Mid-Ohio Raceday

August 8, 2009

4:45 - Checkered flag. No. 45 wins GT2 at Mid-Ohio. Five in a row for Joerg and Patrick! No. 44 is ninth. Congratulations to the entire team. The No. 3 Corvette is second, the No. 92 BMW is third.

** We'll be back with you next weekend for Road America on Sunday! See you then ** Jennifer

4:42 - The No. 92 passed the No. 4 Corvette on track for position. The No. 92 is now P3. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 4.

4:38 - Some switching of positions in the GT2 field - the No. 62 Risi Ferrari and the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche passed the No. 21 Panoz. The No. 62 is now P5, the No. 87 P6. Five more laps.The No. 44 P9.

4:37 pm - The No. 92 BMW, in fourth, is now chasing the No. 4 Corvette, which is in third. The gap is less than one second. The No. 45 now 22 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette which is in P2. 8 minutes left.

5:33 - GT2 positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 21; P6 No. 62; P7 No. 87; P8 No. 90; P9 No. 44. 12 minutes left to go.

5:30 - The No. 62 Risi got by the No. 87 for position - the No. 62 is now P6. The No. 45 may be able to make it until the end without fuel, it will be close.

5:29 - Still green. They have decided to keep it to a local yellow only This is good news for us because a full course yellow could allow the No. 3 Corvette to catch back up - we now have a 15 second lead.

5:27 - The Dyson car spun again in Turn 2 and is stopped on course. he is continuing but slowly, no he is stopped. If he can't continue, we will probably go yellow - he is too close to the track.

5:25 - GT2 positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 21; P 6 No. 87; P 7 No. 62; P 8 No. 90; P 9 No. 44. The Dyson prototype got caught up in a pack of GT2 cars and prototypes and spun. He is continuing.

5:20 pm - In the No. 45, Patrick is the fastest GT2 car on track right now. He holds P1 and the gap to the No. 3 Corvette in p2 is now 10 seconds. In the No. 44, Darren Law is now in ninth position.

**30 minutes left to go.**
5:14 - The No. 37 prototype stopped on track but continued. Still green.

5:12 - GT2 Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 21; P6 No. 87; P7 No. 62. Patrick is now 8 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette.

5:07 - The No. 44 will be fine in fuel but I believe the No. 45 still has to stop for fuel. I will confirm that. The GT2 pack is all running together nose to tail but only the No. 3 Corvette and Patrick are on the lead lap. The No. 3 Corvette is stuck back farther in the GT2 pack and is held up in traffic. Gap between him and Patrick is now 6 seconds.

5:04 pm - Green flag. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 87. Patrick Long is in the No. 45; Darren Law in the No. 44. This yellow did not work in our favor - it allowed the No. 3 Corvette to close the gap from more than 10 seconds to 3 seconds.

5:03 - Much of the GT2 field has pitted for a fuel splash including both Corvettes and the No. 62 Risi Ferrai, which also took tires. The No. 45 has not yet pitted - he has finally reached the pack. it looks like the No. 62, the No. 4 and the No. 92, which had been split from the No. 45 and the No. 3 by the pace car, were able to both pit and also regain the lap that they lost under yellow.

4:56 - Now with the yellow, only Patrick and the No. 3 Corvette are on the lead lap. The No. 4 Corvette is now one lap down, I believe because the field was split when the pace car came out.

4:50 - Patrick in the No. 45 now plus 12 to the No. 3. No. 19 is deep in the gravel. Course will go double yellow.

4:45 - One hour left to go. Patrick Long in the No. 45 holds P1. Johnny O'Connell in the No. 3 Corvette is P2 and Olivier Beretta in the No. 4 is P3. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari is P4.

4:36 - The No. 92 BMW pitted. They are currently in eighth. I believe the whole GT2 field has now done their driver changes.

4:35 - Battle in GT2 right now for third - Jaime Melo in the No. 62 is right behind the No. 4 Corvette and putting a lot of pressure on him.

4:31 - Close call for the No. 45 which managed to scoot through a multi-car incident on track without any damage. He is again P1 - both Corvettes have pitted and positions are: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 62; P5 No. 92. Patrick is not able to use the clutch and reports that the rear is locking. He is 12 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette.

4:28 - The No. 3 Corvette is now in the pits. Patrick reports a possible problem. The clutch is losing pressure.

4:27 - The No. 4 Corvette is in the pits. In the No. 44, Darren reported that he is in the grass but continued. The No. 3 Corvette has taken the lead. No. 45 P2.

4:26 - The No. 45 is in the pits for tires, fuel and driver change from Joerg Bergmeister to Patrick Long. He is in P1. The Corvettes have not yet pitted.

4:24 - GT2 positions: P1 No. 45; P2 no. 3; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 62; P5 No. 92. No. 44 is P10. The No. 91 BMW went far off track but is back on track - spewing dirt and gravel around the track.

4:23 - The No. 92 and the No. 62 both pitted nearly simultaneously. The No. 62 beat the No. 92 out of the pits and they swap positions - the No. 62 moving into fourth with Jaime Melo behind the wheel and the No. 92 moving to fifth with Drik Mueller behind the wheel. Joerg radios in that he got the bobble - he is switching to reserve and will pit the next lap.

4:20 - Joerg still P1. he is now 14 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette, with the No. 4 Corvette just one second behind the No. 3. The No. 45 will pit shortly for driver change to Patrick Long. Neither of the Corvettes have pitted yet -so they should also do their driver changes shortly.

4:18 - One of the challenge cars went into the tire wall, but managed to drive over the entire gravel trap (!) and rejoined. No yellow.

4:16 - The GT2 cars are starting their scheduled pit stops for driver change, tires and fuel. The No. 87 was one of the first of the group to pit. The No. 44 has already done their driver change. The No. 45 will pit in the next 10 minutes.

4:10 pm - Darren Law is in the No. 44 and is heading out of the pits. Joerg is still P1, he is 14.5 seconds ahead of the next closest GT2 car, the No. 3 Corvette. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 4; P 4 No. 92; P5 No. 62; No. 44 is P10. the two Corvettes are running nose to tail in second and third position. Three's a good battle going on between the No. 40 Robertson Ford and the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche. Martin Ragginger in the No. 87 has been working to pass the No. 40 Ford for the last 30 minutes and they are nose to tail.

4:08 pm - Seth just got hit on the right rear but he is continuing. He will pit for a driver change, tires and fuel.

4:02- In the No. 45, Joerg now plus 8.7 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette in P2. He is still the fastest GT2 car on track. The No. 21 Panoz jsut had a lengthy off track excursion but was able to get back on track and continue.

3:54 - Joerg is the fastest GT2 car on track right now. In the No. 44, Seth is P10.

3:50 - Joerg reports that he got hit. Doesn't appear to be damage. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 62; P6 No. 21. Joerg lost a few seconds on that, he is now just under six seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette.

3:47 - Hi to the Big Lizard from the team. Seth says congratulations on your Lizard Acura! Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio. To listen, click on the follow the race tab on the home page www.lizardms.com.

Also the team wishes a safe journey for Vanessa.

3:43 pm - GT2 Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 62; P 6 No. 21.

3:40 pm - Rain is increasing. Joerg is now 6 seconds ahead of the second place GT2 car, the No. 3 Corvette.

3:34 pm - In the GT2 lead, Joerg is extending the gap between him and the No. 3 Crovette - he is now 5 seconds ahead. The No. 19 prototype spun on course but continued - no impact.

3:32 pm - The No. 92 BMW got past the No. 62 Risi Ferrari to take third. the No. 62 moves to fourth.

3:30 pm - Joerg is four seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette in P2. The No. 3 Corvette has a slight gap ahead of the No. 62 Risi Ferrari in third. the No. 62 is the head of a GT2 train, starting with the No. 92 BMW - putting pressure on him. Joerg reports light rain. Joerg is running the fastest pace in GT2 right now.

3:26 - Joerg is starting to build a gap now - he is still P1 the No. 3 Corvette is P2, the No. 62 Risi Ferrari is P3. The No. 92 BMW is P4. The No. 44 is P 10, having started from the rear of the pack.

3:24 pm - Green flag.

3:22 pm - Seth pits in the No. 44 for a fuel top up.

3:19 pm - Still yellow. Looks like light rain may be starting.

3:05 - On the second start, the No. 3 Corvette, which had started third, passed the No. 62 Risi Ferrari, which had been second. Joerg was able to retain the lead. We are still yellow. It is the 08 Challenge Porsche. I do not know the driver's status - the driver is still in the car and medical personnel are assisting him.

3:03 pm - One of the challenge cars is off far into the gravel. Full yellow. We will come in for a splash of fuel.

3:01 - Yellow - no start. Not sure what is going on. They will form everyone back up and call green again.

3:00 - Green flag. Joerg is in the No. 45, he is on the pole.

2:57 - Engine start. We will have one pace lap.

2:43 pm ET - Good afternoon from Mid-Ohio. We are just a few minutes away from race start. The No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche is on the pole. Joerg Bergmeister will start the race. the No. 44 will start from the rear of the grid (because Darren Law just arrived last night from Watkins Glen and was not at an official practice session). Seth Neiman will start the race in the No. 44. The big concern at the moment is the weather - we had a wet practice this morning and it's threatening rain right now. Weather reports say it will be a brief shower if it rains at all, but even a short rain will cause us some issues.

the race is being broadcast tape delayed tomorrow on NBC sports. Details at www.lizardms.com. Also, we are broadcasting our team radio live during the race. Click on the "follow the race" tab on the home page.


11:15 - Well - this morning's practice was a bust - too wet to do much. We'll be back with you just before the race this afternoon, which starts at 3:00 pm ET.

10:45 am - Good morning from Mid-Ohio. It's raceday! Unfortunately we have some light rain this morning and a wet track. Hopefully the rain will let up before the race this afternoon. Darren Law arrived from Watkins Glen and is out in the No. 44 and Joerg in the No. 45. Darren took a qiuck trip into the gravel on his outlap so red flag. Doeesn't appear to be any damage. They will have to flat tow him out.