Mike Lewis, owner/driver for Autocon Motorsports, was delighted at the news released today by IMSA revealing rules adjustments for the team’s Lola EX257 for the remaining events in the 2006 ALMS series. "This is obviously good news for us, and it is fair and recognizes that the Lola is a modern race car capable of being competitive with the latest generation cars being introduced to the American Le Mans Series," stated Lewis.

IMSA announced in its Competitor Bulletin that the EX257 can return to two of the specifications when the car was introduced to the series in 2002: a maximum turbo boost of 2800 mb and a restrictor size of 43 mm. Prior to the specifications change the limits were 2500 mb turbo boost and 41.8 mm restrictor.

“I think it’s the right move considering the startling pace the Audi showed at Sebring. I know the new rules were supposed to slow down the current generation of cars, but we all know engineers are clever and the rules don't always work as intended, continued Lewis. “The 1:45 lap time in qualifying at Sebring was a stunning indicator of the Audi potential and Dyson has barely scratched the surface of their car. So, I think it’s fair that the older Lola gets a little restrictor and boost back from recent reductions. People forget the EX257 is quite old now in racing terms, even though it’s still a great piece.”

"IMSA seeks to be as fair as possible to all competitors while working to make the racing close for the fans. Their approach seems to be to try to help teams with somewhat older hardware raise stay current and competitive,” added Autocon driver Chris McMurry. “This change keeps us in the game and levels the playing field, and we appreciate the rules makers paying close attention to issues that inevitably evolve from the ebb and flow of the ever-evolving performance of racing cars,” said McMurry.

Driver Bryan Willman was, not surprisingly, analytical about the changes. "These updates return the potential of the package to about where it was when introduced. But it will be up to us to use this potential. But even with more power, which is always a good thing, we will still need to find good setups and drive very, very well in order to be competitive with the newer cars. Nobody ever says ‘no’ to more power, but more power by itself rarely wins races."
 
The Autocon team is hard at work preparing for the season to resume in the streets of  Houston on May 12th. "We suffered a catastrophic gearbox failure at Sebring, much worse than we originally thought and will have to make some modifications before we race the car again," stated Lewis. "When we get everything put back together we hope to  do some high speed tests, even on an airport runway if possible, to learn more about this new rules package. I doubt the changes will impact a short course such as Houston, but we look forward to the traditional road courses such as Road America and Road Atlanta to show the real potential of this wonderful race car."

"We entered 2006 with a new car a new driver lineup, and high expectations. My hat is off to the ALMS staff in helping us reward our fans and sponsors with a more competitive package. Now it is up to us to deliver," concluded Lewis.

Autocon Motorsports, based in San Diego, is competing at the highest level of prototype racing in North America, the P1 Class of the ALMS, with appearances at the major, classic road courses in North America. Nine events remain for 2006. Latest news is available at www.autoconmotorsports.com, as well as www.americanlemans.com.