Sebring: Guy Smith race report

Yorkshireman Guy Smith is already focusing on the second round of the American Le Mans Series in two weeks time after suffering a problematic debut in Dyson Racing's brand new Lola-Mazda on Saturday (21 Mar). The 34-year-old from Driffield, ...

Yorkshireman Guy Smith is already focusing on the second round of the American Le Mans Series in two weeks time after suffering a problematic debut in Dyson Racing's brand new Lola-Mazda on Saturday (21 Mar).

The 34-year-old from Driffield, together with co-drivers Chris Dyson and Andy Lally, retired the British-built Lola Coupe B09/86 in the American Le Mans Series opening Sebring 12 Hours after five hours.

Dyson had qualified their BP sponsored Lola second in class -- eighth overall -- around the bumpy and ultra-fast 17-corner, 3.7-mile Sebring circuit in the heart of Florida but briefly led its class on the opening lap.

Smith, contesting the Sebring race for a 10th consecutive year, took over from Dyson after 97mins but electrical problems almost immediately then a rear wing issue later, with Lally at the wheel, lost the Smith Lola-Mazda a lot of time.

But after 127-laps, the Smith/Dyson/Lally Lola was retired with mechanical issues.

"Considering the lack of testing we've done with our brand new car I guess we were always likely to encounter teething problems along the way," reflected Guy.

"We showed pace in qualifying and in the early stages of the race which bodes well for the remainder of the season."

The second round of the 10-race American Le Mans Series is staged at St Petersburg in Florida on 4 April.