Mosport: Dyson Racing race report

September 4, 2005 - A sprint race broke out during the last thirty minutes of the Grand Prix of Mosport. It was won by James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger in the #16 Thetford/Norcold Dyson Racing entry. The race was won in the pits with a twenty second timed fuel stop on lap 95 that put Leitzinger out just in front of the Audi of J.J. Lehto. It was a drag race down to the first turn, advantage Leiztinger. Through traffic and under pressure, he pushed each lap, set the fastest lap, and won by 3.625 seconds. Co- driver Weaver commented, "I have been driving with Butch for ten years, and today he was absolutely sublime," said his joyous co-driver, James Weaver. "It was a stunning bit of driving."

This is James Weaver's 100th career race win. "I want to congratulate my friend and compatriot of the past twenty years on his 100th race win," said Rob Dyson. "He won his first sports car race with us in'87 at Atlanta and he is just one of the best."

Weaver took the lead on the first turn of the first lap. The #16 AER powered Lola led for the first forty two laps until coming together with the Audi of Marco Werner. "We were fighting hard and he pushed me wide. It was just one of those things that happen in racing and unfortunately he came off the best." Weaver nosed into the tire wall, grabbed reverse and was back out on the track, loosing about 25 seconds. He handed over to Leitzinger five laps later and the chase was on. This was the second consecutive Mosport win for the pair and their second win of the year.

An unscheduled pit stop to replace a punctured tire put the polesitting #20 entry of Chris Dyson and Andy Wallace down a lap early in the race. "The car was not right from the start, but I was staying in touch the leaders," Chris Dyson said. "Then the car became extremely difficult to drive and it was getting worse. I knew we had a problem and unfortunately we lost too much time with unscheduled stops today." Wallace experienced similar woes and had to take on tires at his last stop with just under an hour remaining. "Andy drove a great race," Dyson added. "But with no yellows today, we did not get a chance to make up that time." The #20 pairing would have to settle for fourth.

"I do want to congratulate James," Rob Dyson said later. "He is a true English gentleman, funny and articulate, who is an amazing driver and has been a cornerstone of our team for twenty years. We and racing owe him a lot."

-dyson racing