuel, Smith pitted on 62mins during an early phase of a full course caution when the pts were "closed", co-driver Chris Dyson resuming second in class but then having to serve a "stop-go" penalty dropping him to fourth place.

"My BP Dyson Lola was fantastic -- continuing the trend of it improving with every race," reflected Guy who had topped the LM P2 practice times in two sessions but qualified third fastest around the 4.048-mile, 14-corner Road Atlanta track in Wisconsin.

"Both Marino [Franchitti] were trying to save as much fuel as possible in our opening stint. I pitted just as the race went 'yellow' with the pits closed but I had to come in otherwise I'd have run out of fuel. It meant that Chris [Dyson] almost immediately had to serve a penalty.

"The final result was bitterly disappointing, especially for the Dyson team considering the work they did in making hasty repairs following an off I suffered just before qualifying -- I was trying a little too hard on a simulated qualifying run."

With 42mins remaining, Dyson pitted with a misfire following contact with a spinning backmarker. The American did not resume but enough laps had been completed by the Smith/Dyson Lola to be classified fourth.

The eighth round of the American Le Mans Series is staged at the Mosport International Raceway near Toronto. Mosport is the fastest track in ALMS history with an average qualifying speed around the 2.453-mile in excess of 138 mph. Smith recorded second overall and a fastest lap at the Canadian venue in 2006.

-credit: gsPR

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