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Thursday 03 June 2010
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No luck at Laguna for Lewis
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No Luck at Laguna for Lewis Ryan Lewis was back behind the wheel of racing car recently when he took part in the Laguna Seca round of the American Le Mans Series for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. Here is the team's report from Laguna:
Once again, a promising race weekend ended prematurely for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. With the #52 Corsa Car Care/ Autosport Design Oreca FLM09 starting on pole position at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Tom Papadopoulos, of Long Island, NY, took the green flag and ran a trouble-free first stint before a scheduled pit stop for fuel. Halfway through his second stint, Papadopoulos got on the gas a little too hard exiting turn two, spinning the car and losing three laps to the LMPC class leaders. Back on track, Papadopoulos continued trouble free, handing the car over to co-driver Johnny Mowlem of Berkshire, England. Setting fast lap after fast lap, and with clever pit strategy from the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports engineering staff, Mowlem got back two of the lost laps, and positioned himself to get back to the lead lap. With Mowlem's competitors lapping nearly two seconds slower before the full course caution, the team was anticipating a challenge for the podium and possible victory.
However, with the green flag flying for the restart, Andy Meyrick driving the #16 Lola B09 86/Mazda, drove too deep into turn eleven, spun on exit, and collected Mowlem in the process. The Lola slammed into Mowelm's right front suspension, causing the #52 to then hit the front straight's concrete inside wall, ruining the left front suspension as well.
The extensive damage caused by the dual impacts was too much for the crew to repair, forcing the team to retire the car after only completing roughly half of the scheduled six-hour race.
Mowlem, the LMPC pole winning driver, was devastated to be hit by the LMP pole winning car.
“ On the restart, Meyrick just out-braked himself, and although I had given the two LMP cars in front of me plenty of room, ultimately there was just nowhere for me to go,” Mowlem admitted. “Short of vanishing before the impact, there was nothing I could do about it. I'm just really sorry for the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports team. That's what really hurts. They gave us a such a stellar machine, Tom put in a tremendous effort, and I especially feel for Ryan Lewis, our third driver, who didn't even get to turn one lap in the race. Such a waste.”
Papadopoulos was equally complimentary of the team.
“The guys that work for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports are absolutely world-class, and they truly deserved better today,” Papadopoulos said. “Fastest car in practice, wins the pole, then it just gets wrecked right in front of our pit box. Horrible way to end what was, up until that point, and exceptional weekend. I'm so impressed by the whole operation, and I know that this team can deliver, we just need some luck out there to get the results that the crew, and the whole team has worked so hard for.”
Ryan Lewis, of Royston, Hertfordshire, England, posted practice leading lap times, but was ultimately unable to turn a single lap during the race.
“It's a real shame actually, as I was really looking forward to performing for the team this weekend,” Lewis said. “After posting quick times on Thursday and Friday morning, and with the car starting from pole, I knew that we had a real opportunity to get on the podium and possibly even win. I look forward to seeing PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports getting the car back together and racing for victories soon. I know they can do it.”
Bobby Oergel, PR1/ Mathiasen Motorsports Team Principal, is not letting a racing incident hide his team's exemplary performance today.
“Just looking at the data throughout the weekend, you can see that we significantly improved with every session,” Oergel explained. “So while we're bitterly disappointed with what happened today, the weekend's results show that podiums and wins are in this team's future. All the guys are committed to making this team a success. We're more motivated now than ever.”
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Previous News
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Tuesday 05 October 2010
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Ryan's Petit Le Mans Report
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Friday 24 September 2010
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RYAN RACING AT BRANDS THIS WEEKEND
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Wednesday 14 July 2010
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RYAN LEWIS BACK ON TRACK THIS WEEKEND
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Thursday 03 June 2010
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No luck at Laguna for Lewis
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Monday 17 November 2008
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LOOKING BACK ON 2008
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Tuesday 16 September 2008
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RYAN LEWIS RIDES THE LEARNING CURVE AT SILVERSTONE
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Tuesday 09 September 2008
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RYAN LEWIS TO RACE CREATION AIM AT SILVERSTONE
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Monday 23 June 2008
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RYAN LEWIS JOINS INTERSPORT RACING
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