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Andy flies onto the
podium at Monterey with the DeltaWing
by
Rebecca Jones
WRDA member Andy Meyrick found himself on the third
step of the American Le Mans Series Monterey podium on
Saturday (11 May), despite the DeltaWing Racing Cars charger
facing some development issues. The week started out with a
test session at Buttonwillow Raceway, California, where the
27-year old worked closely with his new team-mate for the
race, Katherine Legge (GB), to re-introduce her to sports
car racing and to prepare the car for the race ahead. The
session went well and the team headed north to Monterey.
When they arrived at Laguna Seca for the third round of the
American Le Mans Series (ALMS), it was Andy who completed
qualifying and he was happy with posting the 15th
fastest time on the 36-strong grid. “I was happy with
qualifying”, said Andy. “I got a nice clear run and I
couldn’t have gone any quicker. It felt fast and was
technically very good.” Although qualifying in 15th,
Legge started the Elan-engined DeltaWing from the back of
the grid due to her lack of official time on the track ahead
of the race.
After 63 laps of racing, Legge handed the less than perfect
car over to Andy. Electrical issues had marred the session
and it was unfortunately not going to get any better.
Despite this, Andy pressed on, manipulating the car to get
the most out of it, alongside the team, which worked
relentlessly to keep it on track. Finally, after Andy’s 41st
lap in the car, the issues worsened and DeltaWing Racing
Cars decided to retire the car. “Yes, we retired the car,
but we completed 104 laps, which is 233 miles - we have come
a long way from where we were at Sebring,” commented Andy
after the race. “The team has done an unbelievable job to
develop and improve it in just a matter of weeks.
 “Last
time I was here, I was on the podium with Dyson Racing –
that means I have a 100 per cent podium success rate here at
Laguna Seca. It’s also the first podium in the ALMS for the
DeltaWing so it’s great to be part of its history; I didn’t
expect us to be up there this weekend. The real achievement
is seeing the car classify in a four-hour race. It’s where
we hoped we’d be at this point in the season.”
Andy will next race the DeltaWing at the fourth round of the
ALMS, the American Le Mans Series North East Grand Prix in
Connecticut, New England on the 6 July.
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