Creation stunned by ALMS pace

Creation and fellow independent British constructors Zytek traditionally enter a handul of late-season ALMS races and have previously been very competitive - sharing the front row at the Laguna Seca finale in 2006.

But at Laguna this year both teams were a long way off the pace set by the factory Audis and the Penske Porsches. Harold Primat and Jamie Campbell-Walter finished three laps down in ninth position for Creation, one place ahead of Zytek's Tom Chilton and Darren Manning, having only managed a distant fifth at the Petit Le Mans earlier in the month.

Campbell-Water reckoned the level of competition in the ALMS had taken a huge step up since their 2006 outings.

"What is incredible is that last year P1 and P2 on the grid was the Zytek and the Creation and that, after four hours of racing, Darren Manning and I were still racing hard again this year," he said.

"But the pace of the manufacturers such as the Acuras, the Porsche Spyders and Audi is incredible. While we improved by seven or eight tenths from last year, they've moved on by about three seconds."

Team boss Ian Bickerton admitted that Creation had been caught out by the level of competition, but was confident they could respond and improve for 2008.

"The competition is well stiff out here at the moment and we need to up our game to match theirs. I think we know how to now," he said.

"We have learnt a lot in the last three weeks out here and hopefully we can pull together a deal to go to Interlagos (for the Le Mans Series finale) and finish the season off there. I think we've done a great job, and look forward to being back here next year."