Dyson Racing

Team founder Rob Dyson started his racing career in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in 1974 with a Datsun 510 sedan with a pit crew of one: his wife Emilie. He won his first race, a regional at the Watkins Glen road course in New York. He moved up to SCCA nationals in 1977, adding Pat Smith as crew chief and won a national championship in 1981 with a Nissan 200SX.

Rob Dyson’s first professional race was at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut with a 1983 Firebird. He ran the Firebird in nine races in the International Motorsports Association (IMSA) GTO class and selected Trans Am races with a best finish of third in class at the 1983 Elkhart Lake 500 miler.

Dyson formed a close relationship with Goodyear during this time that began with modest radial tire development and would eventually grow to a full-scale tire support program that would prove essential to the team over an unprecedented 20-year run of success.

Rob Dyson bought a Porsche 962 (chassis 101) from privateer Bruce Leven. He and co-driver Drake Olson won their first race at Lime Rock Park in May 1985, even though they were running the smaller 2.8-liter engine compared to the other 962s' 3.2-liter engines. The team went on to win two more races with Olson winning the inaugural Porsche Cup of North America. It was the first of four consecutive Porsche Cups for the Dyson team.

The team took home three more IMSA GTP wins in both 1986 and 1987 with Price Cobb placing second in the championship both years. In 1986, Rob Dyson was named Most Improved Driver and Pat Smith Mechanic of the Year. James Weaver joined Dyson Racing in 1987, won his debut race at Road Atlanta with Cobb, and from 1988 onwards the Englishman drove for the team until his retirement twenty years later.

1988 was the year of eight in a row wins for the Nissan GTP ZX Turbo. Dyson Racing had two of the three wins for Porsche that year – at Miami in February and San Antonio in September. The San Antonio win, scored with Dyson's unique 962-DR1 chassis, ended Nissan’s win streak.

1985 Lime Rock

Adding an open-wheel racing program to the IMSA program, James Weaver and John Paul Jr. ran four CART races in a Lola T88/00 Cosworth, with a best finish of eleventh at Long Beach, CA.

Rob Dyson and John Paul Jr. drove the IMSA GTP race at their home track of Lime Rock, CT in their Porsche 962.

Dyson Racing renewed its partnership with Porsche as Porsche North America's factory-supported team in 1990. Assisted by engine builder Andial and employing improved aerodynamics with the Porsche 962C-148, the team had four podiums and Porsche’s only win of the year at the Tampa, FL race. The Tampa World Challenge race would be the team's final victory in IMSA GTP. The team developed an in-house chassis (DR2) based on the 962C in 1991, but with only limited success the organization felt a regroup was necessary.

Talks with Mazda about a partnership in GTP for 1992 did not bear fruit and the team sat out the entire 1992 IMSA season – the first since 1974 that did not see Rob Dyson behind the wheel. The team resurrected their Porsche 962C-148 for Rob Dyson, James Weaver, Price Cobb and Elliott Forbes-Robinson for the final GTP-era Daytona 24 Hours in February 1993, finishing fifth overall and second in GTP. Keeping the core team employed, Dyson Racing also ran six Firestone Indy Lights races with James Weaver.

Dyson Racing rejoined IMSA to compete in the inaugural World Sportscar Championship (WSC) in 1994. For that season, the team ran a Spice chassis with a production-based Ferrari 348 V8 engine in nine races, with a highlight being a third at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The car had a great sound but was down on power compared to the thoroughbred Ferrari 333P machines and the team made the decision to be the first to commit to the new Riley & Scott MkIII in 1995.

Using Ford V8 power with engines provided by Lozano Brothers Porting, the team won with the car's third time out at Road Atlanta. James Weaver took the champi

Team founder Rob Dyson started his racing career in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in 1974 with a Datsun 510 sedan with a pit crew of one: his wife Emilie. He won his first race, a regional at the Watkins Glen road course in New York. He moved up to SCCA nationals in 1977, adding Pat Smith as crew chief and won a national championship in 1981 with a Nissan 200SX.

Rob Dyson’s first professional race was at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut with a 1983 Firebird. He ran the Firebird in nine races in the International Motorsports Association (IMSA) GTO class and selected Trans Am races with a best finish of third in class at the 1983 Elkhart Lake 500 miler.

Dyson formed a close relationship with Goodyear during this time that began with modest radial tire development and would eventually grow to a full-scale tire support program that would prove essential to the team over an unprecedented 20-year run of success.

Rob Dyson bought a Porsche 962 (chassis 101) from privateer Bruce Leven. He and co-driver Drake Olson won their first race at Lime Rock Park in May 1985, even though they were running the smaller 2.8-liter engine compared to the other 962s' 3.2-liter engines. The team went on to win two more races with Olson winning the inaugural Porsche Cup of North America. It was the first of four consecutive Porsche Cups for the Dyson team.

The team took home three more IMSA GTP wins in both 1986 and 1987 with Price Cobb placing second in the championship both years. In 1986, Rob Dyson was named Most Improved Driver and Pat Smith Mechanic of the Year. James Weaver joined Dyson Racing in 1987, won his debut race at Road Atlanta with Cobb, and from 1988 onwards the Englishman drove for the team until his retirement twenty years later.

1988 was the year of eight in a row wins for the Nissan GTP ZX Turbo. Dyson Racing had two of the three wins for Porsche that year – at Miami in February and San Antonio in September. The San Antonio win, scored with Dyson's unique 962-DR1 chassis, ended Nissan’s win streak.

1985 Lime Rock

Adding an open-wheel racing program to the IMSA program, James Weaver and John Paul Jr. ran four CART races in a Lola T88/00 Cosworth, with a best finish of eleventh at Long Beach, CA.

Rob Dyson and John Paul Jr. drove the IMSA GTP race at their home track of Lime Rock, CT in their Porsche 962.

Dyson Racing renewed its partnership with Porsche as Porsche North America's factory-supported team in 1990. Assisted by engine builder Andial and employing improved aerodynamics with the Porsche 962C-148, the team had four podiums and Porsche’s only win of the year at the Tampa, FL race. The Tampa World Challenge race would be the team's final victory in IMSA GTP. The team developed an in-house chassis (DR2) based on the 962C in 1991, but with only limited success the organization felt a regroup was necessary.

Talks with Mazda about a partnership in GTP for 1992 did not bear fruit and the team sat out the entire 1992 IMSA season – the first since 1974 that did not see Rob Dyson behind the wheel. The team resurrected their Porsche 962C-148 for Rob Dyson, James Weaver, Price Cobb and Elliott Forbes-Robinson for the final GTP-era Daytona 24 Hours in February 1993, finishing fifth overall and second in GTP. Keeping the core team employed, Dyson Racing also ran six Firestone Indy Lights races with James Weaver.

Dyson Racing rejoined IMSA to compete in the inaugural World Sportscar Championship (WSC) in 1994. For that season, the team ran a Spice chassis with a production-based Ferrari 348 V8 engine in nine races, with a highlight being a third at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The car had a great sound but was down on power compared to the thoroughbred Ferrari 333P machines and the team made the decision to be the first to commit to the new Riley & Scott MkIII in 1995.

Using Ford V8 power with engines provided by Lozano Brothers Porting, the team won with the car's third time out at Road Atlanta. James Weaver took the championship down to the season finale at New Orleans, taking pole and the victory (the team's first one-two finish) but early season woes at Daytona and Sebring meant that Weaver finished two points adrift in the championship. The team continued to run two cars in 1996 with three wins and Butch Leitzinger coming in third in the WSC championship. Butch Leitzinger won the IMSA WSC driver titles in 1997 and 1998 and James Weaver won the United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) Can-Am championship in 1998. 1997 was their best year to date. It started with their first win in the Daytona 24 Hours and ended with six wins total. Butch Leitzinger was first, Elliott Forbes-Robinson second and James Weaver third in the IMSA Drivers’ Championship and the team won its first Team Championship.

The team competed with its R&S Mk. III-Fords (now with a larger capacity V8) and won titles in two different series again in 1999. Elliott Forbes-Robinson won the inaugural American Le Mans Series (ALMS), while Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Butch Leitzinger shared the shortened USRRC championship and the team won their second Daytona 24 Hour race. The team started the inaugural 1999 ALMS season with a thrilling second-place finish in the 12 Hours of Sebring, the closest finish in that race's history.

The team had committed early to the new Reynard 2KQ chassis to defend their ALMS title but early testing at Daytona showed it far off the pace and the chassis was jettisoned immediately. Dyson Racing resurrected the Riley and Scott Fords and won the inaugural Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand-Am) SR1 Championship with James Weaver. Highlights included a class win at the Daytona 24 Hours and four wins, including the Six Hours of Watkins Glen. The team repeated their 2000 Grand-Am championships in 2001, with six wins and another Team Championship. James Weaver once again claimed the driver's title and Butch Leitzinger came second. The team continued its dominance in its last full year in Grand-Am in 2002 with seven series wins and first in the Team Championship. Chris Dyson, who had made his team debut at the 2001 Watkins Glen International 250, finished second in the 2002 Driver's championship with five wins and claimed Rookie of the Year honors. Despite scoring no points at the Rolex 24 Hours, Dyson missed winning the title by only two points.

All told the team's Riley and Scott MkIII cars claimed thirty-eight victories, with two overall and two class wins at the Daytona 24 Hours, between 1995 and 2002.