Road America - Raceday

Sunday August 16, 2009

4:50- Checkered flag. The No. 45 is fourth and the No. 44 is eighth. Although we did not finish in the podium, the No. 45 finished ahead of the No. 62, which is fifth, so we will extend our championship lead.

Congratulations to BMW for their first win of the season, and a 1/2 podium finish. We'll be back with you guys in two weeks at Mosport. *** Jen


4:48 - The No. 3 Corvette is now by - that was a shovel move - going on the inside and pushing Patrick off course. Luckily Patrick was able to keep control and continued. Patrick is now P4. In the No. 44 Darren is now P8. The Ferrari is P5.

4:46 - Patrick is by the No. 4 Corvette, but so is the No. 3 Corvette which is now right on his tail. just under 3 minutes.

4:45 - The No. 62 was passed by the No. 4 Corvette. Patrick in the No. 45 is in third and is now in a Corvette sandwhich - between the 4 (which is one lap down) and the 3 which is in fourth.

4:42 pm - Green flag.

4:40 pm - Less than 10 minutes left. Still yellow.

4:39 - Correction - looks like the 3 passed the No. 62 under yellow because they've now reversed positions - the No. 62 is back in fourth and the No. 3 in fifth. We are still yellow. Physically on track, the No. 45, in third, is followed by one of the BMWs (the 90, the leader) who is one lap ahead. The No. 62 is right behind the BMW. In front of the No. 45 is the No. 92, which is in second.

4:32 pm - Another full course caution, 17 seconds to go. The issue here may be fuel - many cars would have taken short fuel on their last pit stop - a lengthy yellow could cause problems. If the race finishes under yellow, we will finish third. The No 3. Corvette passed the No. 62 Risi Ferrari right before the yellow to move into fourth. Positions: P1 No. 90; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 45; P 4 No. 3; P 5 No. 62; P 6 No. 4; P 7 No. 40; P8 No. 44.

4:30 - The No. 45 in third is now 3 seconds ahead of the No. 62, which is in fourth. We need to finish ahead of them or we will reduce our lead spread in the championship (currently 37 points ahead of them). The No. 3 Corvette is close behind the No. 62 Ferrari - putting a lot of pressure on him. The NO. 11 Viper is once again in the gravel - double yellow (again!)

4:27 - The No. 87, which was in eighth, evidently is having som eproblems, Darren is now P8 in the No. 44.

4:25 - Positions: P1 No. 90; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 62; P4 No. 3; P 6 No. 4. The No. 44 is P9. The No. 90 is on the lead lap. The No. 92, 45, 62, and 3 are on the same lap, one lap down from the No. 90. The No. 4 is one lap down on them, 2 laps down on the leader.

4:22 - 25 minutes left. The No. 45 is P4. We are right behind the No. 62 and Patrick is past him to take third. The No. 62 is P4. On their last pit stop, Risi did not take new tires but the No. 45 did.

4:20 - Green flag.

4:19 - Patrick is now P4. The No. 90 is P1. The No. 62 is P2. The No. 92 is P3. The No. 45 is P4. The No. 3 is P5 and the No. 4 is P 6. The No. 62, 92, 45, and 3 are all on the same lap. I believe that the No. 4 is one lap down from them (2 from the leader).

4:18 pm - Still yellow. Risi did not take tires on their pit stop. I'll report positions in a minute once things sort out.

4:17 pm - Patrick is out of the pits ahead of the No. 90 and the No. 3 corvette. We have lost all pit cameras so I can't tell what's happening. I'll update in a minute if we get things back.

4:14 - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari crew is getting ready for their pit stop. The No. 92 (in second) is also pitting - they are P2. The No. 44 is in pit lane for short fuel and tires. The No. 45 will also pit for short fuel and tires.

4:12 - The waveby has started. It looks like the No. 15 P2 car, which beat out the No. 9 and the No. 66 out of the pits, is now the overall leader.

4:08 - The No. 1 and the No. 2 overall cars pitted and are back on track quickly in the same order (No. 9 is P1, No. 66 P2). Once the waveby starts (at the end of the yellow), the pace car will wave the field by until the No. 9 reaches the pace car. Both the No. 44 and the No. 45 will pit during this yellow - I expect much of the GT2 field will also pit.

4:02 - One of the dyson prototypes was slow on course. he was working his way around slowly when the Panoz hit him on track, spinning off into the grass. We were able to avoid the incident. Full course yellow. Hopefully we will have some luck on this yellow and the restart.


4:00 - 50 minutes left to go. We are P5.

3:57 - The No. 90 BMW passed the No. 45 on the front straight, but he is a lap ahead and it was not for position. The BMWs have more power than the Porsches (they are running a larger restrictor) and at a track like Road America this is a significant advantage.

3:52 - Here are the positions in GT2. No. 90 BMW is in the lead. He is on the lead lap. No. 92 BMW is in second. He is on the same lap as the No. 90.

The No. 62 is in third. He is one lap down on the BMWs.

The No. 3 Corvette is in fourth. The No. 45 is in fifth and the No. 40 Ford GT is in sixth. All four of those cars (the No. 62, No. 3, No. 45, and the No. 40 are on the same lap). The No. 4 Corvette is in sixth ( I believe that the No. 4 is 2 laps down on the overall leader).

The BMWs gained a lap during the first yellow when they received a waveby but the rest of the GT2 field did not. This is an advantage of starting at the front - you are more likely to receive a waveby during an early yellow because you are physically in front of the overall leader on track. (The pace car waves the cars by on track under yellow until the pace car is physically in front of the overall leader. That is the starting position for when the course goes green.)

3:50 - No. 87 is in the pits for fuel and tires. They should be good for the rest of the race. They are now in 8th. No. 44 is in 9th.

3:47 -Patrick has been trying to get by the No. 3 Corvette (whic is in fourth) , but has been unable to get safely by - Patrick is on a faster pace.

3:43 pm - The No. 4 Corvette is in the pits unexpectedly. They are fueling and it looks like replacing the door becuase they lost a mirror during the incident with the Dyson car earlire. The No. 4 had been in fifth. The lengthy pit stop has pushed him back in the field and Patrick in the No. 45 moves to fifth.

3:33 - Patrick has passed the No. 90 BMW on track that puts him back on the same lap, but is not for position. Still P6. He now needs to reel in the No. 4 Corvette in fifth and the No. 3 Corvette in fourth. Replay shows one of the Corvettes making contact with a Dyson prototype and the two Corvettes touching on track as a result. No apparent damage, but it did slow them down a bit and Patrick is now right behind them.

3:26 - Chaos in the GT2 lead pack - looks like we got caught up in the tussle - the Ferrari took advantage of the traffic to pass the pack, with both Corvettes following him through. This puts the Ferrari into third. Patrick went wide and was able to avoid contact or damage to the car, but is now in sixth (from third). Positions: p1 No. 90; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 4; P45 No. 3; P6 No. 45. Both BMWs are still one lap up, gained during the first yellow, when they got the waveby, but the rest of the GT2 field did not.

3:24 - Green flag. Positions: P1 No. 90; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 45; P 4 No. 62; P 5 No. 4; P 6 No. 3. No. 44 is now P 9.

3:21 - Fantastic pit stop by the No. 45 crew - the No. 45 beat the GT2 leaders (who were on their outlap after their pit stops) out on track. That puts him into third - ahead of Risi, now in fourth, and the Corvettes in fifth and sixth. Patrick Long is in the car.

92 was assessed a penalty - stop and go plus 60 seconds- for a problem in their pit stop. Still yellow.

3:21 - No 45, currently in third, is now in the pits for driver change, tires and fuel. I'll report positions in a few minutes once the field settles out.

3:19 pm - Risi beat the pitting GT2 cars out of the pits. This means that he has passed the Corvettes, and has held off the BMWS, which are in the lead, from gaining another lap on him.

3:17 pm - The wave by has started - the pace car waves the field by until the overall leader (the No. 9 Patron prototype) reaches the pace car. Then the waveby stops. Joerg was second in the line behind the pacecar when the waveby started - he and the rest of the GT2 field all got the waveby and are now circling back around.
He did not gain a lap back on the BMWs (they are still in the position that they were when the yellow started) but at least he didn't lose a lap.

Most of the GT2 field is now pitting - both Corvettes, both BMWs, the Viper, the Ford GT, and Risi. The No. 45 will pit on the next lap.


3:14 - The No. 44 has pitted under yellow for tires, fuel, and driver change to Darren Law

3:09 pm - The pace car is out - we'll see in a minute how things sort out, once the pace car catches the overall leader. The pace car is physically in front of the No. 3 Corvette, with the NO. 45 next, the No. 4 next, and the No. 62 behind him.

3:05 pm Double yellow - car off in six. We were starting to get ready for our driver changes - this will mean we'll stop earlier than planned. Looks like the No. 11 Viper in the gravel. This yellow could help us - depending on where we are on track to the overall leader, we may be able to close some of the distance to the BMWs, and close up the gap to the No. 3 Corvette which is P3.

3:04 pm - The overall leaders are threading their way through the GT2 field, spreading them out a bit. Joerg reports that the car is squirrely and wiggly, and that there might be a problem.

3:02- The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is in the pits. Joerg is now 2 seconds back from the No. 3 Corvette. Joerg is still P4.

2:58 - The No. 45was able to use some Challenge car traffic to get a bit of breathing room from the No. 62 Risi Ferrari and the No. 4 Corvette. In the traffic - the the No. 4 Corvette was able to get by Risi. This helped us - giving us a bit of a gap. Positions: P1 No 92; P2 No. 90; P3 No. 3; P4 No. 45; P 5 No. 4; P 6 No. 62.


2:53 - The No. 3 Corvette is by Joerg and has taken P3. Joerg now P4. the No. 62 is now just behind Joerg.

2:51 - GT2 Positions remain unchanged. P1 No. 92; P2 No. 90; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 3; P 5 No. 62; P 6 No. 62; P 7 No. 87. No. 44 P10.

2:43 - Joerg is under pressure from the No. 3 Corvette which is in P4 and behind him, the No. 62 Risi Ferrari which is P5.

2:40 pm - Joerg is running at the same pace as the BMWs, but they are one lap ahead. Positions: P1 No. 92; P2 No. 90; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 3; P5 No. 62; P6 No. 4. The No. 44 is P 10. Just over 2 hours left.

2:35 - Green flag. Very congested out there as the prototypes that are physically behind the GT2 cars work their way up. Joerg still holds P3, with the No. 3 Corvette right behind him and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari right behind the Corvette. Luckily it was a clean restart.

2:34 - yes, that's confirmed - Joerg is at the head of the line behind the pace car, just behind the Patron prototype. This means that the GT2 leaders, the No. 90 and 92 were able to gain nearly an entire lap on the field during the yellow.

2:32 - The No. 92 BMW pitted for fuel - still a yellow flag. Unfortunately, it looks like Joerg and all of the GT2 cars behind him got split by the pace car - this puts the No. 90 and No. 92, who were in front of the pace car, one lap ahead of the rest of the field. I'll confirm that in a minute. Still yellow. The No. 90 MBW also pitted for fuel, and came out just behind the No. 92.

2:20 - Joerg radios in that he was hit but he is continuing. Not sure yet what happened. Still double yellow. Joerg said it was a pretty big hit but the crew who went to the pit wall said the car looked ok.

2:18 pm - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari has passed the No. 4 Corvette. Positions: P1 No. 90; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 3; P5 No. 62; P 6 No. 4. Local yellow as a challenge car is deep in the gravel in Turn 12. Now full course caution for race control to remove the car.

2:22 - The top 5 GT2 cars are running close together - the 2 BMWs, followed by the No.45, followed by the 2 corvettes. And Risi has caught up and is in P5. Joerg is battling a bit of understeer and a the BMWs are building a bit of a gap to him.

2:06 pm - It was a fairly clean start for the field except for the Panoz, which sustatined damage after colliding with the No. 40 after it apparently spun at the start. In the No. 45, Joerg was able to retain his starting position. Positions: P1 No. 90; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 3; P5 No. 4; P6 No. 62; P7 No. 87. This will be a 2 hour and 45 minute race.

2:05 pm - Green flag.

2:00 pm - Engine start. The cars are on track for one pace car lap.

1:55 - Five minutes to engine start.

1:44 - On the recon lap, we found a problem with Joerg's radio. They are hustling to get it fixed before Joerg has to get in the car.

1:30 pm CT - The cars are on the grid and pit lane is closed. The cars have completed their recon laps and lined up according to their starting position. Joerg Bergmeister will start in the No. 45, third on the GT2 rid. Seth Neiman will start in the No. 44 - 11th on the grid. The race begins at 2:05 pm CT - engine start and 1 pace lap start at 2:00 pm.

The race will be broadcast live on SpeedTV. We are also broadcasting our team radio live - to listen, click on the "Follow the Race" tab at www.lizardms.com.


8:55 am - Good morning from Road America. We are just minutes away from the start of morning warmup. This will be our last run on track before this afternoon's race. Patrick Long is in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44.