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American LeMans
ALMS: Drayson Still On Cloud Nine
Paul Drayson soaking in breakthrough first win at Road America
John Dagys  |  Posted August 28, 2010   Bowmanville, ON
Paul Drayson celebrated his first American Le Mans Series victory as an owner and driver last Sunday at Road America. (John Dagys)
You’d be hard pressed to find someone with a bigger smile than Paul Drayson this weekend. Just six days ago at Road America, Drayson and co-driver Jonny Cocker claimed Drayson Racing’s first-ever American Le Mans Series victory in thrilling fashion.

With Cocker scoring the pole, setting the race’s fastest lap and the duo picking up Michelin Green X Challenge honors, it was a perfect weekend for the Dale White-led crew.

“It was one of the most memorable weekends of my life,” Drayson said. “It was an astonishing race. Everything was so close that it all had to have gone right in the way that it did for us to have gotten that result. I think the team as a whole really felt that. Anything slightly different in any aspect would have meant we wouldn’t have won it. I think that’s what made it particularly special. That’s what makes it feel like a team win.”
On a summer-long road trip, the entire Drayson family got to soak in their win last week. (John Dagys)

After a solid opening stint by Drayson, who kept the team’s Lola B09/60 Judd on the lead lap and in pursuit, Cocker took over with one hour and 25 minutes remaining and quickly worked up the leader board. However, the 23-year-old was forced to relinquish a 30-plus second lead for a final stop for fuel, which dropped him to fourth.

But Cocker made up the near impossible deficit to take the win in dramatic fashion, getting by the leading CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder of Klaus Graf on the final lap, with only two corners remaining. Watching from the pits, it was certainly one of the moments Drayson will never forget.

“For me, it’s the first time that I’ve won an American Le Mans Series race, and it’s surprising the effect it has on you,” Drayson said. “It makes you feel quite different about the whole thing because you now know you can do it. You’ve done it once, so you know you can do it again.

“Coming to Mosport, I’m feeling that a huge weight is now off my shoulders. The potential of the team has been shown. Now, I just want to do it all over again!”

For the duo, it had not only marked their first ALMS wins, but also their first in prototype competition, less than a year since making the switch from GT2 to LMP1. While some had questioned the bold move some twelve months ago, it’s clear both Drayson and Cocker have developed as drivers, as has the British-based team.

“I think it’s about having the right people with the talent, the experience and the know-how and attitude to do it,” Drayson said. “We are still a young team. Us having enough time to understand the car is also important. It’s been less than 12 months with the car. I think the way in which we’ve got to understand the car has had a key effect in terms of the overall team performance.
Cocker has two poles to his credit. Can the 24-year-old make it number three today at Mosport? (John Dagys)

“The [engineers] are now coming to race circuits and are getting the car sorted more quickly. That means Jonny and I have maximum time to explore what the car could do and not use up all of the practice sessions with the setup.”

Drayson also believes the little improvements in other areas have helped them immensely over the course of the season, too. In the cockpit, Drayson and Cocker now share the same seat, where Cocker before had to use an insert. As a result, the rather small change has enabled the team to have much quicker drive changes.

With win number one now under their belt, Drayson and Cocker will be looking to make it two in a row on Sunday. While their work may be cut out for them for a repeat on the daunting Mosport circuit, Drayson isn’t letting that faze him. After all, it’s amazing how quickly the the team has developed into being one of the regular contenders race in and race out.

“We’ve been talking of how we’ve been having these flashes of brilliance every now and again,” Drayson said. “What we showed in the Asian Le Mans Series championship last year, what Jonny did at Mid-Ohio and now with Road America. To have achieved an overall win is a vindication of everything we’ve been trying to do.”


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