LONG BEACH, Ca — Acura’s Lowe’s Fernandez car is on a roll, there is little doubt of that, but the question this week at the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans at Long Beach is will the the BP Dyson Racing Mazda team be able to find a way to take the checkered flag for the first time this season.
Drivers Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz have dominated the first two events of the season in the American LeMans Series (ALMS) but neither have a win on the nearly two mile long, 11 turn street course and Diaz is the first to note,”We haven’t had the success here in the ALMS that we wanted and, hopefully, we can change that this weekend.”
While Diaz and Fernandez will be riding in the favorite’s seat, the Dyson BP Mazda has started to show its pedigree and even through it was second overall in the LMP2 class, it turned the fastest laps of the class in competition on the St. Petersburg (Florida) course two weeks ago. With Acura only having competition from its own team in the LMP1 class, it would appear the the race of the day will be between the Lowes Fernandez Acura and the Dyson BP Mazdas.
We caught up with veteran Guy Smith, a LeMans winner, who co-drives with Rob Dyson and asked him for his view of the race this weekend and the Mazda experience.
TRT: You mentioned somewhere that you did not expect to be able to challenge the Acura so early in the season. What were you expectations coming into Sebring? GS: Well I was being realistic in the fact that the program was and still is very new and Sebring is probably the toughest race we face all year in the ALMS — so its always a massive challange no matter what car you are in.
TRT: The thing about racing is that every race you get the opportunity to measure yourself and the car against the rest of the field. How much of what is going on with the Lola Mazda is car, how much is driver, and what has to improve in order for you to run with the Acura? GS: I Would like to think that I can be competative against any driver and would be able to get the best out of any car that I drove, having raced the Audi, Bentley and the Porsche. I have a good feeling of where we need to be to be able to beat the Acura, but fans need to be a little patience as it will just take a bit of time to get the car dialed in. I am hoping by mid season we will be in a position to beat the Acura.
TRT: You have driven just everything from go-karts to Indy cars — but driving in the ALMS has to be a little different mind set. What do you do differently to prepare yourself for a Sebring or Atlanta as opposed to St. Pete or this week end’s Long Beach race? GS: Well in sportscar racing even the long races now have become like sprint races as the cars are in general much more reliable than before. So you just have to attack from the start, though obviously at Sebring and Atlanta it is a more controlled pace . Even so you have to keep an eye on the big picture but still its a pretty fast pace.
TRT: Of course there is always the technical challenge of setting up the car for a particular race track. Is that something that you enjoy, or is that just something comes with being a driver? GS: No I really enjoy it — working with the engineers trying to solve problems is a real challange. Also in sportscars you get to work with a co driver on this as well so its all about good team work.
TRT: Where did your interest in motor racing come from — you started at age 12 in go-karts according to your bio. GS: My dad used to rally drive, (he has recently started again after 20 years!) andI had a go kart which I used to race around the garden on slicks. My dad would come with the hose pipe and wet the grass and I would slide around which was a great way of teaching car control. I then started racing karts for fun at 10 and was doing better at that than at school so the rest as they say is history!
TRT: Sometimes it would seem that a driver can drive particularly well but not win. Have you ever just driven the wheels off the car but not won the race? Can you tell us about that experience (assuming that you have had it). GS: It happens more often then not. At Le Mans in 2004 we led for 17 hrs and had a problem causing the team to loose a lap .We crashed it back down to 40 seconds at the finish; also with the Porsche there were many times were we pushed really hard but didn’t always get the result the effort showed.
TRT: A chance to drive F-1 or win the 24 hours of Le Mans three more times. Which would you take and why. GS: Great question, if I was 22 F1 would be the choice; but now I love sportscars and three more wins would be good — but of course I would still have a long way to go to beat TK (Tom Kristensen)!
TRT: You will be going back to Le Mans this year to drive the Ginetta-Zytek 09S in the LMP2 class. Having tested it earlier, how does it compare to the Lola Mazda and will it be much of an adjustment to go from the Lola Mazda to the Ginetta-Zytek 09S? GS: The Zytek is a great car and I really enjoyed driving it. I have come close to racing it in the past but for one reason or another it never came together but I feel excited for Le Mans. Compared to the Lola/Mazda they are very differant but the Mazda is coming on very strong and putting out great power. As I said earlier its still the early days development for the Mazda, where as the Zytek is more developed at this stage.
TRT: When did you start a conditioning program to help you with your driving? How did that come about? GS: I started in karts and never stopped. I train for two hours in the morning with cardio and do one hour in the afternoon with weights. I am lucky that I enjoy it. I train with Richard Chessman who is an ex army PT so he pushes me really hard — harder than the driving forces are — but it pays off in the car.
TRT: How do you deal with the mental part of racing? What do you to prepare for a race mentally? GS: I like to try and relax and if there is time take a nap as it gives me time to centre myself and think about the race.
TRT: Bonus question: Which is the better castle: Conisbrough Castle or Skipton Castle and why? GS: Skipton ? because its closer to me, and York castle is even closer!!
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