Road America - Practice Sessions

Saturday, August 15, 2009

3:30 - Checkered flag on GT2 qualifying. No. 45 Qualifies 3rd and No. 44 11th for Road America. That's it for today- we'll be back with you for morning warmup, tomorrow, Sunday at 8:55 CT. See you then! ** Jen

3:20 - The No. 90 is now P1 with a 2:06.950. The No. 92 is P2, and the No. 45 is now P3. The No. 45 is in pit lane - this is probably it for us for the session - we will save the tires.

3:18 - Joerg is now P 10 on his second lap, with a time of 2:10.781. Compare to the 2:07.943 that Joerg did just 15 minutes ago in practice. No. 87 is still P1. No. 92 BMW is P2. No. 92 BMW moves to P1 with a 2:07.073 (a new GT2 qualifying track record) and No. 92 is P2 with a 2:07.487. On lap 3, Joerg is now P2 with a 2:07.362. He radios in that he doesn't think he has more so he is pitting. The No. 92 is P1 with a 2:07.362. The No. 44 is P 11.

3:14 - The No. 45 is out at the front of the field and we are just hearing the cars go by the front straight now. The No. 87 is P1, No. 21 P2. Joerg did a slower outlap, we should see his next lap significantly faster. Joerg let the No. 87 by but now has the Panoz close behind. It's important to get a clear lap as early as possible in qualifying.

3:10 - Green flag on the 20 minute qualifying session. Joerg Bergmeister will qualify in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44.

3:00 Checkered flag on the session. Qualifying will begin in 10 minutes.

2:46 - Joerg is now fastest with a 2:07.943. 14 minutes left in practice, then we have qualifying immediately following.

2:43 - The No. 92 BMW is now quickest with a 2:08.052.

2:41 - No. 62 Risi Ferrari is now fastest in GT2 with a 2:08.157. Joerg is now second with a 2:08.900.

2:37 - Green flag. 23 minutes left in the session. Joerg is still in the No. 45 and Seth in the No. 44.

2:30 - Looks like the left rear suspension is broken in the No. 16 Dyson prototype after hitting the wall, so we'll be red a bit longer as they flat tow him in. 30 minutes left in the practice session.

2:25 - One of the Dyson prototypes is off in Turn 8 - looks like he may have impacted the wall. driver appears fine although not clear if he will get going again. Red Flag. Just over 30 minutes left in the session.


2:20 - Joerg Bergmeister heads out in the No. 45 for his first run in this session.

2:16 - Patrick pits for tire pressure check and driver change to Joerg Bergmeister and make a few more aero adjustments.

2:10 - The tires are starting to come in and the times are falling. The No. 90 BMW just did the fastest time so far in the session with a 2:09.311. Patrick is currently P6 with a 2:10.425.

2:00- Green flag. Seth and Patrick are on track. We have a one hour combined practice session, then qualifying immediately after that.

1:55 pm CT - Five minutes from green flag on the afternoon practice session. Seth Neiman is in pit lane in the No. 44 and Patrick Long is in the No. 45.

11:30 - Checkered flag on the session. The No. 45 had the fourth fastest time of the session. We'll be back with you later today at 2:00 pm CT for the second practice session of the day. Thanks! *** Jen

11:24 - Green flag. 6 minutes left in the session. Darren is in the No. 44 and Patrick in the No. 45.

11:16 - Red flag. The No. 02 Challenge car appears to have a tire puncture or an engine/transmission problem and a second challenge car (the No. 47) is deep in the travel. 12 minutes left in the session.

11:11 - Seth pits for driver change to Darren Law in the No. 44. Joerg is also back in the pits for a driver change to Patrick Long and fuel. 19 minutes left in the session.

11:05 - Both cars are back on track.

11:03 - the No. 45 pits for a setup change - ride height.

11:00 - Green flag. The No. 45 is back on track. The No. 44 is getting fuel and will head out in a minute.

10:56 - Another Challenge car is in the gravel. Red flag.

10:54 - No. 45 is back out again. Wolf now has the fastest time of the session so far, a 2:09.202.

10:52 - The No. 45 mechanics are making a clutch repair in pit lane.

10:47 - Joerg is P1 with a 2:09.880. P2 is Wofl henzler in the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche with a 2:09.986.

10:45 - Joerg radios in that his clutch is gone. They will pit him shortly to check it out.

10:40 - Green flag. We are rolling again.

10:37 am - A challenge car is embedded in the gravel at Turn 12. Red flag.

10:30 am - Green flag on morning practice. Seth Neiman is in the No. 44 and Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45.

10:20 am CT - Good morning from Road America. Another nice day here - some cloud cover today which should help keep the heat down a bit. There's a chance of some thunderstorms throughout the weekend but hopefully we'll have dry track for our two practice sessions and qualifying today.

Our first practice session starts at 10:30 am CT today. Seth Neiman is in the No. 44 in pit lane. The No. 45 has not yet shown up in pit lane but I expect it shortly.

Friday, August 14, 2009

3:46 - Checkered flag on the GT2 session. We'll be back with you tomorrow, Saturday, at 10:30 am CT. See you then! Jen ***

3:44 - Green flag.

3:43 pm - They will go green shortly and we will be able to do 1 or 2 more laps before the end of our session.

3:39 - Red flag on Joerg's outlap. One of the BMWs is stopped on track.Looks like he might be out of fuel. This may be the end of our session. The No. 45 was second fastest of the session, with a 2:09.402, two-tenths of a second behind the No. 90 BMW.

3:38 pm - Joerg is back out on track. 7 minutes left in the session.

3:35 pm - 10 minutes left in the session. The No. 45 is almost done with their brake pad change. Joerg will need to bed these new pads in. Seth Neiman is now in the No. 44.

3:31 - Joerg is pitting for a brake pad change.

3:20 pm - Joerg is now in the No. 45. Darren is pitting for a setup change.

3:07 pm - Green flag. Just under 40 minutes left in the session. Darren is in the No. 44 and Patrick is in the No. 45. We will change to Joerg Bergemeister in the No. 45 shortly.

2:55 -Red flag. One of the Challenge cars, I think the No. 57 Snow Porsche - is off deep into the gravel after getting bumped by the Panoz.

2:52 pm - Darren is now in the No. 44. Just under an hour left in the session. This is our only practice session today. We have two practice sessions on Saturday, then warmup on Sunday before the race.

2:45 pm - Start of combined practice - the prototypes are now on the track. Patrick is currently P2 in the session with a 2:09.402. the No. 90 BMW is P1. We've spent the last 30 minutes making our basic setup adjustments, bedding in brakes and getting the tires up to temp. Now the engineers will start fine tuning. AT Road America, the engineers have to make sure the cars have enough speed for the straights, but also keep a good aero balance for the fast corners. To do that, they try to minimize downforce, yet leave enough so that the car is predictable in the fast turns.

2:20 pm - Officials told us there was a possible fire in the right rear of the No. 45 - Patrick has pitted so we can check it out. We could not see anything on the TV feed. All is fine, so Patrick is heading out again.

2:15 pm ET - Good afternoon from Road America. The cars are on course for the first official test session today. Seth Neiman is in the No. 44 and Patrick Long is in the No. 45. It's a beautiful day here but hot! We are definitely baking in the Wisconsin later summer sun.

This is a long circuit - more than 4 miles and one of the drivers' favorite tracks. It combines long, fast straights with fast and tight corners and elevation changes.