Utah Raceday!

Race! Saturday May 17, 2009

5:00 pm - Checkered flag. No. 45 wins the Utah Grand Prix in GT2. No. 44 is sixth. Congratulations everyone! The Lizards extend their ALMS GT2 team and drivers' championship lead. Next stop Le Mans.... Check back with us June 10 for our first practice session for the 24 Heures du mans.

4:57 - Still green - 2 laps to go.

4:55 pm - 5 minutes left. The No. 45 is still in the lead. Patrick needs to be very cautious on the last few minutes and not overwork the tires. The No. 11 Viper is slow on track and has stopped on course. This may mean a finish under yellow. No. 45 is in the lead, No. 87 is P2, and No 62 is P3. The No. 44 is P6.

4:51 pm - The No. 87 had a slow lap - not sure if they are pitting or not. Yes, they came in the pits. The No. 45 is now 60 seconds ahead, and is in the leads.

4:47 pm - The No. 62 has passed the No. 45, but it was not for position. Patrick Long is in the lead. Car off in 8 - the No. 40 - but he continued.

4:45 pm - Patrick is on a faster pace than the No. 87- about 1 second per lap faster. He is now 22 seconds ahead of the No. 87 - 15 minutes left. the No. 62 Risi Ferrari is physically behind the No. 45 on track, but is one lap down.

4:42 pm - The No. 45 is now 19 seconds ahead of the No. 87, which is in second. He extended the lead during their respective fuel stops. The No. 62 is in third, but is one lap back from the No. 45 and the No. 87. The No. 44 is in sixth, 1 lap back from the No. 18 which is in fifth.

4:37 pm - The No. 45 pits for a short fuel, no tires.

4:34 pm - GT2 Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 87; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 21; P 5 No. 18; P6 No. 44. 26 minutes left in the race. There will be one more stop for most cars for fuel. The No. 87 is in the pits for their fuel. They are doing fuel only, no tires. Patrick and Wolf are the only two GT2 cars on the same lap. No. 62 is one lap down.

4:32 - The No. 45 will pit in about 5 laps. The No. 87 should be in in about 3 laps.

4:30 - In the No. 45, Patrick Long is still in P1, and has extended the gap to the No. 87, which is in P2, to 15 minutes. On track, the No. 87 is behind the No. 44, driven by Johannes van Overbeek, but Johannes is 1 lap down.
4:20 pm - Patrick radios in that all is OK in the car. He has 40 minutes left to go.

4:11 pm - GT2 positions: P1 No. 5; P2 No. 87; P3 No. 21; P 4 No. 62; P 5 No. 18; P6 No. 11; P7 No. 44; P 8 No. 92.

4:07 pm - The No. 44 pits for fuel, tires, and driver change from Seth Neiman to Johannes van Overbeek. Johannes is back out quickly, now in sixth.

4:01 pm - Just under one hour left in the race. GT2 positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 87; P3 No. 21; P 4 No. 62; P 4 No. 44; P 6 No. 18; P 7 No. 11; P 8 No. 92; P 9 40; P 10 No. 90. There's one more stop left for most cars - both the No. 44 and No. 45 will stop again for fuel. Patrick radioed in that his seat has moved back and if it goes back any further he will not be able to reach the pedals.

3:58 - the No. 18 Vicci Porsche went flying off track and impacted the tire wall. He continued and is back on track.

3:51 - the No. 44 will stop in about 15 minutes. Patrick has maintained the gap in front of the No. 87, which is in second, Patrick is still 12 seconds ahead. Patrick got held up by the No. 92 BMW and lost a second on the last lap but he's by him now.

3:47 pm - A bit less than an hour and a quarter left in the race. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 87; P3 No. 21; P 4 No. 62; P5 No. 18; P6 No. 44; P7 No. 11; p8 No. 92; P 9 No. 40; P10 No. 90. Patrick Long is in the No. 45 and Seth neiman in the No. 44. Both cars will need to stop again for fuel. The No. 44 will have a driver change to Johannes van Overbeek. The cars may take new tires, depending on the situation when they pit.

3:39 - In the No. 45, Patrick Long is in the lead. Seth Neiman in the No. 44 is sixth. The No. 87 is in second. The No. 45 is 13 seconds ahead of the No. 87, and is about one half of a second faster per lap pace.

3:35 - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari pitted for tires, fuel and driver change to Jaime Melo. They are now in fifth. Risi had a rough race start- after starting in 2nd, they fell to the rear of the pack after a tussle with a BMW at race start which sent the Ferrari spinning into the gravel.

3:28 pm - Very clean pit stop for the No. 45- Patrick is back out on track. He retained the lead. Positions: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 87; P3 No. 21; P4 No. 62; P 5 No. 44; P6 No. 18; P 7 No. 11.

3:27 pm - The No. 45, in the lead, pits for driver change to Patrick Long, tires and fuel.

3:23 - The No. 87 is in the pits for driver change from Marc Lieb to Wolf Henzler, tires and fuel. At the time of their pits stop, they were in 2nd. Joerg, in the lead in the No. 45, will pit shortly.

3:21 - the No. 18 Vici Porsche just completed their stop - a bit of a wobbly restart for them but they are back out. they are in 7th. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche, which is in 2nd, will pit in the next lap or so. The No. 45, which is in the lead will pit in 5 minutes.

3:20 pm - The No. 44 pits for driver change to Seth Neiman, tires and fuel. AT the time of the pit stop, Johannes was in third place, having climbed up from his ninth position start.

3:10 pm - Joerg in the No. 45 is in the lead and is now 8 seconds ahead of Marc Lieb in the No. 87. He will pit in 5 or 6 laps (just under 10 mins) for driver change to Patrick Long. In the No. 44, Johannes is P3. the No. 44 should pit in about 15 minutes. 1 hour and 50 minutes left in the race.

3:04 pm - Joerg has increased the gap over the No. 87 to 6 seconds. Joerg is P1, the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is P2, Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44 is P3.
Joerg radioed in that the track is getting faster now - more rubber on the track and more grip. Joerg will pit in about 10 or 11 laps for fuel, tires, and driver change to Patrick Long.

2:56 pm - Just over 2 hours to go in the 2 hour and 45 minute race.
The driver change window opens up shortly (the minimum amount that a driver may be in the car is 45 minutes).

2:48 pm - Joerg has increased the gap between him and the No. 87, which is in 2nd, to 2 seconds. Joerg is running about 1/2 a second faster per lap. Johannes radios in that the No. 44 is good but the track is very greasy.

2:41 pm - GT2 positions: p1 No. 45; P 2 No. 87; P 3 No. 44; P 4 No. 21; P5 No. 18; P 6 No. 40; P 7 No. 11; P 8 No. 62. If all goes as planned, this will be a 2 stop race. One driver change, 2 fuel/tire stops.

2:40 pm - Joerg is still P1, with the No. 87 running nose to tail. Marc Lieb in the No. 87 is putting a lot of pressure on Joerg, but Joerg is holding fast to the lead.
Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44 is in third.

2:29 pm - Joerg Bergmeister is in P1 - he started on the pole, and was passed by the No. 87 on the start, and then passed the No. 87 again to retake the lead. In the No 44, Johannes has moved from ninth to third, but he is one lap down on the No. 45. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari is in 8th. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is in 2nd and is right behind Joerg.

2:28 pm - The No. 90 BMW is in the pits for repairs. Both BMWs have had a rough start to the race.

2:24 pm - We just lost our TV feed in the pits. Hopefully we'll get things back shortly.

2:23 - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari, which had started from second only to end up in a race start tussle with one of the BMWs, which pushed him to the back of the field, has pitted early for tires. He could not get hte car restarted and it was a long pit stop.

2:22 pm - Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio live. To listen, click on the Follow the Race tab on our home page www.lizardms.com.

2:20 pm - GT2 positions: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 87; P3 No. 21; P 4 No. 18; P 5 No. 44; P 6 No. 11; P 7 No. 40

2:18 pm - Correction, it looks like the No. 45 still has the lead. it was a very "raggedy start" for GT2.

2:17 pm - On the replay, it looks like one of the BMWs took the Risi Ferrari out on the start, sending him spinning into the gravel. Risi was able to continue but spent some time in the gravel. The No. 92 BMW then went off track, spinning and having to pit immediately for repairs.

2:16 pm - Joerg Bergmeister started on the pole but it was a very messy start and he is now P2, with the No. 87 having moved past us. Johannes van Overbeek started in ninth.

2:15 pm - A rough start - The Risi Ferrari and both BMWs had issues on the start.

2:15 pm - Green flag.

2:14 pm - We are just minutes away from race start

Morning Warmup

Saturday, May 17, 2009

9:25 am - Checkered flag on the session. Both cars are safely bsck in the pits.
We'll be back with you around 1:45 pm MT for the race.

9:23 am - Patrick pitted for new tires. He's out again for the last few minutes of the session.

9:14 am - Patrick Long is now in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44 - all going well so far in the final track session before this afternoon's race.

The race will be broadcast tape delayed on SpeedTV, with coverage starting at 7 pm Pacific tonight.

9:08 am MT - Good morning from Salt Lake City. Morning Warmup is underway. Joerg Bergmeister is out in the No. 45 and Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44. Joerg is currently P1 in this morning's short session which lasts until 9:25 am.

Joerg put the No. 45 on the pole yesterday in qualifying, setting a new track qualifying record for GT2 of 1:47.120. Seth Neiman qualified ninth in GT2. The final grid has not yet been published - I'll post final starting positions once I know them.

It's a beautiful day here - very warm, not too windy and clear.