
2001 RILEY & SCOTT MKIIIC LMP900/LMP1
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An LMP900 to win Le Mans Classic and the Endurance Racing Legends
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With its sister car (chassis 05), Ascott has finished in the top 3 of the ERL LMP1B Championship over the last three seasons.
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A very fast LMP900 / LMP1: in 2002, chassis #4 finished 2nd at the 24 Hours of Daytona and 3rd at Sebring
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Historic American Le Mans Series with Dyson Racing, American Spirit Racing & Autocon
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Eligible for Dubai GP Revival, Daytona Classic, Rolex Monterrey, Masters Endurance Legends, Endurance Racing Legends and Le Mans Classic
ELIGIBILITY
TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
ENDURANCE RACING LEGENDS by PETER AUTO
LE MANS CLASSIC
LE MANS 24 HOURS SUPPORT RACE
MASTERS ENDURANCE LEGENDS
DUBAI GP REVIVAL
MASTERS ENDURANCE LEGENDS USA
SEBRING CLASSIC 12 HOUR by HSR
DAYTONA CLASSIC 24 HOUR by HSR
ROLEX MONTEREY MOTORSPOSTS REUNION
Brand
RILEY & SCOTT
Model
MKIII C LMP900/ LMP1
Year
2003
Chassis number
01-002
Direction
ASSISTED AND ADJUSTABLE
Brakes
CARBON or STEEL (both are available)
Engine
YATES 8 CYLINDER 6 LITER Traction control
Power
620 HP @ 6,700 RPM with restrictors
Gearbox
XTRAC 6-speed sequential & PADDLE-SHIFT
Weight
920 KG


“Just about everything I drove designed by Bob Riley was incredible,” says Wayne Taylor, who won Daytona with both the MkIII and the MkXI, as well as the IMSA and Grand-Am titles with each car. “With a Riley chassis I knew that I was going to be in a position to win races and championships. His cars were always easy to drive. That was always the big thing about a Riley"
A brand new Riley & Scott with the best technology
In 2001, the Riley & Scott MKIII C succeeded the MKIII which had been launched in 1995 and was the main competitor to the Ferrari 333 SP. The idea behind this new model was not to evolve the MKIII but rather to create a completely new car using, of course, the experience gained from designing the Cadillac Northstar LMP for General Motors in 2000.
The chassis is made of steel with carbon inserts and is much stiffer than that of the MKIII: At the launch of the MKIIIC, Bob Riley indicated that it was 40% stiffer than the MKIII. Externally, there are major changes. In accordance with LMP900 regulations, the roll bar no longer runs the full width of the cockpit, but is only present behind the driver. It is taken directly from the Northstar LMP. The front of the cockpit has also been redesigned, with an aerodynamic windscreen added immediately in front of the driver.
The front end is also more rounded and plunging. The radiator inlets are designed to cover the full width of the nose, but are slimmer. The airflow is much better managed, the aerodynamics are optimised and the MKIIIC benefits from much more downforce at high speed.
Mechanically, the MKIII C's transmission is a marked improvement over the MKIII. A market benchmark, the X-Trac 6-speed sequential gearbox is present. It is controlled by a pneumatic system developed by Megaline and activated by paddle shifts on the steering wheel. The motorization is entrusted to Elan which equips the very efficient Panoz and then YATES in 2003. The brakes are now in carbon.
The MKIIIC has been studied and validated by Audi engineers
Proof of the seriousness of the MKIII C project, Audi had spied on the American manufacturer. Indeed, a chassis had been obtained by the brand with rings, which studied it in its own wind tunnel. By studying it in great detail, the Ingolstadt engineers saw that the Americans had done a good job. A competitor with potential, so much so that Audi was more than a little curious.
Riley & Scott MKIIIC on the podium at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring
The results were not long in coming, in 2002 the #04 chassis entered by Riley & Scott finished 2nd in the 24 Hours of Daytona and 3rd in the 12 Hours of Sebring. During the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it qualified in 16th position while running on Good Year tyres, which was not at all a guarantee of speed as we will see the following year...
In total, five MKIII Cs were assembled. Only four were entered in competition, chassis #03 being the one used for the FIA crash test.
Riley & Scott MKIII C #01-002: An American career
Chassis #01-002 was the first MKIIIC chassis to be entered in competition. It is also the chassis that has been entered the longest. In fact, it was the first to take to the track in the LMP900 category at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2001, and the last to compete in the LMP1 category at Laguna Seca in late 2005!
The car made its debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2001. Qualifying in 7th position, the new car, driven by Butch Leitzinger, Elliot Forbes-Robinson and James Weaver, finished 23rd. The three men were forced to retire just before the 8-hour mark with engine overheating problems. But the top speed was there. The 1'53'536 of the practice session proved it, close to the time of the Panoz LMP07 6th on the grid (1'53'536) or the Lola B2K/10 5th (1'53'182). At the front, the four Audi R8s were about four seconds quicker.
The car reappeared in the American Le Mans Series in August. Meanwhile, Dyson Racing had entered a Riley & Scott MK III (chassis 18) in the Grand Am. This new attempt with the MKIIIC chassis #01-002 brought its share of good results. First at Mosport with a 5th place finish, then with a podium finish at Mid-Ohio. On this occasion, James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger - who had barely taken part in practice due to electrical problems - relied on the experience of the Dyson team in the pits to keep in touch with the leaders throughout the race. James Weaver even tried to overtake Rinaldo Capello in the second-placed Audi R8 with four laps to go, but failed!
So the team arrived at Petit Le Mans with high hopes. Dyson Racing relied on structural improvements to the car's rigidity, as well as wind tunnel testing (and changes to the airbox). However, the latter did not completely solve the problems of turbulence around the cockpit, which prevented the drivers from exploiting the car's full potential.
The car was not entered in 2002. It changed hands at the end of the year and is now run by Jon Lewis and his American Spirit Racing team. In the meantime, the car had been upgraded at the Riley & Scott factory in Indianapolis. The team continued to use a Lincoln engine supplied by Lozano Brothers Porting (LBP), but with a revised displacement of 4.9 litres, down from the previous 6 litres. Two Americans, Tomy Drissi and Michael Lewis, were signed for the entire ALMS season, with Guy Cosmo providing backup for Sebring and Mélanie Paterson for Petit Le Mans. Regularly qualifying in the top 10 and finishing in the top 15, the team did not continue with Riley & Scott in 2005 and switched to Lola. The chassis was then taken over by Autocon Motorsports. But this first season at such a high level for Drissi and Lewis was encouraging. Not only the car and the equipment, but also a number of mechanics followed the project. So much so, that the Autocon Motorsports commitment is a sort of continuity, with the same car and Tomy Drissi and Michael Lewis reunited. At the start of the 2004 season, Lewis spoke of his desire to continue with the MKIIIC: "It's a great car. Bill Riley and his guys have done a great job in producing such an efficient car with a fraction of the development budget available to the factory teams. We were very keen to continue with this car and when American Spirit Racing announced they were selling it, AutoCon took it! You only have to look at the results Matthews Racing achieved at Le Mans last year (2003) to understand the potential of the car. Indeed, the '05 chassis qualified just 1.7 seconds behind the fastest Audi R8 LMP900 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans...
For 2004, Tony Dowe has been recruited as Chief Engineer to oversee the MKIIIC 02 entry. Among his many achievements was his role as manager of the IMSA TWR Jaguar team which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990 and the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1993. He was also manager of the Carl Haas Can-Am team, which won the championship with Patrick Tambay, and chief mechanic of Keke Rosberg's Newman Budweiser Can-Am car, which took 12 pole positions in 13 races! But the only notable performance of the year was a 7th place at Sebring. Before a stronger comeback in 2005. The car's presence in the ALMS was then more assiduous, with its very last appearance at Laguna Seca in October 2005.
Historic Races in the USA and Europe
The Riley & Scott MKIIC 02 was entered in a number of historic races by Mark Brannon. At the time it was painted all red. It was acquired by the Ascott Collection in 2021, imported from the USA and sold to a French competitor in 2022. The latter raced it in the Endurance Racing Legends at Le Mans Classic (6th place) and the Dix Mille Tours du Castellet, where it finished a fine 3rd.
Excellent performance/cost ratio
As we can testify, the Riley & Scott MK3C is an LMP1 car capable of challenging for the podium in the ERL. What's more, the car boasts a very high level of equipment, including a rigid chassis coupled with an effective aerodynamic load, a torquey 620bhp engine controlled by a traction control system, an XTRAC sequential gearbox with paddles, electric power steering and... In addition to its high level of performance, the Riley & Scott is a car that's easy to drive fast and offers much lower running costs than its direct rivals.
Photo credit: John Brooks
Paul Ricard & Le Mans photo credits: Luc Joly
Static photo credits: JEP
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