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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: Dyson Withdraws From LM24
American Le Mans Series squad to focus on defending its P1 title...
Dyson Racing has pulled the plug on its planned two-car Le Mans effort in order to focus on the fight for the ALMS championship. (Photo: John Dagys)
Dyson Racing’s long-awaited debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans will have to wait at least one more year, as the defending American Le Mans Series P1 champions have withdrawn from this year's around-the-clock French classic.
The Poughkeepsie N.Y.-based squad had accepted a pair of automatic invites in LMP1 for its planned two-car Lola B12/60 Mazda entry. However, team VP and sporting director Chris Dyson was forced to pull the plug on the effort nearly two weeks ago after running out of time to put the ambitious program together.
Dyson's withdrawal was confirmed Monday by the ACO, which released an updated Entry List.
“It's a tough decision emotionally because you want to race there,” Dyson told SPEED.com. “We want to go there and do well but all the pieces had to be in place and we really ran out of time, unfortunately.
“You weren't ever going to do the program [entirely] off of funded drivers. It was always going to have to take a combination of team sponsorship and driver-associated sponsorship.
“We explored every avenue a couple of times and had loads and loads of meetings with people. It all looked very encouraging, but at the end of the day, it was just a function of time and resources.”
Dyson said the decision to forgo Le Mans was largely based on its focus on the ALMS and defending its P1 title with its new Lola B12/60 Mazda.
Chris Dyson and Guy Smith are currently tied for the championship lead with Muscle Milk Pickett Racing's Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr, who won Saturday's Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. Dyson and Smith kicked off the year with a class win at the 60th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
“For us, winning the ALMS championship again is our biggest priority,” Dyson said. “It has been from the very beginning.
“I think we learned a lot from the [Le Mans] process but we realized that we have to give ourselves a little bit more time in the future and be realistic with the expectations. We're determined to get there but we're more determined to win the [ALMS] championship.”
Dyson’s withdrawal has given both Status GP and Murphy Prototypes, the first two prototype reserve entries, confirmed spaces on the grid for the June 16-17 race.
Ironically, Status GP was slated to provide logistical support for the Dyson Le Mans program but will now see its own Lola B12/80 Judd in the show. The Irish squad earned a podium finish in its sports car debut in the European Le Mans Series season-opening Six Hours of Le Castellet earlier this month.
As a result, there are now 20 LMP2 cars on the confirmed entry list, with the LMP1 car count reduced to 13.
Only a single P2 entry, the No. 32 Lotus Lola B12/80 Lotus, remains on the Prototype reserve list, while two cars - the GTE-Pro-class No. 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche and No. 88 Proton Competition Porsche GTE-Am entry, are listed as GT-class reserves.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
The Poughkeepsie N.Y.-based squad had accepted a pair of automatic invites in LMP1 for its planned two-car Lola B12/60 Mazda entry. However, team VP and sporting director Chris Dyson was forced to pull the plug on the effort nearly two weeks ago after running out of time to put the ambitious program together.
Dyson's withdrawal was confirmed Monday by the ACO, which released an updated Entry List.
“It's a tough decision emotionally because you want to race there,” Dyson told SPEED.com. “We want to go there and do well but all the pieces had to be in place and we really ran out of time, unfortunately.
“You weren't ever going to do the program [entirely] off of funded drivers. It was always going to have to take a combination of team sponsorship and driver-associated sponsorship.
“We explored every avenue a couple of times and had loads and loads of meetings with people. It all looked very encouraging, but at the end of the day, it was just a function of time and resources.”
Dyson said the decision to forgo Le Mans was largely based on its focus on the ALMS and defending its P1 title with its new Lola B12/60 Mazda.
Chris Dyson and Guy Smith are currently tied for the championship lead with Muscle Milk Pickett Racing's Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr, who won Saturday's Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. Dyson and Smith kicked off the year with a class win at the 60th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
“For us, winning the ALMS championship again is our biggest priority,” Dyson said. “It has been from the very beginning.
“I think we learned a lot from the [Le Mans] process but we realized that we have to give ourselves a little bit more time in the future and be realistic with the expectations. We're determined to get there but we're more determined to win the [ALMS] championship.”
Dyson’s withdrawal has given both Status GP and Murphy Prototypes, the first two prototype reserve entries, confirmed spaces on the grid for the June 16-17 race.
Ironically, Status GP was slated to provide logistical support for the Dyson Le Mans program but will now see its own Lola B12/80 Judd in the show. The Irish squad earned a podium finish in its sports car debut in the European Le Mans Series season-opening Six Hours of Le Castellet earlier this month.
As a result, there are now 20 LMP2 cars on the confirmed entry list, with the LMP1 car count reduced to 13.
Only a single P2 entry, the No. 32 Lotus Lola B12/80 Lotus, remains on the Prototype reserve list, while two cars - the GTE-Pro-class No. 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche and No. 88 Proton Competition Porsche GTE-Am entry, are listed as GT-class reserves.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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