American Le Mans Series

Horag-Lista Racing Withdraws from Petit Le Mans

Horag-Lista Racing’s high hopes for a good finish in Saturday’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta were dashed Wednesday afternoon when its Lola B05/40 Judd No. 27 was the victim of a freak accident in an early practice session. The car will have to be returned to its constructor for repairs, so the team was forced to withdraw from Saturday’s race.

Lead driver Didier Theys of Scottsdale, Ariz. had just turned the car over to Eric van de Poele of Sart Risbart, Belgium after about 30 minutes of practice. As van de Poele was attempting to leave the pits to begin his stint, the Aston Martin DB9 No. 57 driven by Jonny Kane of Comber, Ireland crashed hard into the left side of the Horag-Lista Lola. Kane, who was on the track at speed, reportedly did not see van de Poele until it was too late.

Luckily neither driver was hurt.

The Horag-Lista team’s third driver, Thed Bjork of Orebro, Sweden, did not get to turn a lap.

The very disappointed Horag-Lista team will take the car back to Switzerland and then send it to England for repairs. Its next race is a Le Mans Endurance Series event in Istanbul, Turkey Nov. 12-13.