Series spotlight - Guy Smith

LIME ROCK TO LE MANS: A DRIVER'S PERSPECTIVE

Le Mans and Lime Rock Park, site of the American Le Mans Series' second half, really are worlds apart. For starters, the two circuits are more than 3,600 miles apart. Plus Le Mans is more than eight miles long compared to 1.5 miles at Lime Rock, which will play host to the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix on July 17-18.

The differences though are part of the charm of endurance racing, at least to Dyson Racing's Guy Smith. He was one of 42 Series drivers who competed two weeks ago in the French 24-hour classic and will drive one of Dyson's Mazda-powered Lola coupes in LMP2. In fact many of the same cars that competed at Le Mans will also take part in the Series' sixth visit to the picturesque Lime Rock venue.

That includes the GT2-class winning Ferrari F430 of Risi Competizione and drivers Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer.

"Obviously you've got Le Mans and eight-and-a-half miles, and you go to Lime Rock and it couldn't be more different," said Dyson Racing's Guy Smith. "But that's the challenge of sports car racing - the different circuits, the different classes - and that's what makes it fun."

The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. The race is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 18. The race will air live on SPEED. American Le Mans Radio presented by Porsche and Live Timing & Scoring will be available at Racehub on americanlemans.com. You also can follow the Series on Twitter (almsnotes) and subscribe to our RSS news feed.

The race also will mark the fifth round of the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge. Tickets are available at americanlemans.com and limerock.com.

-credit: alms