ILMC: Drayson Racing Zhuhai race report

Drayson Racing Earns 3rd in Inaugural ILMC Team Championship

ZHUHAI, CHINA - Drayson Racing secured third in the Inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) Le Mans Prototype One (LMP1) Team Championship today at the Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC). The season result came to drivers Paul Drayson (Gloucestershire, UK) and Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK) on the shoulders of strong runs for the No.11 Drayson Racing Lola Coupe with Judd Power at Silverstone and Petit Le Mans prior to today's 1000KM of Zhuhai (China). The three-race championship, which is the precursor to a Sportscar World Championship, pitted prototype entries on tracks across the globe coming to the conclusion here in China today. Drayson Racing finished behind the two heavily-funded factory entries of Peugeot and Audi, a great result for the family-owned organisation.

In today's event, Drayson Racing was on the way to a fourth Michelin Green X Challenge victory and a top-five overall finish before a melted wiring loom slowed the run. The Dale White (Bozeman, MT, USA)-managed programme was able to make repairs in time to return to the track with Drayson crossing the finish line at the conclusion of the 1000KM race. The Michelin Green X Challenge awards the team which goes the furthest, the fastest on the least amount of fuel and is a major priority for the environmentally conscious team. Drayson Racing has earned four Michelin Green X Challenge trophies since joining the LMP1 ranks in 2009. Included in the team's trophy case is the inaugural Asian Le Mans Series award in Okayama, Japan last season and 2010 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) accolades at Salt Lake City, Road America and Petit Le Mans.

The 2010 season now at its conclusion, the team can look back confidently on a strong performance. Over the course of the three-continent, five-country and 13-race season, Drayson Racing made its mark on international sportscar racing. In only its second season of competition, the closed-cockpit prototype scored its first overall victory at Road America, captured two pole positions (Mid-Ohio and Road America), finished third in both the ALMS LMP and ILMC LMP1 Team Championship and debuted its prototype in the LMP1 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in addition to the Michelin Green X Challenge titles.

Quotes

Paul Drayson\\Driver\Owner: "I am delighted with third place in the inaugural Intercontinental Cup Championship. It is a great end to a fantastic year for Drayson Racing".

Jonny Cocker\\Driver: "A very tough race. Unfortunately, a catalogue of small issues cost us the Michelin Green X win. But, it was great to see the car running at the end, crossing the line and taking the chequered flag securing third in the ILMC Team Championship. The crew did a fantastic job, as ever. I'd like to thank everyone at Drayson Racing for all of their effort throughout the 2010 season."

Dale White\\Team Manager: "My hat's really off to this crew. They worked so hard today doing two major repairs in record time. This weekend didn't turn out like we hoped. We didn't travel all of this way not to get a better result; a result we were on course to get. However, we proved we can race with the factories and we can do it with the environment in mind. That's pretty important and I am proud to be a part of Drayson Racing and working with this group."

-source: draysonracing.com