St. Pete - Practice Sessions

Friday April 3, 2009 -

2:28 - There's some damage to the No. 45 to the right rear of the car and the wing. We'll check it out once we get back to the garage, but it does not look too substantial. We are done for the day. Check back with us at 9:20 am ET for morning warmup, and then the race at 1:20 pm ET. The race will be televised on ABC.

2:24 pm - Patrick is in the tire wall. He is continuing and appears OK. Red flag on the session. That is it for the No. 45 for the session. With just a few minutes left in qualifying, Long is now in fourth with a 1.13.465. No. 62 is in P1; No. 87 is P2; No. 92 is P3. No. 44 is P11.

2:22 pm- Patrick now P3 in the No. 44. No. 62 is P1; No. 92 is P2.

2:20 pm -We saw Patrick go straight into the run off at a turn but made no contact but which messed up that lap for him. He'll regroup, and make another attempt.

2:19 pm - Patrick Long is P2 in the No. 45 - he is 1/10th of a second behind the No. 62, which is P1.

2:18 pm ET - GT2 qualifying - Patrick Long is out in the No. 45 and Seth in the No. 44. There's a lot of traffic and several cars got held up on their first attempts at a fast lap.

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2:05 - Checkered flag - 10 minutes to qualifying. In the No. 44, Seth Neiman will qualify but will use the session for setup.

2:00 pm - Green flag. Patrick is now P4 in the No. 45. The No. 44 is P 6.

1:55 pm - Red flag - debris in turn 10.

1:52 pm - 12 minutes left in the practice session. All good so far. The No. 45 is in the pits for a setup change. Patrick is still in the car. Patrick currently holds the second fastest time in the session, a 1:13.813. Fastest so far is the No. 62 Risi Ferarri, with a 1:13.602.

1:41 pm - No. 44 pits for a damper change on the front and fuel. Seth will stay in the car.

1:38 - Patrick pits in the No. 45. he said that he's "quite happy with the balance"

1:35 - Patrick is now in P5 with a 1:14.911

1:30 pm - Patrick is now in the No. 45.

1:28 - Seth joins the field in the No. 44. Joerg is now P6 with a 1:15.364.

1:25 - Darren pits for driver change to Seth.

1:23 - Darren is now P2 in GT2, with a 1:14.823. Joerg is P 8. No. 87 is P1.

1:20 pm - The No. 45 is out after a quick toe alignment in the pits. Joerg is in the car. Darren will pit in a minute for driver change to Seth Neiman.

1:12 - Darren is now P1 with a 1:15.280. We've had luck with the weather today - it rained at the end of our morning session and for several hours after that but has held off since then. We are hopeful for a dry session and qualifying.

1:07 pm ET - We are back for this afternoon's 1-hour practice session before qualifying. Darren Law is in the No. 44. The No. 45 is in the pits but should be going out shortly.

8:47 am - Heavy rain. We are done and will head back to the paddock area.

8:43 am - It's starting to rain. We had some luck this morning and had 40 minutes of dry practice.

8:36 - The No. 44 is in the pits for a quick setup change. Darren will go out again for another lap, then back in for driver change to Seth Neiman. Patrick Long is currently P2 in the No. 45 and Darren is P5 in the No.44

8:23 - Chief engineer Craig Watkins calls Darren Law into the pits.

8:21 - Engineer Stefan Pfeiffer calls Patrick Long into the pits. The drivers report they are not getting beacon hits, so no lap times are being displayed for them in the car.

8:18 am - Track is still dry. Darren is P2 with best time so far of 1:16.065. Patrick is P3 with best time so far of 1:17.245. The tires and the track are starting to warm up and times are beginning to fall.

8:14 am - Darren Law is P2 in GT2. Patrick Long is P3.

8:06 am - Green flag on the morning practice session. Heavy rain is imminent but we hope to get a few laps on dry track.

7:55 am Good morning from St. Petersburg. We are just 10 minutes away from our morning practice session - our first session of the weekend. Skies are threatening rain but so far things are still dry. We'll go out if it stays dry, if it begins to rain, we'll pit for rain tires and make a call if we go out again or wait it out. The session is 1 hour. We have a second practice session this afternoon, then qualifying.
Darren Law is in the No. 44. He'll bed the brakes on the first few laps, so hopefully it will stay dry for a bit here. Patrick Long is ni the No. 45.