After a difficult start to his Mosport race weekend, Ryan Lewis put in a top performance during the opening stages of the American Le Mans race on Sunday. Unfortunately things didn't go so well for his team-mate, John Faulkner, who had a high speed crash which ended the race for the pair and practically destroyed the car.

Ryan's Intersport Lola-AER had engine problems during the first practice session on Thursday which prevented any running. Friday's practice sessions were going a lot better but some late changes in set-up went the wrong way which made qualifying tough.  The race began well though, as Ryan explains:

“We started the race alongside Jon Field in the other Intersport car,” he said. “Jon made one of his typically robust starts and managed to gain a few spots in the opening laps whilst I held off the BK Mazda. Once we got enough temperature into the tyres I was able to close the gap to Leitzinger in the Dyson Porsche and pass him at the kink before Turn 5. For the remainder of my stint it was just a case of trying to manage the traffic and not lose too much time where possible. The car was really consistent so I could keep putting in low nines lap after lap, quicker than the majority of the field.”

The plan for the race was for Ryan to do the first stint then jump back in again after Faulkner finished his run.

“Unfortunately about thirty minutes into John's stint he ran wide at Turn 1,” Ryan continued. “He got loose in the dirt on the exit and was catapulted across the track into the inside wall. The minimum speed at Turn 1 is over 120mph so it's safe to say the impact was pretty big. The front of the car was completely ripped off so that was our day done. Luckily John was okay; a little shaken up and bruised but okay. It's a shame as things were looking promising. We were in with a chance of beating our sister car to third place in the P1 field, but it wasn't to be.”

Due to the substantial damage the car sustained Ryan will not be competing at Detroit but he will be back on track for one of the best American Le Mans races of the year: Petit Le Mans on October 4th.

ENDS

For further information on Ryan Lewis please contact Lindsay Morle on M. +44 (0) 7971 481078 or E. lindsay@morle.com