Team owner and co-driver Lord Paul Drayson had high praise foe Cocker’s effort. “We were so hungry for that win. For [Cocker] to come out and just attack, really it was inspiring. We’ve been driving together since 2006 and he is an
amazing talent.”
The Drayson car started from the pole but lost the lead on the first lap to the turbocharged power of the Autocon Lola-AER piloted by Johnny Mowlem. The Drayson Lola-Judd, with team owner Lord Paul Drayson at the wheel, dropped to fourth.
John Field, in his Intersport Lola-AER, had to start from pit lane, after failing to qualify due to engine troubles. The team borrowed a motor from rivals AutoCon, and managed to make the start.
Cocker put the big Lola back in front on lap 42 after a yellow flag, but the team knew he would need to pit once more for fuel, while the other LMP cars had just enough fuel to make it to the end.
While his competition tried to conserve fuel, Cocker pushed the Drayson Lola hard, trying to open enough of a gap to have time to pit. He needed 42 seconds; he managed half of that by the time he had to stop on lap 59.
Cocker rejoined the race in fourth, determined to use his V-10 power to push his way to the front.
Traffic was dense and intense, as the class battles in GT and LMP had to share the same real estate. This helped bunch up the LMP leaders, and Cocker wasted no chances, passing Guy Smith in the Dyson Lola-Mazda on lap 61.
On lap 65, Team Patrón Highcroft told David Brabham to turn up the fuel mixture and move on the race-leading Team Cytosport Porsche of Klaus Graf. At the same time Cocker tried to pass the Highcroft car but got into the marbles and ran off the track, dropping back to fourth. With four laps remaining, the Drayson car was almost five seconds back.
“I made a small mistake behind David [Brabham], I lost a bit at Carousel [corner]. Then it was the case just to be flat out to the end,” he explained
The Drayson driver repassed Guy Smith on lap 67, passed David Brabham on lap 68, and took off after the leading Porsche with a lap-and-a-half to go.
The Porsche was in trouble: Klaus Graf was running on fumes. Two turns from the finish line, Johnny Cocker took a run on the struggling Porsche and made the pass.
“I knew it would be the only opportunity; if I was behind him on the straight I knew he'd be able to block me.”
“The Patrón Highcroft Racing team did the best we could today,” Brabham said in a press release. “We were saving fuel like crazy towards the end and we were really on fumes there at the end.
“To keep Dyson behind and Drayson winning overall was a better scenario for us in the championship.”
The Dyson Lola-Mazda didn’t break, as it has too often this season, but it also didn’t show the speed it had at Mid Ohio.
“Our congratulations to Drayson Racing on their first ALMS win. They had a fast car and as a team they did a great job today,” said team owner Rob Dyson in a press release.
“We look forward to maintaining our strong momentum at Mosport next weekend and putting the Castrol Mazda back on top.”
The American Le Mans Series heads north for its next race, the Grand Prix of Mosport on August 29, 2010, at Mosport International Raceway just north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Tickets are available through the Mosport Raceway ticket Web page.
The race begins at 3:05 p.m. EDT. Television coverage begins at 4 p.m. on SPEED-TV in the United States
Read about the battles in GT, LMPC, and GTC: BMW Earns First 2010 American Le Mans Series GT Win at Road America
| American Le Mans Series Time Warner Road Race Showcase at Road America | |||||||||
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| # | CL | Driver | Car | Laps | CP | Behind Leader | Behind Next | Behind In Class |
| 1 | 8 | LMP | Jonny Cocker | Lola B09 60/Judd | 69 | 1 | --- | --- | --- |
| 2 | 6 | LMP | Klaus Graf | Porsche RS Spyder | 69 | 2 | -1.051 | -1.051 | -1.051 |
| 3 | 1 | LMP | David Brabham | HPD ARX-01c | 69 | 3 | -4.915 | -3.864 | -4.915 |
| 4 | 16 | LMP | Guy Smith | Lola B09 86/Mazda | 69 | 4 | -6.062 | -1.147 | -6.062 |
| 5 | 99 | LMPC | Gunnar Jeannette | Oreca FLM09 | 67 | 1 | -2 laps | -2 laps | --- |
| 6 | 52 | LMPC | Luis Diaz | Oreca FLM09 | 67 | 2 | -2 laps | -21.606 | -21.606 |
| 7 | 90 | GT | Dirk Mueller | BMW E92 M3 | 66 | 1 | -3 laps | -1 lap | --- |
| 8 | 45 | GT | Patrick Long | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | 66 | 2 | -3 laps | -2.617 | -2.617 |
| 9 | 4 | GT | Oliver Gavin | Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 | 66 | 3 | -3 laps | -2.328 | -4.945 |
| 10 | 3 | GT | Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 | 66 | 4 | -3 laps | -8.405 | -13.350 |
| 11 | 02 | GT | Guy Cosmo | Ferrari 430 GT | 66 | 5 | -3 laps | -4.348 | -17.698 |
| 12 | 62 | GT | Gianmaria Bruni | Ferrari 430 GT | 66 | 6 | -3 laps | -3.222 | -20.920 |
| 13 | 95 | LMPC | Scott Tucker | Oreca FLM09 | 66 | 3 | -3 laps | -1.487 | -1 lap |
| 14 | 61 | GT | Mika Salo | Ferrari 430 GT | 66 | 7 | -3 laps | -1.658 | -24.065 |
| 15 | 01 | GT | Scott Sharp | Ferrari 430 GT | 66 | 8 | -3 laps | -7.893 | -31.958 |
| 16 | 44 | GT | Darren Law | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | 66 | 9 | -3 laps | -3.575 | -35.533 |
| 17 | 17 | GT | Bryan Sellers | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | 65 | 10 | -4 laps | -1 lap | -1 lap |
| 18 | 54 | GTC | Jeroen Bleekemolen | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 64 | 1 | -5 laps | -1 lap | --- |
| 19 | 69 | GTC | Galen Bieker | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 63 | 2 | -6 laps | -1 lap | -1 lap |
| 20 | 88 | GTC | Vic Rice | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 63 | 3 | -6 laps | -65.403 | -1 lap |
| 21 | 23 | GTC | Bill Sweedler | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 63 | 4 | -6 laps | -27.028 | -1 lap |
| 22 | 63 | GTC | Andy Lally | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 63 | 5 | -6 laps | -17.461 | -1 lap |
| 23 | 28 | GTC | Doug Baron | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 61 | 6 | -8 laps | -2 laps | -3 laps |
| 24 | 40 | GT | David Robertson | Doran Design Ford GT | 59 | 11 | -10 laps | -2 laps | -7 laps |
| 25 | 12 | LMP | Tony Burgess | Lola B06 10/AER | 59 | 5 | -10 laps | -87.614 | -10 laps |
| 26 | 89 | LMPC | Kyle Marcelli | Oreca FLM09 | 47 | 4 | -22 laps | -12 laps | -20 laps |
| 27 | 36 | LMPC | Frankie Montecalvo | Oreca FLM09 | 36 | 5 | -33 laps | -11 laps | -31 laps |
| 28 | 48 | GTC | Miller/Hines | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 36 | 7 | -33 laps | -227.562 | -28 laps |
| 29 | 75 | GT | Ryan Dalziel | Jaguar XKRS | 26 | 12 | -43 laps | -10 laps | -40 laps |
| 30 | 92 | GT | Bill Auberlen | BMW E92 M3 | 8 | 13 | -61 laps | -18 laps | -58 laps |
| 31 | 55 | LMPC | Scott Tucker | Oreca FLM09 | 8 | 6 | -61 laps | -0.238 | -59 laps |
| 32 | 32 | GTC | Bret Curtis | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | 8 | 8 | -61 laps | -50.629 | -56 laps |
| 33 | 37 | LMP | Jon Field | Lola B06/10 AER | 6 | 6 | -63 laps | -2 laps | -63 laps |
