American Le Mans/Sebring
Autocon Racing turns a page with new car at Sebring
By Kate Shaw
Photos courtesy Autocon Racing
SEBRING, Florida (March 17, 2006) — Autocon Racing, a stalwart in the American Le Mans P1 class of prototype racing, has come to Sebring with a brand new car and high hopes for 2006. They have changed their familiar black Riley & Scott Mark III for a blue and gray Lola EX257 which won two victories for Dyson Racing in its previous incarnation, and the off-season testing was most promising as the team heads into the ALMS season. “Qualifying was not quite what we had hoped for,” admitted Mike Lewis, who is the lead driver for the team. “The first time I set was 1.52.4, and in qualifying the best I could do was a 1.53.4. I know the car has more in it than that; we expect it could run in the high 1.5s if not for the teething pains you get in a new car. At least for the 13 laps I put in driving it, it seemed to be very quick! The important thing in a 12 hour race is the reliability of the car, and we believe this car will be there at the end of the race on Saturday night.” Lewis qualified the car P10 overall, but was relegated, along with several other teams, to the back of the starting grid due to the fact that not all their drivers made Night Practice, a requirement of the ACO-run series.

“We had a small fuel fire,” he said, “which singed some of the wires in the car, and we thought it was important to trace the cause of this and make sure the car is race ready. We’re not too concerned about starting at the back – especially as we’ll have the company of some of the faster cars in the field who were also relegated: Intersport, Miracle Motorsports, and BK Motorsports will join us at the back, and this should make for a very entertaining start.”

Autocon has been to Sebring three times previously, and has finished the race twice. “Ninety percent of victory,” Lewis pointed out, “is finishing the race. The trick, we believe, is to run your own race for ten hours, keeping in touch with the leaders and with those around you, always aware of whom you can catch and who can catch you, and then really step on it in the last two hours and make the best finish you can. We know we’re here to have a good time, but at the end of the day we’re racers, and all racers want to be out in front!”

Lewis is joined in the car this year by Chris McMurray, who has won races in prototypes over the years, and Bryan Willman, a popular driver who has also done well in prototypes. “They’re great teammates and we work well together,” said Lewis. “Both Chris and Bryan know how to get a car to the end of the race and how to be both canny and quick. We have a lot of fun racing together and I’m enjoying having a team like them with me.”

Lewis is also filled with praise for the Autocon ‘team behind the team’, asserting “No one does more with less than these guys.” Autocon operates with ‘2 ½ full time employees’; the rest give their time out of love for sports car racing and the series, a love Lewis unequivocally declares.

“My dad was a sports car man,” he said, “and what you call a ‘purist’; I know that’s considered a bad thing to be by some people, but he brought me up to be the same, by his love for real sports cars. I’m committed to the American Le Mans Series and I want to see it succeed and grow; I believe it is the series that is closest to pure sports car racing we have out here today. The cars are what they are, and there’s no adjustment made to prevent the best from winning; if you dominate the field, you dominate the field and it’s up to the rest to catch up with you. The first time we raced at Sebring, there was one five-lap yellow flag in the whole 12 hours; you won’t see that in other series, where they practice what’s called ‘managed competition’ and throw a yellow flag every time there’s a candy wrapper on the track, to make the racing look more exciting.”

Autocon is fully committed to the 10-race card of the American Le Mans Series, and the car will be at every race; the three racers will, of business necessity, appear in different combinations at the various races. Lewis will miss one or two races during the year, but he’s confident that as a team they will only get better as they work in this way.

“We’re all racers at heart,” he said, “and although we’re here having a good time, and we know we’re a small team that will never compete head to head with Audi or Dyson, we’re here to give the world the best run for their money that we can. And especially we’ll be competing with Highcroft Racing, who bought the other Dyson Lola.”

Mike Lewis is a man whose passion is sports cars, and it shows in everything he says about his team, his car and his fellow drivers. In a sport that seems more and more about attitude and blame, he’s refreshingly honest, candid and upbeat about all he has been able to accomplish and all that lies ahead for Autocon Motorsports. Look for Autocon Motorsports to grow and develop in 2006 and watch for them coming to an American Le Mans Podium some time soon!