EAST Yorkshire racer Guy Smith is certain his Dyson Racing team can use a near two-month break in the American Le Mans Series to good effect after experiencing further misery in the latest race.

The 38-year-old, from Beverley, qualified second fastest for the second consecutive race, but an engine issue brought an early end to a four-hour race at the Mazda Raceway in California.

Smith made an unscheduled pit-stop after 23 minutes for the team to conduct a diagnostics check on the engine and, despite a number of attempts to fix the problem, the Thetford/RACER Mazda Lola was retired shortly after mid-distance.

“The race was disappointing after such a good qualifying,” said Smith. “We’d made a lot of changes before qualifying and the car was really good.

“I was very happy with my lap and got everything out of the car. To be so close to the Rebellion car, running a new aero kit, had been very encouraging and underlined the fact we were making significant progress.

“But unfortunately the Mazda Lola developed a misfire very early on in the race and despite the team’s best efforts to get Chris Dyson and I back in the race, the problem couldn’t be cured.”

The team will contest the next race, the two-hour American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix, at the 1.5-mile Lime Rock Park, Connecticut, on Saturday, July 6.