The all-new Dyson Lola-AER B06/10 completed its first 3 day test at Sebring this week and the new package has created an instant buzz in the ALMS paddock.

“A beautiful piece of engineering.  Lola and AER have done us proud.  It is a quality piece of equipment. Very impressive.” –  was James Weaver view on the new AER powered Lola B06/10 after the three day roll-out of Dyson Racing’s new car at the American Le Mans Winter Test January 23 – 25.

The three day test at Sebring International Raceway was the first running for the new Lola/AER package.  “The car was flown here from England and arrived here Friday afternoon,” said Chris Dyson.  “It did not turn a wheel until this test.  It was a very sleep-deprived weekend for the boys. It has been a big push, but thankfully the car was delivered as we expected.  We are lucky that we are dealing with two companies like Lola and AER that are small, nimble and responsive. When ALMS announced this date a couple of months ago, we were looking at a late January delivery and Lola and AER stepped up and answered the call when we said we would like to make this event.”

“Compared to the old car, it changes directions much better, it is easier to drive, the aerodynamics are much more benign and it is not as sensitive to ride height as the old car,” summarized James Weaver, who did all the development laps over the test. “Straight out of the box, it is easier to drive and doesn’t have any vices. The engine makes good power at the top end and the car is good over the bumps.  We have some new Penske shock absorbers this year.  We have always used Penske shocks but we have a derivative of the dampers that McLaren and Renault used in Formula One on our car and the initial reaction is that it is a definite step forward.”

“We were running the car at normal speeds,” noted Dyson. "We were doing systems checks and not concentrating on lap times.  There is a large amount of basic housekeeping jobs that have to be done with a new car. The fundamental package is very good and it is clear the car is going to be very quick.  The second car will be delivered toward the beginning of next week and we will be testing back here at Sebring the second week of February.”

As well as the new chassis, two other members of the Lola sportscar family were in action over the three days. Intersport Racing and the new Highcroft Racing teams also had very fruitful tests in their B05/40 and B01/60 Lola chassis’.

Jon Field, his son Clint and Liz Halliday were all on hand at the test to further develop the multiple class winning Intersport car. A quickest time of 1m50.231s by Jon Field saw the Ohio based team shadow the Porsche Spyder LMP2 car which was forced to curtail its test a day early after mechanical problems.

Highcroft Racing, set up by former Intersport driver Duncan Dayton ended up with 6th fastest time as Dyson racer Andy Wallace helped the teams trio of drivers (Dayton, Gregor Fisken and Robert Knoop) set up the car and pass on his considerable experience.

The ten-race ALMS season kicks off with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 18.