The ALMS Prototype Dilema

[Mal]

Originally posted by marcush.
with chris Dyson driving the Zytek04s in the Silverstone LMES round one can ask how lon Dysonracing will stick to the lolas.

An interesting point - perhaps this is effectively a test drive

[gttouring]

of course fragile as it is the Lola has really shown great form now and again- it could use a freshening, as it is one of the few to take it to the Audi

[Tim Northcutt]

When we werediscussing Dyson's drive in the RfH Dome, and raised this issue about whether or not they were looking at possibly going that route, I recall Mulsanne Mike posting info that he had talked with Dyson about it, and that their plans were to continue on with the Lola next year....they feel that they have made great progress with the package via improvements, etc., and that those improvements would continue...

Maybe they are testing other cars....but maybe Chris Dyson has shown that he has great potential (and from watching him at Portland, he really has come of age as a sportscar driver) and Zytek wants a strong run in their homeland with a good driver who is available that weekend...

Besides, by having Dyson drive the car, you know that his peers in the ALMS will be talking with him about the car, how it drove, etc....

Word of mouth is an excellent form of advertising!!!

We'll have to wait and see...but from what I recall, I expect to see Team Dyson in two MG-Lolas in 2005....

[vollpower]

What about a LOLA B160 with the Zytek motor in it

[marcush.]

quite frankly,Dyson has improved the speed to some extend,but compared to intersport with the same basic chassis they are not that much in front,if this counts for intersports good work I don´t feel informed good enough.
But looking at their LeMans performance they were nowhere near the pace of the Zytek,the RML entry engineered by very good guys was also nowhere near that pace.
So I´d say it´s mainly Goodyears magic giving the Dysonlolas their pace and of course spoton setup by their world beating driverlineup.
But you cannot ignore that they seem to have got still the same reliability issues as last year,maybe superhuman mechanics get the cars back into the race again and again but theres mishap in every race,robbing victories constantly.And they want to win don´t they?

[gsmith2424]

I really think one thing (not the main one) that is killing Dyson right now going for overall wins is that fact that they don't have Michelins. If they had them we would have seen the second Audi from Champion by now.

[marcush.]

definitively no!
Andy and chris were on their way to win the last one ,they had pole,fall back because of a non start issue after the pitstop(lost 15 to 20 seconds,wich you simply cannot afford against the audis) and developed a misfire as they just were catching the leading Audi again.So they would be in contention if,yes if the thing would not give up on them permanently.
As far as I know they are very very happy with the Goodyears and found real gains from them over the winter and in recent tests.So nothing to win from being another michelin customer if you are babied by Goodyear