Road Atlanta Results

Dysons Dominate Grand Prix of Atlanta

Braselton, Georgia-June 21, 1998

Dyson Racing scored a 1-2 victory today in sweltering heat at the SportsCar Grand Prix of Atlanta. The Riley and Scotts of Butch Leitzinger, Dorsey Schroeder, James Weaver and Elliot Forbes-Robinson outpaced the top qualifying Ferraris who struggled with cooling problems.

The GT1 class was won by Thiery Boutsen and Bob Wolleck in the Porsche GT1 (3rd overall). The Panoz GT1 racer finished 2nd in its class (8th overall). The BMW M3 of Marc Duez and Boris Said won the GT2 class one lap ahead of the Porsche 911 of Larry Schmacher and Andy Pilgrim.

The GT3 class was won by the BMW M3 of Brian Simo and Bill Auberlin.

The highlight of the day was a press conference held by Road Atlanta track owner Don Panoz who announced an American Le Mans racing series he is developing with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest. He proposed an 11 event series, run at varying lengths, at race tracks all over the United States and Canada. He stated that he is in talks with the USRRC and the SCCA to consolidate events such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Panoz's upcoming Petite Le Mans. He confirmed that he is meeting this week with the FIA in London in an attempt to reach parity between FIA, Le Mans and US sports cars.

"This is a great day for North American sports car racing," said Wayne Taylor, driver of the Doyle-Risi Ferrari 333SP. "I'd like to thank Don Panoz and the ASO for giving the competitors a chance to bring professional sports racing back to the U.S.."

Finish Car Driver NAT Time Total                 Laps           Fastest
1 16 Leitzinger Schroeder Weaver WSC 3:46:23         162  1:15.9
2 20 Schroeder Leitzinger Forbes-Robinson WSC 3:47:08   162  1:16.
3 38 Boutsen Wolleck GT1 3:46:48                 160  1:17.6
4 7 V.D. Poele Taylor WSC 3:47:11                 158  1:16.3
5 8 Schubot Camferdam WSC 3:46:44                 152  1:18.3
6 36 Waddel Mathews Murry WSC 3:47:09           151  1:19.5
7 63 Katz Downing Debban WSC 3:47:02           145  1:24.1
8 5 Boesel Bernard GT1 3:46:24                 144  1:17.5
9 62 Debban Spenser WSC 3:47:06                 144  1:24.0
10 6 Duez Said Simo GT2 3:47:22                 144  1:28.1
11 99 Schmacher Ostn Pilgrim GT2 3:46:50           143  1:27.9
12 9 Murry Mathews Johannsen WSC 3:28:35           142  1:17.1
13 10 Simo Auberlin GT3 3:46:53                 141  1:27.8
14 1 Cunningham Bentley GT3 3:48:53           141  1:27.8
15 12 Goldsborough Fairbank WSC 3:34:07           133  1:19.4
16 27 Theys Lienhard WSC 2:32:20                 105  1:15.5
17 45 Bundy O'Connell GT1 2:28:24                  99  1:19.0
18 86 Fitzgerald Wagner Marshall GT3 2:04:17      74  1:31.
19 15 Allen Pobst GT2 1:38:18                        43  1:32.5
20 28 Field de Soto Geck WSC    50:07            37  1:17.1
21 4 Wallace Brabham GT1    50:06                  36  1:18.1

Fastest Race Laptime 1:15.510 Racetime 3:48:18

Richard Sloop - Motorsport News International