Dyson changes driver lineup
Chris McMurry and Tony Burgess will rejoin the team for four of the remaining six rounds of the American Le Mans Series starting at the upcoming race at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 21, while Johnny Mowlem will return to the team at Virginia Int’l Raceway.
McMurry and Burgess, series veterans who joined the team last year and drove well together in the No. 20 Dyson car at the Petit Le Mans, will co-drive the team’s No. 16 Lola-Mazda at Mosport, Road America and the Circuit of the Americas, and will pair with Chris Dyson at the season-ending Petit Le Mans race. Mowlem, who joined Dyson and Guy Smith for two events in 2012 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and VIR, is thrilled to be returning to the team after a successful test with McMurry and Burgess at Road Atlanta two weeks ago.
“We’ve known since the start of this season that with the merger of IMSA and Grand-Am, 2014 would mark a major inflection point in North American sports car racing," said Chris Dyson. “While IMSA has not yet issued its technical rules calibrating the performance of P2 and Daytona Prototypes for 2014, we’ve known that success next season for Dyson Racing will require an early start.
“We are no longer in this year’s championship hunt, and as our team will likely campaign a P2 car next year, we want to get started on that program sooner rather than later – similar to what the top Formula One teams are presently doing to prepare for their new technical package in 2014. This will take up a good deal of my time and energy. Being able to put Chris McMurry and Tony Burgess in our P1 car for these four races allows us to build on existing relationships and fully honor our 2013 commitments to Mazda and our other partners while at the same time applying the resources required to get an early start on the technical and competition aspects of our 2014 program. Chris and Tony have been working with us to put together a program this year and are keen to work with the team in the future, so this was an opportune and pragmatic decision with the team’s long-term interests in mind.
“The team had a strong race at Lime Rock and I’m confident that we have a solid platform for the drivers. Personally, I look forward to competing along with Guy Smith again in Baltimore and it will be great to have Johnny Mowlem back with the team at the Virginia race."