Utah: Pit Crew Challenge round one report

DYSON RACING CAPTURES FIRST ROUND OF KLEIN TOOLS PIT CREW CHALLENGE

Dyson Racing's No. 16 Porsche RS Spyder, piloted by Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace, captured the first round of the 2007 Klein Tools Pit Crew Challenge posting a time of 47.54. It faced off against the Corvette Racing No. 4 and drivers Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin. Corvette registered a pit stop of 56.55 after Beretta was unable to start the car following the tire change.

Dyson Racing's pit stop performance was nearly flawless. As a result, it only had to be concerned about the next two teams to compete. Those teams, Audi Sport North America No. 1 and Tafel Racing No. 73, however struggled with their stops. Audi Allan McNish had a difficult time starting the car upon wave of the green flag and then overshot the pit. The Audi R10 TDI had to be pushed back into place before fueling could begin.

Tafel, meanwhile, appeared to hold a clear advantage due to the Audi's early malfunction, but upon completing its tire change, it too was unable to start the car. Team members attempted to push the car, drawing a 15 second penalty. With the penalty, Tafel drivers Jim Tafel and Dominick Farnbacher posted a time of 1:13.68 while Audi No. 1 recorded a 1:06.26.

The next round of the Klein Tools Pit Stop Challenge will be held July 6 at Lime Rock Park. The final rounds will occur at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix (Aug. 29-Sept.1) and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (Oct. 18-20).

-credit: alms