Gearbox problems ends Andys Petit Le Mans race early

WRDA members Andy Meyricks’ part in the 1000 mile Petit Le Mans race, the last race in the 2010 American Le Mans Series at Road Atlanta in Georgia, was cut short after gearbox failure sidelined the Dysons teams’ Lola Mazda coupe half way through the 10 hour race. With the car running in the LMP2 class, the event started brightly for the team with Chris Dyson taking the first stint, before handing the car over to Meyrick on lap 58, with the car in 8th place overall and 2nd in class. Meyricks
task was to match the class leader’s pace and everything seemed to going to plan as Andy stuck to his task and kept the pressure on. “The pace was quite good in traffic,” said Meyrick. “It is a very rewarding car to drive.” The teams 3rd driver Guy Smith took over from lap 121 to 189, before handing back to Dyson, but he could only coast back to the pits on lap 200 after gearbox failure left him without any gears. The problem could not be fixed in the remaining time and the team retired the car. Even so the team finished 3rd in the championship. Team Principal Rob Dyson said “We would have liked to have ended the year in victory circle, but this was a positive year for us"

Andys’ stock has been rising fast this year, having lead the Laguna Seca 6 Hours earlier this year in the Dyson Mazda-Lola coupe, then finished a magnificent fourth on his debut at Le Mans in June with the Oreca team; following that up with an impressive showing with Aston Martin at Silverstone, so it could be a very interesting close season for him.

Radio Le mans http://rlm08.0157.org/alms.php

SPEED, http://www.speedtv.com/programs/american-le-mans-series/ and Motors TV  

http://www.andymeyrick.com     http://www.dysonracing.com/ http://www.americanlemans.com/