The Lola B05/40 LMP2 sportscar scored another memorable success at Road Atlanta over the weekend with Intersport Racing taking class honours in the eighth running of the Petit Le Mans endurance race.
The Ohio based team of Jon Field, his son Clint and Liz Halliday drove an impeccable race to win the LMP2 class by a massive 21lap margin. It was the teams 5th victory in the 2005 ALMS series, with just one race to go at Laguna Seca in two weeks time. As a result of the win, Clint Field now enjoys a healthy 18-point cushion in the ALMS LMP2 drivers points standings.
“That was a lot of fun, the car was fast,” said a delighted Jon Field as he soaked up the champagne from the podium at the end of the race. “I’m really delighted with the way we performed today and the whole team did a fantastic job.”
Jon Field had started the race from 5th place overall on the starting grid with a time just a second slower than the Audi R8’s. Field ran a spirited 3rd in the early running after a first corner collision delayed the Dyson run Lola B01/60 of James Weaver, the Champion Audi of JJ Lehto and the pole sitting Zytek of Hyanari Shimoda.
After pulling out a handy advantage in the first hour Field handed over to his son Clint who drove a trouble free two and a half hour stint before allowing Californian Liz Halliday to take over. After swapping the LMP2 lead throughout the first three hours, Intersport made the top spot their own when the Miracle Courage of Jeff Bucknum/James Gue/James McMurray lost time replacing a turbo.
Halliday’s first stint was not without its dramas, as she came in to contact with the spinning Maserati GT1 car of Andrea Bertolini. However, the Lola is strong as well as super quick and Liz was able to continue without too much of a problem. Jon Field again took over and got up to a magnificent second overall at one stage before some minor misfire concerns saw a plug and coil change late on in the race. But with a massive 19 lap lead the team could afford to be cautious.
The Intersport Lola’s fastest race lap was an impressive 1m14.078s, just eight tenths of a second slower than the overall fastest lap set by JJ Lehto.
Finishing a solid 2nd overall in the 2005 Petit Le Mans was the Dyson Racing Lola LMP1 car of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith. The pair tailed the Audi R8 of Emmanuele Pirro and Frank Biela in the early running and did lead between the pit stops. However, a wastegate pod failed and dropped the car to 16th place, ensuring a tenacious drive back through the field from Dyson and Smith.
The teams sister car, driven by Andy Wallace/James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger suffered some damage from the first corner altercation and then a turbo issue sadly retired the car.
“JJ and Shimoda were racing each other and I got a strong run right up the inside,” said Weaver, of the incident on lap one. “Shimoda was on the brakes very early which I think caught us both by surprise. Well, JJ didn’t have anywhere to go but they touched and at that point and at that speed, that’s a bad idea.”
Despite the disappointment of not completing the race, Dyson cast a lamp over the future at the weekend when they announced that they will be the first customer of Lola’s much anticipate LMP1 car – the B06/10. The Dyson-Lola story will continue with this chassis in the ALMS in 2006. The car is expected to test for the first time in early New Year before making its race debut at Sebring in March.
Binnie Motorsports arrived at Petit Le Mans after two notable performances behind them at Silverstone and Nurburgring recently. Sam Hancock and Allen Timpany again partnered team owner Bill Binnie in the Nicholson McLaren powered B05/40.
Qualifying saw the team make consistent progress and qualifying a fine 2nd in LMP2 and 7th overall, Sam Hancock showed his pace once again in the Pirelli shod Lola.
The race however was frustrating for the Anglo/American team with several pit stops needed to tend to a mechanical problem. Sadly, their race ended after 195 laps when they lost power and retired in the pits.
The Swiss, Horag Lista team were the unfortunate victims of an accident at Road Atlanta last Wednesday during practice when a GT1 Aston Martin collided with Eric Van De Poele and rendered the car unusable for the remainder of the weekend The car is scheduled to return for the final LMES round of the year at Istanbul in November.
Once again there was a heroic performance from Ben Devlin in the Van Der Steur Lola B2K/40. The highly rated Norfolk driver qualified a remarkable 5th in the LMP2 class and was running strongly in the race until the cars engine cover became detached on lap 7, forcing the team to retire the car. The small but doughty team had also overcome a practice accident when the Zytek had reversed in to its path and caused a collision during Friday practice.
Another B2K/40 at Road Atlanta last weekend was entered by the new BAT Competition team. Mike Johnson, who has plenty of experience of running the car from his time with Archangel, shared driving duties with George Forgeois and Bob Woodman. A faultless race saw the trio come home a creditable 3rd in class, joing the jovial Intersport crew in celebrations on the LMP2 podium.
The final race on the 2005 ALMS schedule takes place at Laguna Seca in California on Sunday 16 October.
