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| Founded | 1974 |
|---|---|
| Teamprincipal(s) | Rob Dyson Michael White |
| Current series | Trans-Am Series |
| Former series | American Le Mans Series Rolex Sports Car Series Can Am Indy Car IMSA GT Championship Pirelli World Challenge |
| Drivers' Championships | Chris Dyson Guy Smith Butch Leitzinger Matt McMurry |
Dyson Racing is a professionalsports car racing team based inPoughkeepsie, New York in theUnited States. Founded byRob Dyson in 1974, the team competed successfully in North American sports car racing series, including theIMSA GT Championship andAmerican Le Mans Series.
Team founderRob Dyson started his racing career in theSports Car Club of America (SCCA) in 1974 with aDatsun 510 sedan with a pit crew of one: his wife Emilie. He won his first race, a regional at theWatkins Glen road course inNew York. He moved up toSCCA nationals in 1977, adding Pat Smith as crew chief and won a national championship in 1981 with aNissan 200SX.
Rob Dyson’s first professional race was atLime Rock Park inConnecticut with a 1983Firebird. He ran the Firebird in nine races in the International Motorsports Association (IMSA) GTO class and selectedTrans Am races with a best finish of third in class at the 1983Elkhart Lake 500 miler.
Dyson formed a close relationship withGoodyear during this time that began with modest radial tire development and would eventually grow to a full-scale tire support program that would prove essential to the team over an unprecedented 20-year run of success.
Rob Dyson bought aPorsche 962 (chassis 101) from privateer Bruce Leven. He and co-driverDrake Olson won their first race atLime Rock Park in May 1985, even though they were running the smaller 2.8-liter engine compared to the other 962s' 3.2-liter engines. The team went on to win two more races with Olson winning the inauguralPorsche Cup of North America. It was the first of four consecutive Porsche Cups for the Dyson team.
The team took home three moreIMSA GTP wins in both 1986 and 1987 withPrice Cobb placing second in the championship both years. In 1986,Rob Dyson was named Most Improved Driver andPat Smith Mechanic of the Year.James Weaver joined Dyson Racing in 1987, won his debut race atRoad Atlanta with Cobb, and from 1988 onwards the Englishman drove for the team until his retirement twenty years later.
1988 was the year of eight in a row wins for the Nissan GTP ZX Turbo. Dyson Racing had two of the three wins forPorsche that year – atMiami in February andSan Antonio in September. The San Antonio win, scored with Dyson's unique 962-DR1 chassis, endedNissan’s win streak.
Adding an open-wheel racing program to the IMSA program,James Weaver andJohn Paul Jr. ran fourCART races in aLola T88/00 Cosworth, with a best finish of eleventh atLong Beach, CA.
Rob Dyson and John Paul Jr. drove theIMSA GTP race at their home track ofLime Rock, CT in theirPorsche 962.
Dyson Racing renewed its partnership withPorsche asPorsche North America's factory-supported team in 1990. Assisted by engine builder Andial and employing improved aerodynamics with thePorsche 962C-148, the team had four podiums andPorsche’s only win of the year at theTampa, FL race. The Tampa World Challenge race would be the team's final victory inIMSA GTP. The team developed an in-house chassis (DR2) based on the 962C in 1991, but with only limited success the organization felt a regroup was necessary.
Talks withMazda about a partnership inGTP for 1992 did not bear fruit and the team sat out the entire 1992IMSA season – the first since 1974 that did not seeRob Dyson behind the wheel. The team resurrected theirPorsche 962C-148 forRob Dyson,James Weaver,Price Cobb andElliott Forbes-Robinson for the final GTP-eraDaytona 24 Hours in February 1993, finishing fifth overall and second in GTP. Keeping the core team employed, Dyson Racing also ran sixFirestone Indy Lights races with James Weaver.
Dyson Racing rejoinedIMSA to compete in the inaugural World Sportscar Championship (WSC) in 1994. For that season, the team ran a Spice chassis with a production-basedFerrari 348 V8 engine in nine races, with a highlight being a third atIndianapolis Raceway Park. The car had a great sound but was down on power compared to the thoroughbredFerrari 333P machines and the team made the decision to be the first to commit to the newRiley & Scott MkIII in 1995.
UsingFord V8 power with engines provided by Lozano Brothers Porting, the team won with the car's third time out atRoad Atlanta. James Weaver took the championship down to the season finale atNew Orleans, taking pole and the victory (the team's first one-two finish) but early season woes atDaytona andSebring meant that Weaver finished two points adrift in the championship. The team continued to run two cars in 1996 with three wins andButch Leitzinger coming in third in the WSC championship.Butch Leitzinger won theIMSA WSC driver titles in 1997 and 1998 and James Weaver won the United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) Can-Am championship in 1998. 1997 was their best year to date. It started with their first win in theDaytona 24 Hours and ended with six wins total.Butch Leitzinger was first,Elliott Forbes-Robinson second and James Weaver third in the IMSA Drivers’ Championship and the team won its first Team Championship.
The team competed with its R&S Mk. III-Fords (now with a larger capacity V8) and won titles in two different series again in 1999.Elliott Forbes-Robinson won the inauguralAmerican Le Mans Series (ALMS), whileElliott Forbes-Robinson andButch Leitzinger shared the shortenedUSRRC championship and the team won their second Daytona 24 Hour race. The team started the inaugural 1999ALMS season with a thrilling second-place finish in the12 Hours of Sebring, the closest finish in that race's history.
The team had committed early to the newReynard 2KQ chassis to defend theirALMS title but early testing atDaytona showed it far off the pace and the chassis was jettisoned immediately. Dyson Racing resurrected theRiley and Scott Fords and won the inauguralGrand American Road Racing Association (Grand-Am) SR1 Championship with James Weaver. Highlights included a class win at theDaytona 24 Hours and four wins, including theSix Hours of Watkins Glen. The team repeated their 2000 Grand-Am championships in 2001, with six wins and another Team Championship. James Weaver once again claimed the driver's title andButch Leitzinger came second. The team continued its dominance in its last full year inGrand-Am in 2002 with seven series wins and first in the Team Championship.Chris Dyson, who had made his team debut at the 2001Watkins Glen International 250, finished second in the 2002 Driver's championship with five wins and claimed Rookie of the Year honors. Despite scoring no points at the Rolex 24 Hours, Dyson missed winning the title by only two points.
All told the team's Riley and Scott MkIII cars claimed thirty-eight victories, with two overall and two class wins at theDaytona 24 Hours, between 1995 and 2002.
Seeking the missing jewel in the team's crown, the12 Hours of Sebring, the team committed to Riley and Scott's latest creation, the Mk3C, in 2001, introducing it at the12 Hours of Sebring. This coincided with the return of a brace of factory and customerAudi R8s. TheAudi showed its superiority from its first race on. A strong drive by James Weaver,Butch Leitzinger andElliott Forbes-Robinson saw the Dyson Riley and Scott Lincoln finish third overall and ahead of three other Audi R8s at Sebring. The team entered three additionalALMS events in 2001 but the Mk3C could not match the Audis' race-winning pace and the team stopped racing that car at the end of the season.
Shifting back to the venerable R&S Mk3A,Chris Dyson made hisALMS debut at the season-opening12 Hours of Sebring in 2002, co-driving withRob Dyson andDorsey Schroeder. It wasRob Dyson's final IMSA race and appearance in a team car at the12 Hours of Sebring. Leitzinger, Weaver, and EFR had another strong run at Sebring, finishing 4th in a design entering its 8th season of service.
Mid-season in 2002, the team introduced theLola EX257/MG, in preparation for a full-season assault on theLMP675 title in 2003 and once again to win overall IMSA series victories. This was the start of long-term successful partnership withLola and engine builderAdvanced Engine Research (AER). AER/MG took home first in the 2002LMP675 Engine Manufacturers’ Championship. The "giant-killing" package immediately showed promise and ran in contention for the overall lead with the Audis at thePetit Le Mans.
The 2003 season saw Weaver and Leitzinger scored a triumphant overall win at Sonoma against the larger Audi R8s running in the LMP900 class. It was the first time anLMP675 class car had ever won anALMS event overall and was also a one-two in class for the team. In total, there were five class wins for the year including the team's first honors at12 Hours of Sebring forChris Dyson, Chad Block andDidier de Radigues. By season's end, the team had won theLMP675 team championship, whereas Chris Dyson finished first in the drivers championship.[1][2]
With a realignment ofALMS regulations, the team moved their two largely unchangedLola-AERs up to theLMP1 class for 2004. Weaver and Leitzinger took a memorable win atMosport and the 16 and 20 cars between them accounted for eleven podium finishes. ThePortlandALMS race was particularly hard-fought with Chris Dyson holding off reigning LMP1 championJJ Lehto in the Audi R8 for more than half the race. The team finished the season 2nd in the championship with drivers James Weaver andButch Leitzinger second andAndy Wallace third in the championship.[3][4]
In 2005, Dyson Racing once again entered two full-timeLola B01/60-AERs in the ten-race championship. The team had switched toMichelin tires in the offseason. With near-perfect reliability, the team began its 2005 campaign strongly at Sebring and scored its firstALMS LMP1 one-two finish for the team atMid-Ohio. Weaver and Leitzinger also won atMosport. The12 Hours of Sebring marked the first Dyson race forGuy Smith, who from thePetit Le Mans later that year and onwards would continue to co-drive full-time with Chris Dyson. The team finished second behind rivals,Champion Racing in the teams championship with Chris Dyson second in the Drivers Championship.[5][6]
The team ran the 2006ALMS season with two newLola B06/10-AER LMP1 cars against the new diesel-poweredAudi R10s which debuted at the12 Hours of Sebring (Audi ran the older R8s at the next three races before going back to the R10). The team finished second in the LMP1 Championship behind the factory Audi squad.[7] James Weaver finished second in the championship[8] and retired from active competition driving after the season's last race atMazda Raceway Laguna Seca. He brought the car in first place at each of his pit stops during the Laguna race. TheALMS media guide called him “One of the world’s great racing drivers, no matter which discipline.” He spent twenty of his thirty-year career driving for Dyson Racing and continues to work with the team to this day as a consultant.
In 2007, the team renewed its historic relationship withPorsche and ran two brand new RS Spyders in the LMP2 class.Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace finished third in the hotly contested 2007LMP2 drivers championship, four points ahead of teammates,Chris Dyson andGuy Smith's fourth place.[9]Porsche swept the manufacturers' title,[10] and Dyson Racing claimed 2nd in the team championship behindPenske Racing.[11]
The 2008 season starting off with a strong second and third in class finish at the season-opening12 Hours of Sebring. At year's end, the team finished third in the team championship[12] andMarino Franchitti andButch Leitzinger were fifth in the drivers’ standings followed by Chris Dyson andGuy Smith in sixth place.[13] Porsche won the ALMS LMP2 Manufacturers championship by only one point over the four-carAcura effort.[14]
WithPorsche ending its factory support of itsALMS program at the conclusion of the 2008ALMS season, the Dyson team was fortunate to strike up a partnership withMazda to campaign twoBP /Castrol-sponsoredLola B09/86 LMP2 cars for the 2009 season. This move rekindled the team's long standing relationship with Lola andAdvanced Engine Research, who was responsible for theMazda LMP2 MZR-R powerplant. The team claimed two class victories atLime Rock Park and at the season endingPetit Le Mans race. The team ended the season 2nd in the team championship behind their main rivals,Fernandez Racing. DriversButch Leitzinger andMarino Franchitti finished 2nd in the drivers championship, whileChris Dyson andGuy Smith finished fourth.[15][16]
The 2010 season saw the LMP1 andLMP2 classes combine to form one LMP class, creating very close competition amongst five distinctly different chassis-engine combinations. The Dyson team, now onDunlop, was consistently one of the fastest cars on the track and Smith and Dyson put together a strong effort that was belied in the final points tally due to two non-points-scoring finishes. The highlight of the 2010 season was the overall win atMid-Ohio in August. It was the first overallALMS victory for Dyson,Mazda,Guy Smith, biofuel IsoButanol, Dunlop tires andCastrol. The team finished 4th in the LMP class championship with Chris Dyson 4th andGuy Smith 6th in the drivers championship.[17][18]
The foundation laid in 2009 and 2010 came together in 2011. Together with Oryx Racing, the team claimed 5 class victories and 4 overall wins. The team took five pole positions, four fastest race laps and a total of thirteen podium finishes. By the end of the season, Dyson Racing had claimed 5 championship titles: Team Championship;[19] Drivers Championship with Chris Dyson andGuy Smith;[20] Engine Manufacturer withMazda,[21] the Tire title forDunlop,[22] plus the 2011Michelin Green X Challenge.[23]
For the2012 season, the team, with drivers Dyson and Smith, would return to continue their rivalry withMuscle Milk Pickett Racing. The team would also field the #20 car with several different drivers for eight of the ten-race season. Throughout the season the team'sMazda poweredLolas lacked the outright speed of Muscle Milk's newHPD ARX-03. Mechanical troubles for the HPD, however, would give theDyson Racing team overall victories at theGrand Prix of Baltimore and theRoad America race where they won by 0.083 seconds, setting the record for the closest overall finish in ALMS history. By the end of the season, they would finish 2nd in the LMP1 Teams' Championships with Chris Dyson andGuy Smith 2nd in the Drivers' Championship. Dyson celebrated his 100thALMS start at Baltimore and the team claimed their 200th podium atMid-Ohio.
The team returned to action later in the2014 Pirelli World Challenge with aBentley Continental GT3.Butch Leitzinger entered five rounds andGuy Smith entered two rounds, claiming one win and three podiums. In 2015,Chris Dyson raced full-time, finishing 9th in points with one win and four podiums out of 20 races. Leitzinger entered seven rounds and Smith the other two, scoring a total of three podiums.
