Flying Lizard Motorsports 2009

Laguna Seca Raceday - Oct 10, 2009

2009-10-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

October 10, 2009
Race

The No. 45 wins Laguna Seca - the No. 45 drivers take the GT2 drivers' championship and the team wins the team championship. Congratulations to the Lizards!!

6:50 - At the final turn, the No. 3 Corvette bumped hard into the back of the No. 45. Joerg held his position, but the No. 3 pushed in on the inside. Both cars moved to cross the finish line first. The No. 3 moved to pass on the inside next to the concrete pit wall, then crossed the track to impact the far wall. Joerg crossed the finish line first.

6:46 -Just a few turns to go - Joerg in the lead but the No. 3 right behind trying everyrthing he can to get by. Through the corkscrew.

6:43 -- The No. 3 went through pit lane to pass Joerg on the front straight. Although he took the lead, race control notifies us that he has to let the No. 45 back by.

6:41 - The No. 45 and the No. 3 split again on either side of the Ford, with Jeorg on the inside - Joerg was able to stay ahead by navigating by a Challenge car. 4 minutes left.

6:39 - Aacck. Bumper cars on track as the No. 3 passes, then Joerg retakes him and the No. 3 bumps him. Joerg kept control and is still ahead.

6:38 - The No. 3 is right on Joerg's bumper.Joeg is pushing as hard as he can and is staying ahead.

6:35 - We watched Joerg nearly get taken out by the No. 15 as the No. 15 wobbled going onto the front straight. Luckily the No. 15 recovered and Joerg was able to avoid hitting him. Unfortunately Joerg flat spotted the tires. The No. 3 is right behind him.

6:33 - The gap is now 3.5. It is going to be very close. 11 minutes left.

6:32 - The No. 3 Corvette is now 5 seconds back from Joerg.

6:30 - 15 minutes left. Joerg is in the lead, the No. 3 is 7 seconds back. Both cars should be able to complete the race without stopping again. the No. 3 has slowly been closing the lap to him and Joerg but he is running out of time. Night is falling and visibility is getting low.

6:27 - Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 87; P4 No. 21; P5 No. 12; P6 No. 44.

6:25 - The No. 3 just went off but recovered - he lost a second or so. 20 minutes left. About 12 laps left.

6:22 - The No. 3 Corvette has closed the gap further. Jan Magnussen just did a 1:23.963. He is now 7 seconds back from Joerg.

6:19 - 17 laps to go. The No. 3 is pushing hard - it is now the fastest car on the track and for the last few laps was 1 second faster than Joerg. Joerg is also pushing hard and is matching the pace.

6:16 - The No. 48 prototype has a puncture and is slow through Turn 6 and is continuing slowly. He is starting to lose bodywork from the rear puncture. Joerg radios in that his right rear tire is dropping pressure. In the No. 44, Johannes moves to P6. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 87; P4 No. 21; P5 No. 18, P6 No. 44. In the No. 3, Jan Magnussen is alowly closing the lead to Joerg slowly - he is now 10 seconds back.

6:10 pm - Joerg is still in the lead in the No. 45, ahead of the No. 3 Corvette, with an 11 second gap. Johannes is in P7 in the No. 44.

6:00 pm - 45 minutes left. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 87; P4 No. 21; P5 No. 92; P 6 No. 18; P 7 No. 44.

5:57 - the No. 87 is in the pits for their pit stop - looks like tires and fuel but Wolf Henzler will stay in the car. Joerg retakes the lead and is now 14 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette, which is P2.

5:54 - Joerg is out again quickly after a clean stop. Johannes is also called into the pits for fuel. Johannes will stay in the car. The No. 3 Corvette is also in the pits - a bit of a delay for them in their pit stop but they are back out again. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche, which did not pit, is now in the lead. Joerg is P2

5:53 - Patrick is in the pits for tires, fuel and driver change to Joerg Bergmeister. He is in the lead.

5:50 - Patrick still P1 in the No. 45. 7 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette in P2. He will pit in 2 laps or so.

5:41 - 7 or 8 laps before the No. 45 pits for driver change back to Joerg. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 87; P4 No. 21; P5 No. 18; P6 No. 44. Just over an hour to go in the race.

5:26 pm - Patrick remains in the lead. He is 10 seconds ahead of the No. 3 in P2. If all goes as planned, the No. 45 will pit in 20-25 minutes for a driver change to Joerg Bergmeister. To recap for those just joining, Flying Lizard has won the GT2 Drivers' and Team championships. Risi retired from the race. We went into the race 19 points ahead, so no matter where we finish in the race, we will win both championships.

5:19 - The No. 44 made contact with the No. 18 but Johannes was able to continue and doesn't think there is damage to the car. Johannes is currently P5.

5:17 - The No. 4 Corvette is pitting with a puncture and damage to the right front after contact with the No. 16 Mazda prototype. He is in the pits for a new wheel and quickly back out again. The No. 4 is far down in the field after being involved in a multi-car incident early in the race.

5:15 - 90 minutes left to go. Patrick Long, doing a double stint, retains the lead. The No. 44 is sixth. The No. 3 Corvette is P2, the No. 18 Vici Racing Porsche P3, and the No. 87 Farbacher Loles Racing Porsche is P4. The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari has retired - the Lizards have won both team and drivers' championships - 2 years in a row.

5:07 - The NO. 3 Corvette overtook the No. 18 Vici Racing Porsche who went to the outside and dropped a wheel off. The No. 18 was able to recover, but the No. 3 Corvette was by. The No. 3 is now P2.

5:05 - The No. 18 Vici Racing Porsche in second is working hard to hold off the No. 3Corvette in P3. In the No. 45, Patrick is in the lead and has a 10 second lead on the No. 18. The No. 44 is in P7.

4:55 - Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 18; P3 No. 3; P4 No. 21; P5 No. 87; P6 No. 92; P7 No. 44.

4:54 - The Vici Racing Porsche with Richard Westbrook behind the wheel passed the No. 3 Corvette to take second. The No. 21 is fourth.

4:50 - Green flag. Great restart for Patrick - he was able to manage a huge amount of traffic and get a gap to the No. 3 Corvette, which is P2.

4:48 - Still yellow.

4:45 - Nearing the halway point, Patrick Long in the No. 45 now in the lead.

4:42 - Positions: P1 No. 87; P2 No. 45; P3 No.3; P4 No. 21; P5 No.18; P6 No. 92. The first five cars are on the same lap. The No. 92 is one lap down. The No. 44 is pitting for driver change, tires and fuel. The No. 87 pits, which puts us P1.

4:36 - the No. 45 pitted immediately after the pits open and Patrick is out again on track quickly after a seamless stop for tires and short fuel. The No. 3 Corvette also pitted, but the No. 45 was out of the pits first, gaining a position. He is now P2 - the No. 87 did not pit and it looks like they now have the lead. The No. 44 has not yet pitted, but they will at the end of the yellow.

4:34 - STill yellow. Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 21; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 18; P5 No. 87. No. 44 is P7. Pits are open and both cars are called into the pits. The No. 45 will do a short fuel and tires only. The No. 44 will do tires, fuel, and driver change from Seth Neiman to Johannes van Overbeek.

4:31 - Seth reports a flat spot on the front tire. He is close to the window for driver change back to Johannes but needs him to stay out a few more minutes. Joerg and Johannes are hustling to get ready for possible driver changes. Patrick radios in that he is OK, that he can double stint. Seth will pit for driver change to Johannes.

4:22 - With the championship now secure, chief strategist Thomas Blam notifies Patrick Long that he can push - he's in P3 right now, and the No. 18 Vici Porsche is close behind in P4. No. 3 Corvette is P1; No. 21 Panoz in P2.

4:21 - Two challenge cars are off at Turn 3 - one is continuing, one remains off track in the gravel.

4:19 - Seth radios in that he was just hit by the Autocon Prototype. he is continuing, but can't tell yet if any damage to the car.

4:15 - 90 minutes into the race: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 21; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 18; P5 No. 17. No. 44 is P8. It looks like Risi may retire the No. 62, which means that the No. 45 and Flying Lizard will win the drivers and team championships.

4:14 - The No. 62 is going behind the wall and they don't appear to be in a hurry. the No. 21 has passed the No. 45 to take second. The No. 45 will focus on finishing the race, tenth or better, they do not want to take any unecessary risks.

4:11 - Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 45; P3 No. 21; P4 No. 18; P5 No. 17; P6 No. 87. No. 44 is P8. The No. 62 is still in the pits.

4:08 - We think that the No. 62 Risi Ferrari hit the No. 33 car and damaged the radiator - we can see water. Yes, the No. 62 has some issue - they are pitting. They were in the lead at the time. This puts the No. 3 Corvette into the lead and the No. 45 into P2.

4:04 - The No. 4 Corvette is in the pits for a stop and go penalty - not sure what that was for, but they are back out again. The No. 33 Jaguar and No. 47 Challenge car also served penalties and are back out again. There is a second penalty on the NO. 4 car for avoidable contact in the earlier incident with the Challenge cars and theNo. 92 BMW - this is a stop and go plus one minute. So they will be back in on the next lap.

3:49 - The No. 45 has moved to P3, passing the No. 17 Falken Tire Porsche, which did not pit earlier. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 17. P5 No. 21. No. 44 is P9. The No. 4 Corvette was involved in an earlier incdident and spent some time in the pits and have now fallen back to the back of the pack.

3:57 - Green flag.

3:45 - Green flag but in the restrart huge incident with multiple cars off in Turn 2, including the No. 4 Corvette, and the No. 92 BMW, which is now is disabled on track. Yellow flag. The No. 4 was able to continue back into the pits but has substantial front end damage. Both Lizard cars were able to avoid the damage (the No. 44 was in front, the No. 45 in back.) The No. 92 has restarted and returned to the pits. We are now P4. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 17; P3 No.3: P4 No. 45; P4 No. 21. No. 44 is P8.

3:43 - Still yellow.

3:37 - Pits are open, stategist Thomas Blam calls the No. 45 in and Eric Ingraham calls No. 44 in. The First six GT2 cars all pitted. Driver change in the No. 45 to Patrick Long. Driver change in the No. 44 to Seth Neiman. We beat the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche out of the pits. We believe that the No. 62 Ferrari did not take tires, nore did the No. 92 BMW. The No. 40 and No. 17 did not pit. So the No. 40 has moved to P1 (since they did not pit), followed by the No. 17 in P2. The No. 62 Ferrari is now P3, the No. 92 BMW is P4. The No. 4 and No. 3 Corvettes, which both took tires and fuel, are P5 and P6. The No. 87 is now P8. The No. 44 is P9.

3:37 - Pits are open, stategist Thomas Blam calls the No. 45 in and Eric Ingraham calls No. 44 in. The First six GT2 cars all pitted.

3:34 - Double yellows. The cars are staying out, should pit at the end of the yellow. The cars cannot pass under yellow. Positions: P1 No. 3; P2No. 4; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 45. The No. 20 Dyson prototype is parked off course - I thought I heard something about running out of fuel, but I can't confirm that.

3:33 - No. 08 Patron Challenge Porsche is in the gravel - may go double yellow. The drivers are getting ready for possible drivers changes. I expect both cars will pit late in the yellow.

3:26 - GT2 top positions remain the same: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 45; No. 44 is P9. Johannes is stuck behind the No. 92 BMW, which is behind the No. 40 Ford. Joerg and Patrick in the No. 45 are 19 points ahead of Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer in the No. 62. If the No. 45 finishes tenth or better, they will win the championship, no matter where Risi finishes. If the No. 45 does not finish the reuqired 70 % of the overall winners race length, they can still win if Risi finishes third or worse (first place at Laguna is worth 25, third is worth 18).

3:20 - The top GT2 cars are all running a similar pace. Joerg, in fifth, is right behind Wolf Henzler in the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche. The two Corvettes and the Risi Ferrari are all running together and have a 3 second gap to the No. 87.

3:14 pm - Lead GT2 psoitions remain the same - the Corvettes and the Ferarri have pulled a few seconds ahead of the No. 87 in P4 and the No. 45 in P5. In the No. 44, Johannes is now P9. The group is threading through a clutch of slower Challenge cars.

3:03 - The No. 20 prototype is in the pits for an unscheduled stop.

3:02 - Green flag. GT2 lead positions remain unchanged but they have packed back up into a bunch. P1 No. 3; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 62; P 3 No. 87; P4 No. 45. No. 4 is P10.

2:51 - The incident was between the No. 88 Drayson prototype and the No. 5 Musclemilk Porsche Spyder. Both cars are i nthe gravel. No. 88 had a hard hit. Paul Drayson was driving - he is out of hte car and we can see him on camera talking to the officials. The No. 90 BMW appears to have a major problem and is smoking in the pits.

2:47 - Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No 4; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 45. Johannes has moved back up to P13. The two Corvettes have built a bit of a gap to the rest of the GT2 field. The No. 87, in fourth, is putting a lot of pressure on the No. 62 in third. Major incident with tow cars at Turn 9 - double yellow.

2:45 - Green flag.

2:40 - Engine start - cars are rolling on their pace laps. The No. 44 spun on the pace lap and unfortunately, has to stay at the position he is at after the spin. The track and tires are very cold and it is extremely slippery. I don't know what position he is at right now - but I'll report in a minute. I expect he is at or near the back of the pack -this means that he'll have to fight his way through the Challenge car traffic to get back to the GT2 field.

2:38 pm - Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio during the race. To listen, to to the "Follow the Race" Tab on the www.lizardms.com team page. Internet connection here is a bit dicey because of the fog, so if you can't connect, try again in a few minutes.

2:32 pm PT - Good afternoon from Laguna Seca. The cars are on the grid and we are just few minutes from the pace lap. Lizards will start fifth and thirteenth on the GT2 grid. Joerg Bergmeister is starting in the No. 45 and Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44.

Morning Warmup
10:10 - Checkered flag on the morning warmup. Patrick Long was second fastest in the session,the No. 90 BMW was P1. The No. 44 was 7th. Both Lizard cars will head back into the garages for final prep before the race. Recon laps begin at 1:45, race starts at 2:45. The race will be broadcast tape-delayed tomorrow, Sunday, starting at 11:30 am PT.

9:58 - Both Lizard Porsches are back in the pits. The No. 44 is done for the session, Patrick will go out again briefly in the No. 45. The No. 44 crew will practice driver and tire changes in the pits for the next 10 minutes of the session.

The race begins at 2:45 pm PT. Joerg is currently fifth in the session and Johannes is seventh.

9:50 am PT - Good morning from Laguna Seca. Both Flying Lizard cars are out for morning warmup. It's quite cool here and foggy. Because it's so cold, there won't be much opportunity to do any setup work. The drivers will use the first part of the session to warmup the tires and do a shakedown on the cars. Johannes van Overbeek is in the No. 44 and Joerg Bermgmeister is in the No. 45.

We are broadcasting our team radio today - for this morning's wamup and for the race this afternoon. You can listen in at the website - click on the "Follow the race" page.

Laguna - Friday Practice and Qualifying

2009-10-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

Friday October 9, 2009

Qualifying

3:30 - No. 45 fifth and No. 44 thirteenth in today's qualifying session. No. 3 Corvette on the pole. We'll see you back here tomorrow for morning warmup at 9:45 am PT!

3:21 - 9 minutes left. Engineer Stefan Pfeiffer calls Joerg into the pits - he is P5. The top 5 cars are within four-tenths of one another. No. 3 Corvette is P1; P 62 Ferrari is P2, No. 4 Corvette is P3; No. 87 Porsche is P4. The No. 44, which used the session to finish setup, is P13.

3:19 - The No. 3 Corvette is now P1. Joerg still P4. 10 minutes left.

3:17 - Pierre takes P1 again in the No. 62 with a 1:23.220. Joerg is now P4 with a 1:23.416.

3:14 - Pierre Kaffer dropped a wheel off and lost a lap. He was in P1 at the time. Now the Corvettes are P1 and P2. Joerg's fast lap is coming up.

3:10 pm PT - Green flag on qualifying. Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45 in pit lane, they are fueling, and he will be out shortly for qualifying. Seth Neiman is in the No. 44.

3:00 - Chckered flag on the last practice session. 10 mins until qual.

2:54 -Joerg pits again and they make the decision to reverse the last setup changes. They will revert back then he should have time to do one more lap before the session ends. Qualifying begins at 3:10.

2:50 - No. 87 now P1, No. 45 P2. 10 minutes left in the session.

2:43 - Joerg is in the pits for a bar change before qualifying.

2:38 - Joerg is now P1 in the No. 45. 22 minutes left in the session. Johannes van overveek is in the No. 44.

2:30 - Joerg is in the No. 45 for the second half of the session. Seth Neima is still in the No. 44.

2:23 - Patrick is in the pits for a setup change.

2:18 - Patrick is P2 - 1:24.582. The times are gradually dropping as the tires come in.

2:13 pm - The No. 4 Corvette is now P1. Patrick p3.

2:10 pm - Good afternoon from Laguna. We are ten minutes into the one hour practice session. Patrick Long is in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman is in the No. 44. Patrick is currently P2. Qualifying begins at 3:10. Joerg will qualify the No. 45 and Seth Neiman the No. 44.

******
10:45 am - Checkered is out on the session - No. 45 was P7 and No. 44 P9 in the session. We'll be back with you today at 2:00 for this afternoon's session. Reminder if you are at the track today we have an exclusive autograph session with Patrick and Joerg in front of the Lizard store in vendor village - today at noon.

10:37 am - Patrick is in the pits for a rear shock change. He will finish out the session. Seth Neiman is still out in the No. 44 and will finish out the session for that Porsche.

10:28 am - Patrick Pits for the crew to make a front shock change. He will finish out the session after the change.

10:15 - Green flag. Seth Neiman is now in the No. 44 and Patrick Long in the No. 45. 30 minutes left in the practice session. There will be one more practice session this afternoon at 2:00, just before GT2 qualifying which starts at 3:10.

10:12 - Red flag to assist the No. 88 prorotype which is stuck in Turn 8 and blocking the track. Looks like he is able to continue, so we'll go green shortly.

10:07 - Green flag - both Lizard Porsches are back on track. In the No. 45, Joerg is now P2. In the No. 44, Johannes is P4.

10:03 - Red flag with a Challenge Porsche in the gravel. There are 8 Challenge Porsches entered for tomorrow - it's a large field for his track - 33 cars, including 14 GT2.

9:57 am - Joerg now P1 and Johannes P3. Joerg pits for the crew to get tire temps and pressures and get the first feedback from Joerg on setup changes.

9:52 AM - Joerg is now P3 in the session. Times are several seconds slower than yesterday afternoon's session, due to the cool track. After five laps, the tires are just coming in.

9:45 am PT - Good morning from cool and foggy Laguna Seca. We are just a few minutes away from morning practice. Yesterday's practice sessions went well. Joerg had the fastest time of the second session in the No. 45 and the top 8 GT2 cars were within about five tenths of a second of one another.

With this morning's cool temperatures and a green track it will take some time for the cars to get up to speed. The track temperature is about 59 degrees.

In the No. 45, Joerg is out on track. He is bedding in brakes, and testing some setup and diff changes from yesterday. Today engineer Stefan Pfeifer will move through a series of additional aero/suspension setup changes in the one hour morning practice. Joerg will do half the session, then turn it over to Patrick Long.

In the No. 44, Johannes van Overbeek is out on track.

Petit Le Mans - Raceday

2009-09-26T05:04:00.001-07:00

Race

8:05 pm ET - The officials have made the decision to call the race. Checkered flag. So... the No. 45 finishing position is fifth and the No. 44 7th. A very disappointing race for everyone. Because of the amount of water still on the track and the complexities of preparing the racecars to run again, it is an understandable decision. The Lizards will go into Laguna still in the lead in the championship - 19 points ahead of Risi Competizione No. 62 Ferrari. The No. 62 is the winner in GT2 in today's much shortened race.

8:03 pm ET - I've turned the radio back on, although we are still red flag.

7:31 pm - (Patrick says "Hi Lola" ...)

Still not much of an update. The weather appears to be lightening up and we just heard the track blower go by as they work to try and dry out the track. They want teams to be on stand by to restart. I have clarification on the "official race" status. The clock is still running, so the race has passed its 50% required running time and is an official race so points will count. If the race is restarted, the No. 45 will have a chance to improve from the P5 position. the No. 62 Risi Ferrari is currently in the lead in GT2. If they do not restart the race, we will finish in fifth. The No. 45 and the No. 62 are the two cars in contention for the GT2 championship. If the race is not restarted, the No. 45 will go into the season finale at Laguna still in the lead, but only 19 points ahead. There are 25 points possible at Laguna. In that scenario, at Laguna, the No. 45 would win the championship if they finished in tenth or better position, regardless of where the No. 62 finished. But the car would have to finish.

6:56 pm - Race control notified the teams to be ready at 7:30 pm ET and that their goal is to restart the race if the weather clears up enough to allow them to clean the track and get it dry enough to race. It is still raining heavily.

6:22 pm - An update from race control that there is a possibility that the race will restart. At this point, I'm unclear if the race is considered official or not. I'll update you as I know more.

5:33 - Still on rain hold and still raining. Race control will give us another update at 6:00 pm. We are pretty drenched at this point.

4:55 - We are still on a rain hold. The race clock is still running - it is at 4 hours and 25 minutes left to go. It's difficult to tell from the radar, but we estimate that it will be at least an hour of this rain.

4:20 - OK we are on on a red flag rain hold. The track is a skating rink and is undriveable. Cars are parked in pit lane and covered with tarps. Hopefully this weather cell will go through and things will dry out again in time to finish out the race. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 87; P4 No. 4; P5 No. 45; P6 No. 3; P7 No. 44; P8 No. 28; P9 No. 21; P 10 No. 40; P11 No. 17; P12 No. 90; P13 No. 11.

4:03 - The No. 62 is in the pits for a change of their rear decklid. They had a full lap lead on the rest of the GT2 pack, so they should still retain the GT2 lead.

3:56 - The No. 3 Corvette is off under yellow deep in gravel. Positions: P1 No. 62 (which is now 1 lap ahead); P2 No. 92; P3 No. 87; P4 No. 4; P5 No. 45; P6 No. 3; P7 No.44. No. 92, 87, 4, and 45 are all on the same lap. Still yellow.

3:49 - No. 44 pits for driver change to Darren Law, rain tires, and fuel. No. 45 pits at the same time for a windshield tear off, rain tires, and fuel. It is now pouring rain. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 87; P4 No. 4; P5 No. 45. Cars are off everywhere - the No. 1 Audi off in 10, the 88 Drayson off. Both have continued. Standing water on the track. Stil yellow.

3:47 - Patrick reports zero visibility with oil smeared on the windshield.

3:44 - Green flag. Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 87; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 5; P6 No. 62; P7 No. 44. The top six GT2 cars are all on the same lap. It is raining, but still fairly lightly.

3:38 - The No. 45 pitted for fuel and to clean the windshield. Still yellow. The No. 92 and No. 62 pitted shortly after that and both of them are on rain tires. the No. 45 is still on slicks.

3:30 - The No. 2 Audi which is in the overall lead spun in Turn 5 under yellow - he is able to continue.

3:19 - The No. 45 pits for driver change to Patrick Long, tires and short fuel. We will stay on slicks. The rain has not yet materialized. The No. 62 is in the pits, as is at least one of the Corvettes. This will be a lengthy caution. The No. 62 beat us out of the pits for position. The No. 92 did not pit, and I don't think either Corvette pitted but am not sure about that. Positions: P1 No. 92; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 3; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 62; P6 No. 45. Still yellow.

3:17 - Big crash with the No. 12 prototype in the tires in Turn 1. No report on the driver. Yellow flag. No. 12 driver is shown on TV and appears OK.

3:13 - Marc has heavy pressure from the No. 92 BMW in P2, with both Corvettes (in P3 and P4 and both on new tires) closing rapidly. The No. 45 did not take tires on the last stop because they had expected they would have to stop shortly for rain tires.

3:10 - In the No. 45, Marc Lieb is in the lead. The No. 92 BMW is close behind him and the No. 4 Corvette is a few seconds back from them but closing the gap.

3:06 - Green flag.

3:05 - Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 3; P5 No. 87; P6 No. 62; P7 No. 44. Still yellow. Both No. 87 and No. 62 are back on the same lap with the GT2 leaders.

3:02 - Still yellow. P1 No. 45; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 3; P5 No. 62; P6 No. 87. Heavy rain expected shortly - when the track is sufficiently wet, we expect that we will pit for rain tires. No. 44 pits for fuel. Johannes van Overbeek will stay in the car. No. 62 in the pits - they just made it out in time to get their lap back - so they are now on the same lap as the No. 45, 92, 4, 3, and 87.

2:59 - The No. 4 Corvette pitted, and the No. 3 Corvette pitted again for a second time.

2:57 - Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 62; P6 No. 87. No. 44 is P7.

2:53 - Big crash with a loose tire in the middle of the track. Yellow flag. No. 11 Viper. No report on driver. Heavy impact direclty into the concrete wall, from the rear. The driver appears to be out of the car and walking. The No. 45 will pit under this yellow for fuel. Marc Lieb will stay in the car. No tires. They will stay on slicks for now. We expect heavy rain in the next 10 to 15 minutes. he is out again quickly. The No. 3 and No. 92 also pitted, I'm not sure about the 62 or 87. The No. 4 Corvette did not pit.

2:45 - Rain is 10 miles out and looks like it will hit us. Marc Lieb is P2. he is close behind the No. 3 Corvette, which is in the lead. The No. 4 Corvette, which is P3, has closed the gap and is catching up. Marc is now in a Corvette sandwich. The No. 3 Corvette has now caught up to the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari - those cars are one lap down but are physically in front on track.

2:31 - The GT2 field is once again stacked nose to tail. The No. 21 Panoz, which is several laps down, is at the front of the train, with the No. 62 Risi Ferrari (1 lap down on the leader), followed by the No. 87 Farnbacher Porsche,, also one lap down, followed by the No. 3 Corvette (the GT2 leader), followed by Marc Lieb in the No. 45 (in P2).

2:26 - Big spin for the No. 92 BMW who was in P3. Marc Lieb moves to P3. Correction - Marc now P2. Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 45; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 62; P6 No 87.

2:26 - Green flag. Marc Lieb is in the No. 45, in P4. Johannes van Overbeek is in the No. 44, in P 8

2:20 - At the 3 hour mark, the No. 45 is P4, the No. 44 is P8. Still yellow. The No. 44 is pitting for another splash of fuel. Some weather cells are developing Southwest of us - so far, we've been lucky and have had only light rain but I expect we'll see some heavier rain in the next few hours.

2:14 pm - Green flag. Marc Lieb is in the No. 45, Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44. And once again, double yellow as the No. 20 car flies into the gravel at Turn 10.

2:11 pm - The order out of the pits was the No. 62 Risi Ferrari, followed by the No. 87, the No. 3 and the No. 4, then the No. 45. However, I believe that we gained a full lap on the No. 62 and No. 87.

Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No.4; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 45; P5 No. 62; P6 No. 87.

Physically on the track, the No. 62 and the No. 87 are just ahead of the Corvettes, however they are one lap down.

2:09 pm - The No. 3, 4, 92, 62, 87 and 45 are all pitting at the same time. the NO. 44 will also pit shortly for driver chnage.

2:08 - The No. 88 is back underway but and slowly returning to the pits minus a wheel.

2:05 - The Drayson No. 88 prototype is in the wall after apparently losing a wheel. A very hard hit. Yellow flag. No report on the driver yet. The NO. 45 will pit under this yellow for tires, fuel and driver change to Marc Lieb.

1:50 - The No. 62 has overtaken the No. 87 for P5. The No. 87 is P6. Darren is now P8 in the No. 44. The Corvettes now have a hefty gap to the rest of the GT2 field - 16 seconds to Joerg. Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 45; P5 No. 62; P 6 No. 87.

1:34 - Joerg is by the Viper, but the No. 92 BMW also got by Joerg. The No. 87 and No. 62 are close behind. Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 45; P5 No. 87; P6 No. 62. The No. 44 is physically on track between the No. 45 and the No. 87, but he is several laps down.

1:30 - Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 92; P6 No. 62. The Corvettes are being held up by the Viper and the No. 44. The Vettest are both by the No. 44, and now the No. 45 is also by. Positions remain unchanged. There's a bit of a gap now to the next closest GT2 car which is now the No. 92 BMW in P4. The No. 87 is P5 and the No. 62 is P6. Joerg is unfortunately now stuck behind the Viper, which is not on the same lap, and he's lost his gap.

1:26 pm - Green flag. We are two hours into the race. Joerg is P3 in the No. 45. Darren is P9 in the No. 44. The Falken Porsche, which is not on the GT2 lead lap, is between Joerg and the NO. 87 and the No. 62, which is giving Joerg a bit of space.

1:19 pm - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari, which was in P4, is in the pits. This will put the No. 87 into P4 and the No. 62 into P5.

1:16 pm - Still yellow. It is starting to drizzle again.

1:11 am ET - Joerg and the two Corvettes are now nose to tail. Joerg is on a faster pace and has caught the No. 3, which is P2. The No. 4 is P1. The No. 66 de Ferran prototype is in the wall at Turn 5- it should go yellow. This will not be good for the Lizards - it will allow the No. 62, which is now P4, to close the gap to the No. 45. the No. 87 is now P5. The No. 66 was able to continue but has front end damage and will return to the pits - it's been a tough race so far for that team.

1:05 pm - Green flag. Joerg is P3; Darren is P9. Heavy prototype traffic is threading through the lead GT2 pack.

1:00 pm ET - The No. 44 is in the pits. Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 62; P6 No. 92; P7 No. 11; P8 No. 40; P9 No. 44.

12:56 - I believe the GT2 lead positions remain unchanged after they all pitted and returned to the track. Still yellow. No - correction - the No. 62 and No. 87 swapped positions - the NO. 87 is now P4 and the No. 62 now P5. Both cars changed drivers. The No. 92 BMW is now P6. Darren is pitting in the No. 44 - the crew will again change the left rear tire, which was damaged in the earlier incident with the Falken Porsche, and will do a careful inspection to see if they can figure out what is causing the handling problem with the No. 44.

12:53 - The No. 45 pits for a setup change, tires and short fuel. Joerg will stay in the car. Still yellow. He was in P3 at the time of the pit stop. The No. 4 (in P1) and No. 3 (in P2) Corvettes also both pitted, as did the No. 62 Risi Ferrari and the No. 87 Farnbacher Porsche.

12:52 - yellow flag to remove the debris. I expect both of the Lizard Porsches will put under this yellow. This will be both good and bad for the Lizards. It should allow the No. 45 to close the gap to the Corvettes, but it will aslso let the No. 62 Risi Ferrari catch back up to Joerg.

12:48 - The No. 45, in P3, is plus 26 seconds to the Ferrari, which is P4. Joerg is running a slightly faster pace than the Ferrari right now. Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 62; P4 No. 87; P6 No. 92. Bodywork on the back straight - yellow flag. Looks like it is the decklid from the No. 40 Ford.

12:42 - The No. 90 BMW pitted with a mechanical problem, putting the No. 62 into P4 and the No. 87 P5. There is a 25 second gap between Joerg in the No. 45 and the No. 62. The BMW is going behind the wall. Jeorg reports that the car is not handling well - more and more oversteer. The engineers will make a change at the next pit stop, but Joerg will have to work with it until then.

12:39 - Darren did a bounce through the gravel in the No. 44 but was able to continue. He reports that the car is "a bit weird" when turning left.

12:35 - Lots of drama on track as cars are slip sliding everywhere. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 90; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 90; P4 No. 62. In the No. 44, Darren is P11. Penalty assessed to the No. 37 prototype for avoidable contact with the No. 66.

12:32 - Incident with two prototypes on course - the No. 37 and the No. 66 deFerran Acura. I believe both cars have been able to continue but the NO. 66 appears to have major suspension damage

12:30 - The No. 44 has another problem - there is smoke from the left wheel. Darren is pitting again - they crew believes it may be bodywork rubbing. Darren is in P11 right now.

12:27 - No. 44 was involved with an incident with the Falken Porsche - the No. 17 appears to have run into Darren. Both cars are in pit lane for the crew to check damage. the No. 44 left rear wheel is broken and is being replaced. Darren is back out again. Penalty assessed to the No. 17 for avoidable contact with the No. 44 - a stop and go penalty under green. Darren reports smoke on left rear.

12:24 - Power is out in the pits, unfortunately. Joerg, in P3, has a 10 second gap now to Bill Auberlen in the No. 90 BMW, which is in P4, and 16 seconds to the No. 62 Risi Ferrari which is P5.

12:20 - The first round of GT2 pit stops are now complete. I believe all GT2 cars are now on slicks. Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 90; P5 No. 87; P6 No. 62. Some of the GT2 cars did driver changes (the Lizards did) but not all. 1 hour complete, 44 laps by the leader. The race will go to 1000 miles or 10 hours, whichever comes first.

12:17 - No. 45 is P3. The No. 90 BMW is just behind Joerg.

12:15 - The No. 44 is coming in now for slicks and driver change to DArren Law. Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 90; P3 No. 17; P4 No. 17; P5 No. 45; P6 No. 40. No. 44 is P11.

12:11 am - the No. 3 Corvette came in for slicks. They were in the lead. The No. 45 is in for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister and a setup change and change to slicks. The No. 44 is also in the pits for slicks and driver change to Darren Law. The No. 3 had an incident heading out of the pits but was able to continue. The No. 6 Porsche spyder is spinning on track and in the grass. He as able to avoid impact with the wall, but appears to e having difficulty getting back onto the track. The No. 44 pit stop was aborted, so Seth Neiman is still out, but the No. 45 came in. Still green. The No. 62 Risi Ferari also pitted and made a decklid change.

12:08 - Patrick radios in that he may have a tire puncture and may pit. Joerg is hustling to get ready. Patrick is now P3 (as the No. 4 Corvette lost a few positions when it pitted for slicks.) All GT2 cars are on rains except the No. 4.

12:05- The No. 4 Corvette, which was in P2, is in the pits. Looks like he is moving to slicks - the first GT2 car to do so. The No. 62 has caught Patrick and is now right behind him. Both Lizard Porsches (and most of the field) are still on rain tires.

12:02 - In the No. 87, Wolf is now by Patrick, putting Patrick in P4. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari is in P5 - 3 seconds back. Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 87; P4 No. 45; P5 No. 62. the Corvettes continue to pull away from the rest of the GT2 field.

11:57 am ET - Patrick and Wolf Henzler (in the No. 87 in fourth) are nose to tail.

11:51 - the No. 87 is right behind Patrick. Prototypes are continually threading between them, giving Patrick a bit of a gap, but the 87 is running at the same pace. Patrick is 16 seconds back from the GT2 leader, the No. 3 Corvette. The issue now is that the cars are on rain tires and as the track dries out, it will become more and more difficult to run on those tires. Patrick is looking for ways to cool the tires down but finding areas of water on the track. At some point, the engineers will need to make the decision to move to slicks. You can see on the TV all of the cars going off line to find areas of water to cool the tires down.

11:46 am - The No. 3 Corvette is in the lead, and has built a 15 second gap to Patrick, who is in P3. The No. 4 Corvette is P2. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is P4 and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari is P5. The No. 87 is close behind Patrick and he and the No. 62 are now on Patrick's pace.

11:38 - The No. 20 Dyson prototype, which started on the P2 pole, is in the pits for an unscheduled pit stop. The No. 28 LG Corvette is also in the pits for an early stop, as is the Oreca Matmut prototype.

11:35 - Positions: P1 No. 3; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 87;P5 No. 62; P6 No. 92; P7 No. 40; P8 No. 90; P9 No. 21; P10 No. 17; P11 No.11 P12 No. 28; P13 No. 44. Patrick is keeping pace with the two Corvettes and they are doing mid 1:32s.

11:30 - The No. 3 Corvette has built a nice gap to the rest of the GT2 pack. The No. 4 Corvette is 4 seconds behind the No. 3 and Patrick in the No. 45 is five seconds behind the No. 4.

11:26 - Patrick is by the No. 40 and is now P3. Positions: p1 No. 3; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 62. The GT2 cars are bunched up and all nose to tail.

11:25 am - The No. 4 Corvette is now by Patrick as both cars are stuck behind the No. 40. Patrick Now P4. The NO. 40 Ford has a lot of power and it is very difficult to pass him.

11:23 - The No. 4 Corvette went off and Patrick moved up to P3. Positions: P1 No. 40 ;P2 No. 3; P3 No. 45; P 4 No. 4; P 5 No. 92. The No. 3 Corvette just passed the No. 40 to take the lead. Patrick is just behind the NO. 40 trying to get by, with the No. 4 Corvette right on his tail.

11:22 am ET - The No. 45 is P5. Positions: P1 No. 40; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 3; P5 No. 45; P6 No. 90.

11:21 am ET - Clean start so far for the field. The cars in pit lane have been released and have entered the track. Very wet track and poor visibility.

11:20 am ET - Green flag.

11:15 am ET - Cars are rolling for 2 pace laps. The No. 45 is fifth on the grid and the No. 44 tenth.

11:13 am ET - Engine start.

11:05 am ET - Just a few minutes away from race start. We qualified sixth (in the No. 45) and 13th (in the No. 44) but because several cars will start from pit lane the No. 45 will move up at least one position, and the No. 44 probably several.
I don't have an actual starting grid list, but the first five will be: P1 No. 40; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 91; P4 No. 90; P5 No. 45. The No. 28 Corvette qualified second, but did not make it out before pit lane closed before the recon laps so they will start from pitlane.

Pre-Race
10:52 am - The cars are on the grid. Quite a few cars did not make it out before pit exit closed, so they will start from pit lane. For GT2, I see the Falken Porsche and the 28 Corvette lined up. The Highcroft Patron prototype also is in pit lane - a new chassis, completely repaired for the race after the huge accident during practice on Thursday.

Morning Warmup

10:10 am - Checkered flag on the very wet morning practice. The cars will head out for their recon lap in fifteen minutes, then to the grid. This will definitely be a rain race. Hopefully the heavy rain will hold off at least for the start. The track could dry out quickly if the rain lets up. Yes, we just heard from race control that this is declared a wet race. This means that teams may run different tires (rain tires) than they qualified on. We'll be back with you in about 45 minutes. We'll broadcast our team radio during the race. See you shortly.

10:00 - Driver change in the No. 45 to Joerg Bergmeister. the No. 87 took an off course excursion but Wolf Henzler bounced right over the gravel trap, mowed some grass, and then and was able to continue back to the pits.

9:57 - Darren is safely back in the pits in the No. 44. I think they are done for the session. It's still raining steadily and the conditions are very slick. The temperature is dropping and it's at least 10 degrees cooler than it was at 6 am this morning. We have some schedule changes today - recon laps will be 10:15 to 10:20. The race is still scheduled to start at 11:20 am ET. Heavy rain is forecast for later today, so I expect at least some of the race will be run under yellow, or possibly red flagged due to rain. If that happens, the cars will wait in pit lane (on the fast lane side) until the conditions are safe to continue. Crews will not be allowed to work on the cars in pit lane.

9:55 - Darren Law is out in the No. 44 and Patrick Long is in the No. 45.

9:50 am ET - Warmup is underway. It's lightly raining and still very wet but both Porsches will go out for at least one install/warmup lap to ensure we don't have any issues. We are broadcasting our team radio this morning and during the race. Click on the "Follow the Race Tab" on the home page to listen.

9:00 am - OK, here's the update. Warmup will run from 9:45 to 10:10. The No. 45 will go out, the No. 44 will probably go out. The race will start as scheduled at 11:20. Several periods of very heavy rain are forecast during the race. The race will be official at the halfway point - 197 laps or 5 hours, whichever comes first.

8:05 am ET - Good Morning from Road Atlanta. After 2 hours of torrential rain, we are pretty darned wet. Warmup is scheduled for 8:15 this mrning but it's on hold for the moment. The track is a river. But the rain has let up and hopefully the track will dry out in time for race start. There are several heavy weather cells on the way though so it is going to be a wet one either way!

I'll update you as I know more, but for now, most likely no morning warmup.

Petit Le Mans - Practice & Qualifying

2009-09-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

Sept 25, 2009

**Qualifying **

2:35 pm -Patrick Long qualifies the No. 45 sixth in GT2 and Seth Neiman is 13th. David Murry put the No. 40 Robertson Racing Ford on the pole.

2:33 pm - Chief strategist Thomas Blam called Patrick in - he is P 4. They will refuel and may send him out again. They will sit tight and see if anything changes in the conditions that might give us an advantage.

2:31 pm - The No. 28 Corvette is P1 with a 1:21.024. the No. 40 Ford is P2 with a 1:21.592. The No. 45 is P3 with a 1:21.531.

2:29 pm ET -Patrick has moved to P1. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari has a puncture on its second lap and is limping along the track. That will be the end of their qualifying session because they cannot change tires.

2:25 pm ET - Good afternoon from Road Atlanta. Green flag on today's qualifying session. Patrick Long will qualify in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44. It's hot, hot, hot here and very humid. Skies are starting to cloud up but it looks like it will stay dry for qualifying. Rain is forecast for raceday.

Reminder that SpeedTV is broadcasting today's qualifying session live and SpeedTV.com is also.

****
10:00 - Checkered on our practice session for today. Qualifying starts at 2:25 pm ET today, and the race starts at 11:20 am on Saturday. See you then!

9:55 - Green flag. Patrick heads out in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman is back in the No. 44. 5 minutes left in the session.

9:51 - Red flag. The No. 90 BMW is deep in the gravel. Patrick just completed a stop and go penalty for a pit lane speeding violation. This may be the end of the session.

Reminder that qualifying is today at 2:25 ET - it will be broadcast live on SpeedTV.com.

9:38 am - Green flag. Just over 20 minutes left in the practice session.

9:30 - Red flag to pull the Falken Porsche out of the gravel. Johannes van Overbeek is now in the No. 44. Patrick is still in the No. 45.

9:21 - They are still working on some setup adjustments on the No. 45 - with a bar change. Driver change from Marc to Patrick Long. Neiman is still out in the No. 44. Just over 30 minutes left in practice.

9:11 - Chief strategist Thomas Blam calls Marc into the pits for a damper change. Neiman is still out on track in the No. 44. Marc is currently P4 in the seession. The No. 3 Corvette is P1.

9:05 am - Marc Lieb is currently P1 in the No. 45 with a 1:21.529. Reminder that the race will be broadcast live on SpeedTV starting at 11 am ET tomorrow (Saturday). SpeedTV.com will broadcast today's qualifying session online - starting at 2:25 for GT.

9:00 am ET - Good morning from Road Atlanta. Green flag on today's practice session. The No. 44 and No. 45 are both heading out. Seth Neiman is in the No. 44 and Marc Lieb is in the No. 45. So far, the weather is holding - rain is expected later today and unfortunately, throughout the day tomorrow. We've had less practice time than expected this week due to a large number of red flags. But otherwise, things are going well for the Lizards. We are in the lead in the GT2 championship - Joerg and Patrck are 31 points ahead of Melo and Kaffer in the No. 62 Risi Ferrari, and the team is 31 points ahead of Risi in the team championship. If Joerg and Patrick finish within one position of Risi on Saturday - whether ahead or behind - they will win the championship. There are 30 points at stake here (for first) and 25 points at Laguna.

*******
Sept 24, 2009

9:10 pm - The No. 45 is back out for another lap to test the headlight repair. Joerg is in the car. He is back again in the pits after 1 lap - the crew will take the car back to the garage to complete the work and our setdown. We'll be back with you tomorrow for our morning practice at 9 am ET, then qualifying at 2:25. See you then!

9:00 -Red flag for the safety officials to pick up some debris on track. The No. 44 is back in the garage. The No. 45 is still in the pits - Joerg will take the car back out one more time to test a minor repair.

8:52 pm ET - And Darren is in the pits in the No. 44, they are done for the night and are heading back to the garage. It looks like the No. 45 may go out one more time to confirm a repair to the headlights.

We'll be back with you for our final practice session tomorrow morning at 9:00, then qualifying at 2:25 pm ET. See you then!

8:40 - Joerg is in the pits. The No. 45 is done for the night - all three drivers have completed their required night laps and the car will head back to the garage. Darren Law is still out in the No. 44 but he should be back in shortly.

8:31 - In the No. 45, Marc is out of the car now and Joerg is in for his stint. In the No. 44, Darren is back in the pits. He will go back out for a few more laps for them to complete bedding the new rotors. The session lasts until 9:05 but I expect we will finish up in 15 minutes or so with both cars.

8:27 - Darren is now out for this 3 laps. In the No. 45, Marc is now P8. He will pit this lap.

8:19 pm - Marc Lieb is now behind the wheel of the No. 45. The No. 44 crew is making a few repairs to the car - Darren's still in the pits.

8:13 pm ET - Patrick Long is now on track in the No. 45. It has cooled down substantially - Patrick just radioed in that it's taking a long time for the tires to come in. In the No. 44, Johannes has done his three laps and now Darren Law is in the car and heading out for his stint.

8:00 pm ET - The final practice session of the day is underway. It's fully dark now. The NO. 44 is in pit lane after having done an install lap. Seth Neiman will finish out his three required laps and then hand the wheel over to Johannes van Overbeek. The No. 45 crew is just finishing up work on the car in the garage and that car will be in pit lane shortly. Both cars have their race engines in and the enigneers are using this session to ensure that there are no issues.

4:00 - Checkered flag. The session has ended. The track will continue the repairs on the fence after the accident. Thankfully, it appears that no one was injured in the major accident - we see the driver Scott Sharp on TV as he heads back to the paddock and he appears to be OK. We'll be back with you for evening practice at 7:20. See you then!

3:43 - Major accident on course with the Highcroft Patron prototype. Luckily the driver (appears to be Scott Sharp) is walking away from an incredible wreck. The Highcroft car is destroyed. Medical personnel are helping the driver into the medical car - he is walking and talking with them. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche was involved in the wreck. That driver also appears OK. It will be a lengthy yellow as both cars are removed from the course and the course officials make some fence repairs.

3:40 - In the No. 45, Joerg went out to test the setup change, then back into the pits to give Engineer Stefan Pfeiffer feedback and another change. Stefan decides to make a swaybar change and send Joerg out. The challenge that the engineers face here at this track is to balance downforce and speed with getting the maximum tire wear they can. Because of the length of the race, and many pit stops may need to be done under green, they need to be able to run tires at 150 percent of a stint or more if needed.

3:31 - Joerg now P3. The BMWs are P1 and P2 with a 1:21.686 and a 1:21.710. Joerg is pitting for a setup change.

3:27 - Joerg is P1 in the session after 4 laps with a 1:21.956.

3:20 pm ET - Green flag on this afternoon's practice session. Seth Neiman is out in the No. 44 Porsche and Joerg is in the No. 45. It's hot, hot, hot here - hot and humid. Luckily there is some high cloudcover which is helping a bit.

This is our second of three practie sessions today - we have one hour now, and 1 hour and 45 minutes tonight.

**********
11:06 - Darren took a spin on course and contacted a prototype, I think the No. 2. He was able to continue and pitted for damage. There's some damage to the rear of the No. 44 but it appears superficial. That's it for the Lizards this morning. We'll be back with you for the second practice session of the day at 3:20 pm ET. See you then!

11:00 am - Joerg is currently P2 in the session with a 1:21.498. Dirk Mueller in the
No. 92 is P1 with a 1:21.035. Darren Law is now in the No. 44 for his first stint of the day.

10:51 - 15 minutes left in the session. The No. 45 is doing a tire test, so Joerg will finish out the session on this set of tires. Seth Neiman is still in the No. 44. All good so far.

10:42 - Joerg Bergmeister is now in the No. 45. Seth Neiman is still in the No. 44 and is in pit lane giving feedback to Chief Engineer Craig Watkins. Our practice yesterday was shortened by a red flag after a prototype lost a motor on track and spewed oil all over the track, so the engineers are hustling today to get their basic setup work done.

10:26 am - Looks like it was one of the Peugeots - it has been towed back to the garage on a flatbed. Green flag. It's cooler today but still extremely humid with overast skies. We are expecting some rain this afternoon and on race day. There are three practice sessions today - this morning, then 3:20-4:20, then night practice 7:20-9:05. Each driver must do 3 laps during night practice - even if it is raining. the Lizard driver lineup for this weekend is: No. 45 -Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, and Marc Lieb. No. 44 is Seth Neiman, Darren Law and Johannes van Overbeek. The GT2 championship could be decided at this race, although we have one more race coming up - the season finale at Laguna Seca. Joerg and Patrick are 31 points ahead of Risi's Melo and Kaffer in the No. 62. There are 30 points at stake here, and 25 at Laguna. If the No. 45 finishes the race, and finishes within one position of the No. 62, either in front of behind, they will win the championship.

10:20 - Apparently a fire in one of the prototypes on course. I don't have any more details, although the fire is now out. This may be a lengthy yellow.

10:15 - Two cars are off in Turn, neither Lizards involved.

10:06 am ET - Good morning from Road Atlanta. Green flag on the first of three practice sessions today. Seth Neiman is in the No. 44 and Marc Lieb in the No. 45. Both cars are heading out on track now.

********
Sept 23, 2009

3:50 - Well, unfortunately the session is over after that last red flag. We'll be back with you tomorrow with three practice sessions, starting at 10:05 am ET. See you then!

3:33 - Red flag to do a track cleanup for oil and dirt on the track.

3:30 - Green flag. Patrick is in the No. 45 and is now P3.

3:16 pm - All is well so far. Patrick is in the No. 45 and Johannes is now in the No. 44. Red flag for a car is stopped in Turn 4.

2:57 - Green flag. Just over 1 hour left in the session.

2:45 pm ET - This is our first on track session of race week and the engineers are just starting their setup work getting feedback from the drivers. 15 minutes into the sesssion, Joerg is P3 and Darren is P 5. Red flag to remove debris in Turn 4 and Turn 10.

2:30 pm ET - Good afternoon from Road Atlanta. It's hot and humid here today but thankfully, dry, after the torrential rain of the last few days. Both cars are in pit lane ready to head out for today's only practice session. Darren Law is in the No. 44 and Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45. We have a one hour combined session with the prototypes, then 30 minutes GT only.

Mosport - Raceday!

2009-08-30T06:06:00.001-07:00

Sunday, August 30, 2009

5:50 - Checkered flag. The No. 45 is fifth and the No. 44 7th in a tough race at Mosport for the Lizards. Although we didn't get a podium, the team still retains the GT2 team and drivers' championship (Bergmeister and Long) lead. The No. 3 Corvette won in GT2 and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari was second. We'll see you all at Petit Le Mans next month. *** Jennifer

5:39 - The No. 21 Panoz was able to get past Johannes to move into sixth. Johannes now 7th.
5:37 - The No. 62 Ferrari in P2 is putting a lot of pressure on the No. 3 Corvette, which is in the lead, but has been unable to pass. In the No. 45, Joerg is P5, in the No. 44, Johannes is P6. 10 minutes left.

5:30 -The No. 21 Panoz, in seventh, is three seconds behind the No. 44, in sixth and putting pressure on Johannes.

5:23 pm - A tussle between the No. 3 Corvette and the No. 62 Ferrari for the lead. the No. 62 and the No. 3 had both pitted, the No. 3 was now in the lead and the No. 62 Risi attempted to pass when they made contact. The No. 62 was unable to pass and is second. The No. 4 Corvette is in third. the No. 87 is fourth. No. 45 is fifth, No. 44 is sixth. 23 minutes left to go. The No. 62 is still running close behind the No. 3.

5:12 - No. 45 pits for tires and fuel. He is back out again still in P5.

5:10 - No. 44 pits for tires and fuel. He should hold his position and remain P6.

5:09 - Now the No. 62 and the No. 3 Corvette are racing each other as the No. 3 tries to pass to take the lead. In the No. 45, we'll be in a few minutes for tires and fuel. the No. 44 will also be in. This should be our last stop of the race, if all goes as planned. Just over 40 minutes left. The No. 45 is P5, the No. 44 P6. The No. 45 is one lap down on the leaders.

5:04 - One of the Corvettes (the No. 4) which was in p1, just went flying off track and lost the lead. the No. 62, now in the lead is fighting hard to hold off the No. 3 Corvette, which is now P2. he was able to rejoin, but is now P3, and is physically behind Joerg on the track, but the No. 45 is still one lap down from the No. 4.

5:00 - The No. 87, which was in P4, is in the pits.

4:56 - The No. 4 Corvette in the lead and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari in second are nose to tail - exciting racing at the front right now

4:48 - The No. 62 (in P2), the No. 3 (in P3),and the No. 87 (in P4) are now by the No. 45, and are now 2 laps ahead. Joerg is in P5, Johannes is P6. 1 hour left to go in the race.

4:45 - Speeding violation for the No. 92 on leaving the pits - stop and go under green. Positions are: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 3; P4 No. 87; P 5 No. 45; P6 No. 44. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari, the No. 3 Corvette, and the No. 87 Porsche are all physically behind the No. 45 on track, although 1 lap ahead. All four cars are running nose to tail.

4:42 - The No. 4 Corvette, the GT2 leader, is now by Joerg, and is now 2 laps ahead. The no. 62 Risi Ferarri is by the No. 3 Corvette- moving into second. the No. 62 Risi Ferrari is now physically just behind Joerg, but is one lap ahead. the No. 92 BMW, which was in fifth, and at the front of the GT2 train, is now in the pits for their driver change, which puts Joerg into fifth. They have the hood off and are looking at the engine.

4:30 - Both Corvettes have passed the No. 62 - to take the lead. Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No.3; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 92; P6 No. 45; P7 No. 21; P8 No. 44. Cars 62 through 87 are on the same lap. Cars 92 through 21 are on the same lap, one lap down. the No. 44 is 2 laps down on the No. 4. 1 hour 20 minutes left in the race.
Physically, on track, they are still a freight train of GT2 cars - the No. 92 is first of the group, followed by the No.45, then the No. 4 and No. 3 Corvettes, then the No. 62 Risi Ferrari - all basically nose to tail. the No. 87, which is in fourth, has also caught the pack and is close to the No. 62, which is in third.

4:25 - Joerg, in sixth is coming up on the No. 92 BMW in fifth, which is for position. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari, one lap ahead, is right behind the No. 45. The No. 92 BMW and the No. 40 made contact on course as the No. 92 passed, but they continued wihthout incident. the No. 87 has loose bodywork. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 3; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 92; P6 No. 45. Physically on track, the No. 92 is at the lead of the pack, the No. 45 is second, the No. 62 is third, and both corvettes are right behind the Ferrari - all five cars are nose to tail, although the No. 92 and the No. 45 are one lap down.

4:19 - Green flag. Joerg is P6, Johannes is P8. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 3; P 4 No. 87; P 4 No. 92; P6 No. 45. the No 62 Risi Ferrari, which is one lap ahead of the No. 45, is physically just behind us on track.

4:18 - Lights out on the safety car - green this time by.

4:17 - Still yellow - Johannes pits in the No. 44 for another fuel top up. He is in P8 right now.

4:14 - Joerg radios in that it's raining on track.

4:12 - The No. 40 Ford is slow on course. Still yellow.

4:08 pm - The No. 44 is pitting for a fuel top up. A second group of GT2 cars is now pitting for their driver changes (the No. 11 Viper, etc.) Still yellow. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 3; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 92; P6 No. 45. Johannes in the No. 44 is now P10. the No. 45 is one lap down on the top 4 GT2 leaders (No. 62 through No. 87).

4:03- The GT2 leaders are starting to pit - the No. 62, No. 87, No. 4, No. 3 - all four of those GT2 cars are on the lead lap. The No. 11; No. 40; No. 92 and No. 45 are on the same lap , one lap down. Still yellow.

3:58 - The No. 45 is now P8 and the No. 44 P10. Full course caution. Pits are closed. I expect both Lizard cars will pit again under yellow for a fuel top up. The No. 45 is 1 lap down on the GT2 leaders, and the No. 44 is 2 laps down. The waveby has not yet started, but it doesn't appear that the No. 45 will get a waveby, so they will not be able to get their lap back.

3:57 - Big accident on track - looks like the No. 16 Mazda - double yellow. Bad luck, bad timing for the Lizards since both of our cars just pitted under green and were the first of the GT2 cars to pit. The driver appears ok.

3:56 - The No. 44 is in the pits. Johannes is in the car and is out quickly with new tires and fuel. So far, no cautions yet in the race.

3:52 - Early pit stop for the No. 45 for a driver change to Joerg, tires and fuel. They had to bring him him becuase Patrick could no longer see out the windshield because of the amount of oil on it. They are doing a windscreen tearoff to give Joerg a clean window. Darren is also reporting oil on his windshield. They will pit him shortly for tires, fuel and windscreen tear off and driver change to Johannes. They are the first of the GT2 cars to pit for driver change. Darren was hit at some point by a prototype so the crew will also look to make sure no damage.

3:50- The No. 87 has passed the No. 3 Corvette and moved into third.

3:46 - The No.62 Risi Ferrari, in second, has now caught the No. 4 Corvette in the lead and they are nearly nose to tail. Patrick radios in that he has oil on the windshield and cannot see. Darren is in 8th again and is stuck behind the No. 11 Viper,which has a lot more straight line speed.

3:43 - The No. 87 has passed the No. 45 and is in P4. Patrick is now P5. Positions: P1 No. 4 Corvette; P2 No. 62 Risi Ferari; P3 No. 3 Corvette; P4 No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche; P5 No. 45; P6 No. 40; P7 No. 44.

3:38 - Positions: P1 No. 4 Corvette; P2 No. 62 Risi Ferrari; P3 No. 3 Corvette; P4 No. 45; P5 No. 87. The No. 3 Corvette is slowing and Patrick is getting closer to him. the No. 87 is right behind Patrick. Darren is now P7 in the No. 44.

3:34- Patrick is again stuck on track behind one of the BMWs, which is not on the same lap.

3:28 - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari just passed the No. 3 Corvette to take second. The No. 4 Corvette now has a substantial lead and has built a good gap to the rest of the GT2 field. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari in second appears to be determined to reel him in though. Patrick, in second, is back on the pace and is focused on catching the No. 3 Corvette, which is in third. In the No. 44, Darren is in eighth.

3:25 - We now see the TV replay - looks like both the BMW and the No. 45 were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and had no place to go to avoid a collision when the Autocon prototype slowed on course and turned in. Patrick is still out and is slowing slightly but appears to be OK. Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 52; P4 No. 45.

3:22 - We aren't sure yet what happened, but the No. 90 has significant damage on the rear, and No. 45 has damage on the front. Patrick radios in that the Autocon prototype stopped in the road. the No 90 was ahead of Patrick on the track and came up on the stopped car first and hit the brakes, Patrick went into the back of the No. 90. The No. 90 has pitted. Patrick is still out. So far, no evidence of radiator damage. Patrick is now P4. Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 45. Darren is P9.

3:20 - Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 3; P3 No. 90; P4 No. 62; P5 No. 45. Darren is now P9. Patrick radioedin that he may have radiator damage. Not sure what caused it.

3:19 - The No. 62 has passed the No. 45 to move into fifth. Now both the No. 62 and the No. 45 have passed the No. 92 BMW. Patrick is now P5. Risi is P4. The No. 92 has pitted, apparently for tires.

3:17 - The No. 3 Corvette has passed the No. 92 BMW to take second. The Corvettesare now running 1 and 2. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari has passed the No. 40 to move into sixth and is right behind Patrick in the No. 45. In the No. 44, Darren has passed the Viper to move into tenth.

3:13 - The No. 4 Corvette has taken the lead, with the NO. 92 BMW in second. The No.3 Corvette is P4 and the No. 90 BMW is P5. Patrick is being held up by the No. 90 but is unable to pass. The No. 40 Ford is right behind Patrick, and the NO. 62 Risi Ferraris is right behind the No. 40.

3:11 - Patrick is now right on the tail of the No. 90 BMW, which is just behnd the No. 3 Corvette. There's a bit of gap between the two Corvettes.

3:07 pm - A clean start for the entire field. The No. 87, which started last, has moved up several positions. The No. 92 is holding P1, No. 4 Corvette Now P2; No. 3 Corvette now P3, No. 90 BMW is P4. Patrick is P4 in the No. 45 and Darren is P11 in the No. 44. The No. 62 has moved up to P7 and the No. 87 has moved up to P8.

3:05 pm ET - Green flag. Darren is starting from ninth, Patrick from fifth. It is a double file start.

3:02 - The cars are rolling down the front straight for one pace lap. Darren Law is in the No. 44, Patrick Long in the No. 45.

2:55 pm - 10 minutes to race start, pace laps will start shortly. Some heavy sprinkles - it's going to make for a slick track. Hopefully the rain will hold off.

2:20 - The cars are all on the grid. Starting GT2 positions: P1 No. 92 BMW; P2 No. 90BMW; P3 No. 4 Corvette; P4 No. 3 Corvette; P5 No. 45; P6 No. 21; P 7 No. 40; P8 No. 11; P9 No. 62 Risi Ferrari; P 10 No. 44; P 11 No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche. It's cool and breezy with heavy cloudcover and a few sprinkles - hopefully the rain will hold off through the race.

2:13 - Both the No. 44 and No. 45 are back out on track before pit lane closed. They are heading to the grid now. Light rain is falling. Both cars are on slicks (their qualifying tires), but can start on rain tires if needed - the crew will have them at the grid in case they need them.

2:10 pm - Green flag - pit exit is open. The No. 44 and No. 45 are out on track for their recon laps. They will both pit for fuel and their race tires, then do another recon lap and heading to the grid.

2:05 pm - We are five minutes from the start of recon laps. Both Lizard Porsches are in their pit stalls waiting for pit exit to open. Once the exit is open, they will do two recon laps, and assuming all is well, will proceed to the grid. Patrick Long will start fifth on the grid in the No. 45 and Darren Law will start tenth on the grid, just behind the No. 62 Risi Ferrari (which crashed during practice yesterday and was not able to make qualifying.) The No. 44 will start at the back because Darren was not able to make either practice session on Saturday.

Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio - go to "Follow the Race" tab on the home page for details. In the U.S., the race is broadcast live on SpeedTV.

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9:40 am ET - Checkered flag on the morning warmup session. Joerg is now P1 in the session, a 1:19.659. Both Lizard Porsches are safely back in their pit stalls. The crew will work on pit stops, then head back to the garage for final prep before the race.

We'll be back with you around 2:45 for this afternoon's race, which starts at 3:05 pm ET. We'll be broadcasting our team radio live during the race - you can listen in at www.lizardms.com.

The race will be broadcast live on SpeedTV.

9:35 - Green flag - the No. 87 has been removed - just under five minutes left in the session. Joerg is now in the No. 45, Darren still in the No. 44.

9:26 - The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche is in the wall at Turn 1. Heavy hit. On TV, we can see the driver (Dirk Werner) who appears to be OK, but he is unable to continue. Red flag. This may be the end of the session as they'll need to get the No. 87 on the rollback.

9:25 - Patrick pits for fuel. He reports that the tires are just starting to come in now.

9:20 - Patrick is back in the pits and will go out on slicks this time. The No. 44 is also back in the pits for another set of tires. Both drivers are working on warming up the tires on the green track. The No. 62 has reappeared on track - the car had a heavy impact with the wall in afternoon practice and did not make yesterday's qualifying session.

9:17 am - Both Lizard Porsches are in the pits for tire changes. the No. 45 is out on wets, the No. 44 on slicks, I believe.

9:15 am - Green flag on the morning 25 minute warmup, a combined GT/prototype session. Patrick and Darren are both heading out on wets.

9:10 am ET - Good morning from Mosport. It's cool and damp this morning at the track. It's not raining at the moment, but some dark cloudcover might mean some rain in the next hour or so. Morning practice begins at 9:15 am. Darren has arrived from Montreal so he'll run the warmup in the No. 44 to get acclimated. Patrick is in the No. 45 ready to head out. Both cars are on rain tires. If the rain holds off, I expect they will both switch to slicks once the field has done a few laps and dried out the track.

Mosport - Practice Sessions & Qual

2009-08-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 29, 2009

4:14 pm ET - Checkered flag on qualifying. The No. 92 BMW is on the GT2 pole for Mosport with a 1:17.528. The No. 90 BMW is P2. The No. 87 is P3. The No. 4 Corvette is P4, the No. 3 Corvette is P5 and the No. 45 is sixth. In the No. 44, Johannes had the ninth fastest time - they used the session for setup because the car will start from the rear of the grid. We'll be back with you tomorrow for morning warmup at 9:15 am ET. See you then!

4:08 - Chief Strategist Thomas Blam calls Patrick back to the pits - he is still P6. Just a few minutes left...

4:05 - Patrick is back out for one more attempt at a fast lap.

4:00 pm - The No. 92 BMW is now P1 with a 1:17.528. Patrick is P6 right now. They will pit him for tire pressures. The No. 44 is using the session for setup since they will automatically start from the rear of the grid because the car's second driver, Darren Law, will not arrive until late tonight and wasn't able to participate in the official practice sessions today. The No. 62, which crashed late in the practice session, has not yet made it back from the garage. If they do not participate in qualifying, they will also start from the rear of the grid.

3:58 - On his second lap, Patrick is P3. The No. 4 Corvette is P1; The No. 3 Corvette is P3.

3:53 - Green flag on GT2 qualifying. The No. 45 just went out on track. The No. 44 is in the pits as they make one more setup change. The track is dry and the cloudcover has startd to disperse.

3:46 - Checkered flag on the final practice session. GT2 qualifying will start shortly. The No. 45 was P6 in the session, the No. 44 8th. The No. 92 BMW was P1, the No. 90 BMW P2, the No. 62 Risi Ferrari P3 (it crashed late in the session), and the No. 4 Corvette P4, the No. 87 Farnacher Loles Racing Porsche P5.

3:35 - Green flag - 11 minutes left in the session.

3:33 - We are seeing the No. 62 on a rollback - quite a bit of damage to the left rear. The car is heading back to the paddock. 20 minutes until qualifying session begins.

3:26 - Red flag. Looks like the No. 62 has stopped just off course after impacting the wall - can't tell how much damage. Driver appears OK.

3:22 - Patrick pits for new tires. Just over 20 minutes left in the session.

3:20 - Patrick Long is now in the No. 45 - he's P5. Johannes is still P8. 26 minutes left.

3:10 - Joerg is now P3. Johannes is P8. 35 minutes left in the session.

3:00 - Johannes is in the pits for a setup change. Joerg heads back out.

2:54 - Joerg is in the pits for the crew to get a read on the car and some more detailed feedback from Joerg. Because of the rain this morning, we didn't get much done on setup so this is our last chance before qualifying to make setup adjustments. It's hard to tell what the weather will hold for tomorrow, but right now it looks like it will be a dry race.

2:50 - Joerg is P4 after 4 laps. The No. 4 Corvette is P1, No. 92 BMW P2; No. 3 Corvette P3. Johannes is P 7.

2:46 - Green flag. The session will run for the full hour.

2:43 - We are on a hold while they do repair to the tire wall (from an incident in the previous session).

2:35 pm ET - Five minutes from start of the second practice session for today. We had some luck on the weather and the track is dry and it looks like it may hold for the sesssion. Joerg will start in the No. 45 and Johannes in the No. 44. Johannes' co-driver Darren Law will arrive here late tonight after his race at Montreal today. Because Darren won't make an official practice session, the No. 44 will start from the back. There are a few other cars in the same situation (the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles is one) so the starting position will be determined by the times set during the two practice sessions today and qualifying (also today).

11:15 - Checkered flag on a damp, foggy morning practice. Joerg finished the session in P3 with a 1:32.525. The No. 4 Corvette was P1 with a 1:31.906. We'll be back with you for this afternoon's practice session at 2:40 pm ET, then qualifying at 3:50. ** Jennifer

11:10 - 5 minutes left in the session. It's now raining solidly. Joerg now has the fourth fastest time of the session with a 1:33.510. Johannes is 10th.

11:00 - 15 Minutes left in the morning practice. Joerg Bergmeister is now in the No. 45, which has the 8th fastest time of hte session. Johannes is in the No. 44 which is 10th. The track has been wet the entire session, although it is only raining lightly the fog has not lifted.

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10:45 am ET - We are back to the in-between conditions again - not really wet, but not yet dry. The No. 3 Corvette, which I believe is still on rain tires, is fastest in the session with a 1:32.864.

10:30 am ET - Patrick is now P4. Johannes is P9 in the No. 44. The No. 4 Corvette is P1 and the No. 3 Corvette P2. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari is P3. Johannes is back in the pits for the engineers to work on rain setup, since there's not much we can do for dry setup at the moment.

10:27 am ET - Patrick is fifth fastest in the session right now - with a 1:38.621.

10:23 am ET - It's definitely raining now. Both cars are still out, now on rain tires. Everyone is being very cautious - visibility is very low.

10:15 am ET - Green flag. Patrick Long is in the No. 45 and Johannes is in the No. 44. On his outlap Patrick radios in that it is very slick. It looks like both tires went out on slicks. The fog is not lifting and it is starting to rain again. They are calling Johannes into the pits. It's now starting to rain so they will move to wets now that the track is wet enough for rain tires (if you run on rain tires while the track is too dry the tires get too hot and chunk up and then they become ineffective)

10:00 am ET - Good morning from Mosport. It's cool, foggy and wet here this morning after a heavy rain last night. The track is starting to dry out - not quite there. The session starts at 10:15 am. The engineers are still deciding what tires to start on - there is almost a dry line, but not quite - too dry for wets but possibly still too wet for slicks.

Friday, August 28, 2009

6:00 pm ET - Checkered flag on today's test session. We'll be back with you for the first official practice session tomorrow at 10:15 am. GT2 qualifying is tomorrow (Saturday) at 3:50 pm ET. See you then! *** Jennifer

5:53 - Johannes is in the pits in the No. 44 and Patrick is out again in the No. 45. The No. 45 is P6 in the session. The No. 62 is P1, the No. 4 is P2, the No. 90 is P3, the No. 87 is P4 and the No. 40 is P5.

5:50 - Patrick reports a weird vibration. He will pit this lap to have the crew check it out.

5:45 - Patrick pits for an aero adjustment. 15 minutes left. The No. 45 is still P5.

5:38 - The No. 45 is in the pits for a setup change. The rain has held off and it looks like we may luck out for the session. 20 minutes left.

5:30 - Johannes heads back on track after the setup change. It's now GT2 only. Patrick Long is still in the No. 45. The No. 45 is P4 in the session. The No. 62 is P1; the No. 4 is P2; the No. 90 is P3.

5:25 - The No. 90 BMW is now P1 with a 1:18.313. Patrick Long is now in the No. 45. Johannes is back in the pits in the No. 44 for a change. His co-driver Darren Law is doing double driving duty this weekend and will not be at the track until Sunday morning warmup. As a result, the No. 44 will start from the back of the grid on Sunday.

5:12 - Joerg pits for driver change and fuel.

5:05 - Joerg is in the pits and is reporting turn by turn feedback to the engineers. He is now P1 in the session with a 1:18.572. Craig Watkins calls the No. 44 into the pits for a read on the car and then make a setup change.

5:00 - Joerg heads back out. He is now in P3. 1 hour left in the session. In the No. 44, Johannes has moved up to P7.

4:55 - Joerg reports more rain. He is called back into the pits for a setup change.

4:52 - Joeg is now P2 with a 1:19.166. The track is dry again but tV shows it is still sprinkling.

4:45 - The No. 45 is back on track and the No. 44 should be out shortly. Wolf Henzler in the No. 87 is in P1. Dirk Mueller in the No. 92 BMW is P2. Joey Hand in the No. 90 is P3. Joerg is P7.

4:41 - Johannes and Joerg both radio in that it is starting to get slippery as it is now raining lightly. Chief engineer Craig Watkins (working on the No. 44 Porsche) and No. 45 engineer Stefan Pfeiffer make the decision to pit each cars.

4:38 - Some sprinkles on the front straight.

4:36 pm - The No. 45 is in the pits after its fuel check. Joerg reports that the pads are not yet in, but they'll add fuel, and send him out again to get the pads bedded and the tires up to temp. Joerg's initial report after just 3 laps is that the car is stiff and bouncy and harsh over the bumps. Joerg is P4 right now in the session, which lasts until 6 pm ET.

4:35 - After an install lap, the No. 44 is in the pits, and back out again.

4:30 - Green flag on the combined GT2/prototype test session.

4:25 pm - Good afternoon from Mosport. It's a breezy cool day here and we have a weather front coming in with rain scheduled for later tonight. It's been dry so far and hopefully we'll have a dry test session - starting at 4:30 pm.

Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45 and Johannes van Overbeek is in the No. 44 - ready to head out on track for their first track session of the race week. Stefan Pfeiffer just nofified the crew of the schedule for the session - they'll start with an install lap, bedding in the brake pads and make sure everything is sorted out before starting their setup work. In the No. 44 Johannes will do an install lap and also work on bedding in brake pads and shaking down the newly installed motor.

Road America - Raceday

2009-08-16T06:53:00.001-07:00

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.

Road America - Raceday

2009-08-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday August 16, 2009

9:20 am - Checkered flag on the morning warmup and thankfully, no red flags. the No. 45 was fifth fastest in the session with a 2:09.533. P1 No. 92 BMW (2:08.22), P2 No. 90 BMW, P3 No. 87, P4 No. 4; P5 No. 45. We'll be back with you for recon laps, about 1:15 CT. ** Thanks Jen

9:10 am - The No. 44 pits for driver change to Darren Law. The No. 45 pits for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister.

9:07 am - Patrick Long is currently P4 in the session. The BMWs, as expected, are P1 and P2. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari is P3. The BMWs are running larger restrictors and should show significant speed advantage in this type of circuit with its long straights which require power and speed. The Corvettes are running P5 and 6, although I expect they are not showing all they have right now.

8:55 am - Green flag. Cars are on course. Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio this morning and during the race. To listen, click on the "Follow the Race" tab on our home page. The race will be broadcast live on SpeedTV.

8:53 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. It's a bit cooler today, with low cloudcover, a strong breeze and the possible thunderstorms predicted for this afternoon.

Road America - Practice Sessions

2009-08-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

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.

Mid-Ohio Raceday

2009-08-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Mid-Ohio Practice Sessions & Qual

2009-08-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

Auugst 7, 2009

2:30 pm - Joerg Bergmeister on the pole in the No. 45! Congrats to Joerg and Patrick and the Lizards. Second pole this year.

2:28 - 2 minutes left. Joerg still holding provisional pole.

2:25 - Five minutes left. We are waiting to see if anyone will beat Joerg's time. In the No. 44, Seth Neiman is curently in P10.

2:21 - The No. 62 just did a 1:21.287 and... Yes, Joerg did it, a 1:21.022. The No. 45 will pit. We expect that Risi will try one more. 9 minutes left in qual.

2:10 - Joerg now P2. He is minus one-tenth from Jaime in the No. 62. Both cars appear to be on clean laps- we'll see if either hits traffic.

2:19 - Joerg now P4. No. 62 still P1. No 90 BMW P2. No 3 Corvette P3. Joerg P4.the top four cars are five tenths of a second apart.

2:18 - Jaime Melo in the No. 62 is currently P1 with a 1:21.376. Joerg is P2.

2:16 - Joerg was assessed a stop and go penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit. He's back on track again. Looks like there was a close call between one of the BMWs and the Risi Ferrari after the BMW spun on track. No contact though. Traffic is the big issue here - there are 16 cars on track right now - six of them are challenge cars.

2:14 - The No. 45 heads out for his outlap.

2:10 pm ET - Green flag on qualifying. Seth is in the No. 44, Joerg in the No. 45.

1:59 pm- Joerg again P1 with a 1:21.527. The top 7 GT2 cars are within four-tenths of a second of one another. Checkered flag. Qualifying begins at 2:10 pm ET - 10 minutes from now. Joerg Bergmeister will qualify the no. 45, Seth Neiman will qualify the No. 44

1:56 pm - The No. 90 BMW is now P2. The No. 62 P1; No. 45 P3.

1:53 - The No. 45 is in the pits. 7 minutes left in the session. Jamie Melo is now P1 in the No. 62 Risi Ferrari with a 1:21.633. The No. 45 is P2 with a 1:21.840.

1:41 - Joerg pits for fuel and shock setup change. The No. 45 still has the fastest time of the session. The No. 87 is P2, the No. 3 Corvette is P3 and the No. 4 Corvette is P4.

1:34 - Green flag. 26 minutes left in the session.

1:32 - Red flag at the moment. We'll do a driver change in the No. 45 -Joerg will go out. Seth will stay in the No. 44. Darren Law (who is co-driving with Seth this weekend) will arrive late tonight from Watkins Glen.

1:15 - Patrick heads back out after the change. He is still P1. The Corvettes have moved up to P2 and P3.

1:11 pm - Chief Strategist Thomas Blam calls Patrick into the pits for a change and to check tire pressures. Patrick reports that he's pretty happy with the car balance but still some understeer in some turns.

1:07 pm - Afternoon practice is underway. It's a one hour session prior to qualifying which starts at 2:10. Patrick Long is out in the No. 45 - he's currenly P1 in the session. Seth Neiman is in the No. 44.

10:56 - The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche has stopped on course - possibly out of fuel? Red flag. So looks like we are done for this session. The No. 45 Porsche was second in the session with a 1:22.064. The No. 90 BMW was P1; the No. 62 Risi Ferrari P3.

We'll be back with you for the second practice session at 1:00 pm ET. See you then *** Jen

10:52 - Joerg now P3 - 1:22.250. No. 90 is P1; No. 62 is P2. The No. 19 van der Steuer prototype is off course far into the grass. With a push he is able to continue and the course is staying green. Joerg is reporting back that he's happy with the last setup changes.

10:47 - Green flag. 13 minutes left. Patrick Long is suited up here and ready to get in the No. 45 but not sure if there will be enough time for him to get in. Seth is in the No 44. Darren Law will not arrive until late tonight so his first run in the No. 44 will be raceday morning warmup.

10:43 - Red flag - Patron prototype spun and is off track - high sided on the grass berm. No apparent damage but he'll need a tow out. Practice ends at 11:00.

10:31 - The No. 90 BMW is now P1 with a 1:22.044. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari now P2 with a 1:22.082. Joerg is P3 with a 1:22.518.

10:26 - The No. 45 pits for an additional spring change and also a swaybar adjustment. The No. 44 is also pitting for a change. Joerg feels that there is still not enough grip.

10:18 - Both the No. 45 and No. 44 are back on track after setup adjustments. Joerg in the No. 45, Seth in the No. 44. Joerg still holds P1 in the session. No. 90 BMW is P2; No. 4 Corvette is P3; No. 92 BMW is P4; No. 87 Farnbacher Porsche is P5.

10:12 - Joerg pits for a change. He reports very low grip - mid-corner push still the biggest problem. The engineers will make some additional changes, starting with some spring changes. TV shows the Ford has a flat, and also that one of the challenge cars spun just in front of the No. 45, luckily that driver kept the car off course and out of the way. Mid-Ohio is a high transition track - the car needs to be setup to handle the turn transitions quickly.

10:10 am - In the No. 45, Joerg is now P1 in GT2. Johnny O'Connell in the No. 3 Corvette is in P2, Dirk Mueller is third in the No. 92 BMW.

10:04 - Green flag.

10:02 - Red flag already - the No. 12 Autocon prototype off course. He is continuing so should go green quickly.

10:00 am ET - Green flag on morning practice - a combined prototype/GT session.

9:55 am ET - Good morning from Mid-Ohio. We are five minutes from practice start. Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44. Darren Law, Seth's co-driver for this race, will arrive in Ohio late tonight after his race today at Watkins Glen. All went well in practice yesterday. The No. 45 was bumped during practice yesterday but the damage was minor. We have two practice sessions today, then qualifying 10 to 11 ET, then 1 to 2 ET. GT qualifying begins at 2:10 pm.

August 6, 2009

5:27 - Well, that's it -checkered on the session. We were second and third in GT2 in the session. We'll be back with you tomorrow, Friday, at 10:00 am ET. See you then! *** Jen

5:23 pm - Still Red.

5:16 pm - Patrick is now P2 in the No. 44. Red flag, one of the challenge cars is off, way, off into the gravel. This is a shame because it will take some time to get him out - this may be the end of the session.

5:10 pm - Green flag. Joerg is still in the No. 45 and Patrick in the No. 44. Dirk Mueller in the No. 92 BMW is now P1 in the session. The No. 45 is P3 (time set by Patrick), the No. 62 is P2.

5:05 - Red flag, debris in turn 11. 25 minutes left in the session.

5:00 - Joerg is giving the engineers a lot of feedback. He's not happy with the car right now. He's in the pits for some engineering changes. Patrick is in the No. 44 right now to give his feedback on that car's setup so far. Darren Law, who is Seth Neiman's co-driver for the weekend, is doing double duty - he's at Watkins Glen right now and will not arrive at Mid-Ohio until late Friday night.

4:51 - Joerg radios in that he was hit by a prototype on track. He is pitting. Looks like it was the new Spyder. There's some bodywork damage but it appears to be superficial.

4:35 pm - We are now in combined session with the prototypes. The No. 62 is the fastest of the session so far with a 1:22.347. Patrick is second with a 1:22.953. Oli Gavin is third with a 1:23.129 in the No. 3 corvette with a 1:23.129 and Jan Magnussen is P4 in the No. 4 Corvette. The session will run one more hour until 5:30.

4:10 pm ET - Good afternoon from beautiful Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It's the first track session of the race week. Patrick Long is out in the No. 45 right now - he's in P2, three-tenths of a second behind the No. 62 Risi Ferrari in P1. Seth Neiman is out in the No. 44. The track is very green. Weather is perfect - warm and sunny with some light clouds and a light breeze - not too humid yet.

The Corvettes have made their first appearance in GT2 - both the No. 3 and No. 4 Corvettes are on track. They are in P 6 and P 7 right now but of course it's still really early in the week. Patrick has now moved into P1.

Lime Rock - Raceday!

2009-07-18T06:52:00.001-07:00

July 18, 2009

4:52 - Checkered flag. Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long win in GT2 at Lime Rock. Four races in a row for the No. 45! The No. 44 is seventh. Congratulations to the Lizards for a great race. See you all in a few weeks at Mid-Ohio! *** Jennifer

4:48 - Incident in Turn 3 - the No. 21 and one of the Mazdas - one of the cars is stopped. Hopefully no yellow.

4:42 - Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 90; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 18. No. 44 has moved into P7. 10 minutes left. Joerg is 33 seconds ahead of the No. 62.

4:33 pm - Joerg is now 31 seconds ahead of the No. 62 which is in second. 18 minutes left to go. Joerg and Jaime Melo in the No. 62 are running a similar pace. If there are no yellows, and nothing happens, the No. 62 cannot catch us before the end of the race. However, if there is a yellow, that would give the No. 62 an opportunity to close the gap. In the No. 44 Johannes is now P8. He is 11 seconds behind the No. 11 car and should catch them before the end of the race.

4:31 - Clean pit stop for the No. 45 - tires, fuel, no driver change. Joerg retains the lead.

4:30 - Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 90; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 21. The No. 44 is P8. Joerg is 20 seconds ahead of the No. 62. We will pit again for tires and fuel. Risi will also need to pit - yes, they are in the pits, but are doing fuel only, no tires. They are taking a chance to double stint in the hopes of gaining time to close the gap to us. We will do tires. The No. 62 just received a penalty - + 18 in pit lane. That's a stop and go. Definitely some luck for us. We'll be able to do fuel and tires and get back out in front of them.

4:13 - Joerg radios in that he was being held up by a slow prototype.

4:10 - Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 90; P 4 No. 87; P4 No. 21. Joerg has widened the gap a bit to the No. 62 and is 19 seconds ahead.

4:03 - Jaime Melo has now closed the gap to 15 seconds. If they continue at this pace, he could close the gap to Joerg before the end of the race. We have 47 minutes left to go. Cloud cover has moved in so we are having intermittent internet issues. When - if you lose radio connection, just reconnect the session.

4:00 - Johannes radios in that his drinking water is not plugged in, but we won't be able to do anything about it unless there is an unplanned stop.

3:55 - The No. 45 is by the Panoz now and he's back on the pace. the No. 92 BMW, which had been in fourth, is in the pits with an apparent problem, up on its jack stands. This moves the No. 87 into fourth. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 90; P4 No. 87; P4 No. 21. No. 44 P10. just under 1 hour left in the race. Joerg is 17 seconds ahead of the No. 62 Risi Ferrari which is in second.

3:51 - Joerg is behind the No. 21 Panoz on course, which is on a fast pace but is 2 laps down or so. Joerg's working to find a way to get by the No. 21. Joerg is plus 20 seconds to the No. 62 in second. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P 3 No. 92; P4 No. 90; P5 No. 87. The No. 44 is P10. Joerg is stuck behind the Panoz and can't get by. Meanwhile, the No. 62 is running a very fast pace and is slowly closing the gap to Joerg.

3:47 - The No. 90 overtook the No. 62 to retake P3. But then was caught in traffic and went off course, luckily without impacting any other cars - spinning deep into the gravel -he was able to continue and has rejoined. The No. 62 is back in P2. Joerg still P1; Johannes P10.

3:45 - Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 90; P4 No. 92; P4 No. 87. The No. 45 is 1 minute and 20 seconds ahead of the No. 62. The Panoz had spun on track and was attempting to restart as cars weaved around him - the No. 18 Vici car apparently hit him on track.

3:40 - No. 44 is in the pits. Tires, fuel, driver change to Johannes van Overbeek. The No. 44 is currently in tenth.

3:34 - No. 44 just got hit in the right front - he'll pit and they'll check out the car, driver change to Johannes van Overbeek, tires and fuel. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 90; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 92; P5 No. 21. No. 44 is P10.

3:20 - Green flag. 1.5 hours left to go. Joerg is still P1. The No. 45 should be good to go for the rest of the race. He now has a large gap to the next closest GT2 car, the No. 90.

3:17 - Joerg pits in the No. 45 for more fuel. Still yellow.Joerg was able to retain the lead. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 90; P4 No. 21; P5 No. 87. Most of the rest of the GT2 pack pitted at the end of that yellow.

3:12 - The No. 45 is in the pits. Fuel, tires, driver change to Joerg Bergmeister. the No. 45 was the first of the lead GT2 cars (those who have not already pitted) to pit. It was a short fuel, so Joerg may pit again under yellow for fuel. Joerg was out of the pits before the overall leader and retained the lead.

3:10 - Pits are open. The No. 45 will pit this lap. No. 44 will stay out. Still yellow.

3:07 - Still yellow, pits are closed, Thomas Blam notified us that the No. 45 will pit for fuel, tires and driver change to Joerg Bergmeister when the pits are open again. A bit earlier than we had planned.

3:05 pm - Seth reported in that tires are in the track. Course is yellow. Crew is getting ready - not sure if we will pit under this yellow or not. Looks like it was the No. 47 Orbit Racing Porsche which had the impact withthe tire wall, since we can see it sitting in pit lane and steaming.

3:02 - The No. 16 Mazda is slow on course - unclear what the issue is.

3:00 - We are getting close to our driver changes - under 20 minutes. Just under 2 hours left in the race. P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 90; P 5 No. 21. Patrick in the No. 45 is six seconds ahead of the No. 62. The No. 16 Challenge car just went off track into the grass.

2:55 - The No. 40 appears to have exited the pits prematurely in their pit stop minus one wheel. the crew pushed them back and they have fixed the problem.

Our radio broadcast is working now.

2:53 - Patrick radioed in that the tire wall has been pushed into the chicane. We may go yellow if they need to repair it. Looks like Wolf Henzler's belts may not be tight which would mean he would need to come in again to secure them. Patrick in the No. 45 still P1. Crews are getting ready in case course goes yellow.

2:41 - The Vici Porsche had a big off into the grass but continued. Patrick now has a 6 second gap ahead of the No. 62 wihch is in P2. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche, which had fallen back several positions over the last few minutes, is in pit lane for driver change to Wolf Henzler.

2:49 - Radio is working now. To listen go to www.lizardms.com and click on the Follow the Race Tab.

2:46 - patrick has a nice gap now in front of the No. 62. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 40; P4 No. 90. No. 44 is P10.

2:40 - Patrick retains the lead. We are just over 30 minutes into the race. We are having some technical issues with our radio broadcast - we hope to have it fixed shortly. If you can't get on, try it again in a few minutes.

2:35 - the No. 90 went off and has fallen back to P7. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P 3 No. 92; P4 No. 87; P5 No. 40. No. 44 is P10.

2:30 - Patrick passed the No. 62 to take the lead. Positions P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 90; P4 No. 92; P5 No.87. No. 44 is P10.

2:23 on - The front four GT2 cars remain unchanged - P1 No. 62; P2 No. 45; P3 No. 90; P4 No. 92. All four are running nose to tail. The No. 62 and No. 45 are on a faster pace and build a gap between the BMWs, but then hit traffic and they bunch up again. Patrick is putting pressure on the No. 62 but has not been able to pass.

2:16 pm - Some incredible racing going on right now as Patrick attempts to pass the No. 62 while they are both passing slower cars and being passed by the overall leaders. Cars are three abreast in some of the turns. Patrick has not yet been able to pass the Ferrari. He is building a gap from the BMWs in P3 and P4, but that gap gets closed again everytime they hit traffic.

2:15 pm - The lead GT2 cars are coming up on the slower challenge cars already and will have to thread through them, while still avoiding the faster prototypes which will be passing them on the very narrow circuit. No. 45 P2; No. 62 P1. No 90 P3. No. 92 P4. No. 40 P5. No. 44 is P10.

2:11 am - No. 62 retains the lead, with Patrick in second, the No. 90 BMW in P3 and the No. 92 in P4. The four GT2 cars have built up a gap from the rest of the GT2 field. Patrick is working to stay close to the No. 62 and build a gap from the BMWs.

2:08 - Green flag. In the No. 45, Patrick held P2 on the start and he is close behind the No. 62 which was on the pole. The GT2 front pack is very tight together. Both BMWs are right behind Patrick.

2:06 - No start - not sure what happened but there was no green flag.

2:03- Cars are underway. 2 pace laps.

2:00 pm -Engine start - there are 2 pace laps before the green flag. We are starting 2nd and tenth in GT2. Patrick Long is starting in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44.

1:58 pm - National anthem is playing - just a few minutes until engine start.

1:30 pm ET - Good afternoon from Lime Rock Park. Pit lane is open and the cars are heading onto the track for their recon lap. Pit lane exit is open for only five minutes - cars must exit the pits and make their way to the grid.

Once on the track for the recon lap, the cars will then grid for race start, or if there is an issue, they may return to the pits for repairs. Once the pit exit closes any cars not on the grid must start from pit lane.

** Reminder - we are broadcasting our team radio for the race. To listen to go the "Follow the Race" tab at www.lizardms.com. **

*****
10:25 - Checkered flag on the morning warmup. All went well in the session for the Lizards. Joerg was P1 in the session, Seth was P8. We'll do some pit stop practice in pit lane, then head back to the paddock for final prep before this afternoon's race. See you back here about 1:30 pm ET ** Jennifer **

10:15 - No. 44 pits for fuel, No. 45 for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister. Joerg will drive to the end of the session.

10:12 - Green flag. It is starting to warm up a bit but it's still pretty wet out there.

10:08 - A car is off - not sure if it's the No. 45 or another car. Red flag. No - it was the No. 40 which went off. No. 45 and No. 45 are both back in the pits waiting for the green.

10:05 - We should get started shortly. This is the final warmup session prior to the race, which starts at 2:05. Patrick Long is in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No.44. We had torrential rain last night so everything is very, very wet. There is a lot of standing water on the track. Patrick just radioed in that there's a stream of water down the track - it's like ice. The session is twenty minutes.

*** Radio Broadcast - we are broadcasting our team radio for the warmup and race - to listen click on the "Follow the Race" tab at www.lizardms.com. ***

9:50 am ET - Good morning from Lime Rock. Our morning warmup session is delayed this morning - we should get started about 10:15 or so.

Lime Rock - Practice Sessions

2009-07-17T07:31:00.001-07:00

Friday July 17, 2009 - Practice Sessions

4:00 - No. 45 is P2 and No. 44 P10 in GT2 Qualifying. No. 62 is on the pole.

3:51 - In the No. 62, Jaime Melo did a 54.665 - putting him in P1. There are four minutes left, but we will not go out again. The No. 87 is still out and there are four minutes left so someone could still beat Jamie's time.

3:49 - Patrick takes the lead! Just .025 seconds ahead of the No. 62. And Risi is out of the pits to try for a faster lap. We'll see if Risi can pull out a faster lap. Seth is P10 in the No. 44. Patrick will pit this lap.

3:47 - With a clear lap, patrick has moved up to P2. Risi No. 62 Ferrari, which is P1, is in th epits - waiting it out. Patrick has traffic this lap, so he has to wait until the next lap. he has one more lap to try for a flier.

3:45 - Ptarick is out again - he should have a good gap and be able to get a clear lap.

3:41 - In the No. 45, patrick switched positions again with the No. 62 and is now ahead of Jamie Melo on track. Jamie is P1 with a 54.744. Wolf is P2 witha 55. 026. Patrick on his fast lap hit traffic with the No. 18 Vici Porsche - that will definitely affect his time. The No. 92 went off again. He is P7. The No. 90 BMW is P3. The GT2 cars are now all bunched up on track which will be a problem for everyone. They are calling Patrick in to add fuel and try and get him a clean lap. 12 minutes left. Patrick is currently P8. No. 44 is P10.

3:38 - Patrick's first timed lap - he's P2, 2 second behind the No. 62 Risi Ferrari which is in the lead. On track, the Risi Ferrari is physically just behind Patrick. And again on the next lap, Jaime Melo in the No. 62 is even faster with a 54.777. The No. 87 was P2, but went off track just after his fast lap. he was able to continue. Patrick went briefly into the grass so let the No. 62 go by on track.

3:36 - The qualifying session is underway. Joerg Bergmeister is qualifying the No. 45. Seth Neiman is qualifying the No. 44. The session is 20 minutes. Unfortunately it looks like it is just about to rain. Hopefully we'll have a dry session - at least to start - we are going to go out immediately at the start of the session to make sure we get the most out of the time.

3:25 - Five minutes left in the session. Patrick is P2. He will pit this lap. The No. 92 went off again for the second time in the session - looks like he made impact with the tire wall but continued. Wolf Henzler in the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is now P1. Seth will finish out the session in the No. 44.

3:21 - Patrick pits for one final change before qualifying. 9 minutes left in the sesion.

3:11 - Seth is pitting for a review with the engineers. Patrick is in the pits for a setup change. 17 minutes left.

3:05 pm - The No. 92 BMW is now P1 with a 55.024. Patrick P2 with a 55.256.

3:03 pm - No. 45 pits for a setup change. Patrick is still P1.

2:58 - Patrick Long is P1 in the session right now with a 55.256.

2:55 - Green flag. 35 minutes left in the session.

2:50 - Red flag to remove debris.

2:43 pm - Patrick Long is in the No. 45. Seth Neiman is now in the No. 44.

2:41` pm - Joerg is P2 in GT2 right now, Johannes is P4. Patrick Long is getting ready to get into the No. 45 and Seth Neiman into the No. 44.

2:30 pm ET - Green flag on the afternoon practice session. The No. 44 and No. 45 are in the pits and ready to go. Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45 and Johannes van Overbeek is in the No. 44. Qualifying begins immediately after the session. Patrick will qualify in the No. 45.

12:15 - Checkered flag on the first practice session of the day. We'll be back with you at 2:30 ET today for the second practice session and then qualifying immediately following. In the session, the No. 45 was P5 in the session, the No. 44 P9.

12:10 - Joerg is now P4 in the No. 45. He will pit next for a tire pressure change. In the No. 44, Johannes van Overbeek is getting in the car for his first stint. Five minutes left.

12:00 - Patrick's take on the session: "It's like a billiard table out there: smooth and no grip! Practice is tricky with the new addition of the GT3 cars. I like the challenge but it makes finding a clear lap very key at a track like this. it reminds me of being here last year in a prototype where just one out of six laps is relatively clear. The purpose for this session is setup not lap times, but the one time when we do push for laps times in practice is to make a performance enahancement - sometimes what feels marginally better is marginally worse on the stop watch, so it becomes a push in that scenario."

11:52 - The No. 45 is in the pits for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister and a setup change

11:49 - The No. 44 is back in the pits for tires. In the No. 45, Joerg is getting ready to get in the car in a few minutes. Patrick Long is still in the No. 45 and is P2.

11:39 - the no. 44 is back on course and the No. 45, after pitting, is also back on track.

11:36 - Well, the No. 45 accidentally went on track before it went green so Patrick received a black flag. He'll be back in the pits in a minute. the No. 44 is back in the pits - apparently the car ran out of gas on course. They will refuel and he will return to the track.

11:30 - the No. 44 has pulled off course with a problem. A prototype spun on course, red flag. the No. 44 is safely off course but will need to be towed back. Patrick is in the pits giving feedback to the engineers.

11:25 - Patrick is P3; Seth is P 9. Traffic is the big issue for drivers to deal with at Lime Rock - it's a very short and narrow circuit with very little passing room.

11:22 - Patrick Long is in the pits for fuel. He'll do five laps and then come in to give the engineers more information for setup. We have two practice sessions today before qualifying which starts at 3:35 pm ET. This is our first day on track so we have to hustle to get our setup together. The No. 44 crew is working to shakedown the No. 44 which was retubbed after the accident at Le Mans in June (the No. 80).

11:15 am - Green flag. Patrick Long is in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman is in the No. 44.

10:30 am ET - Good morning from beautiful Lime Rock, CT. The cars are warming up in the garage in prep for the first sesion of the weekend which starts at 11:15 am ET.

Some broadcast info:
* We will broadcast our team radio tomorrow - click on the "Follow the race tab" on www.lizardms.com
* SpeedTV.com will broadcast this afternoon's qualifying session live - www.speedtv.com
* We've started a twitter feed - follow @FlyingLizard_MS and will feed some blog content to it. We'll be testing it this weekend.
* TV broadcast is on Speed, live, starting at 2;00 pm ET on Saturday.

24 Heures du Mans - Raceday!

2009-06-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 13-Sunday June 14, 2009 - Race!

*** I'm sorry to report that the Flying Lizard No. 80 has been retired following an accident at approximately 5:25 CET on Sunday morning. The No. 80 Porsche had been fourth in GT2 at the time of the accident. Following a driver change from Seth Neiman to Darren Law, on Darren’s outlap, he had an incident in the brake zone at the first Chicane which ended with a heavy impact into the tires. We don’t know the cause at this point. The No. 80 is out of the race, although we have not been able to reach the car to evaluate the damage. Darren is being checked over by track medical, but he appears to be fine.

Thank you to all of our fans for your support of our fifth 24 Heures du Mans program. We’ll see you next month back in the U.S. at Lime Rock Park. ***

5:35 am - We have been notified that Darren is fine, he will return to the garage. Sadly, this appears to be the end of our fifth Le Mans. I am disconnecting the radio for now. I'll give you more detail as soon as I have it.

5:33 - Unfortunately, it appears that the No. 80 has been involved in an incident and has sustained significant damage. I will update you as I know more.

05:25 - We have lost radio contact with Darren. We have a problem. I'll report when I know more.

05:20 - Seth pits, driver change to Darren Law, quick fuel + tires. he's out again, course still yellow. Still P4. Positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 97; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 80; P5 No. 76. The No. 80 2 laps back from the No. 82, which leads.

05:17 - Darren is back and quickly getting into his gear. Seth will pit for driver change to Darren. Seth is in P4. Safety car still out.

05:08 - Pit lane is filling up with cars taking advantage of the caution for fuel - the No. 82, 97, 92, 76 and 78 GT2 cars have all pitted. Because of the length of the circuit and the gap between the cars, they should all retain their positions. Positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 97; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 80; P4 No. 76. We would like to take advantage of the caution to do a driver change, but we aren't sure if Darren will get here in time from his driver cabin. Just under 10 hours left in the race.

05:04 - Another caution - don't know the reason, although Seth has radioed in that there is a lot of debris on the track.

04:46 - Green flag after a nearly 45 minute caution. GT2 top 5 positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 97; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 80; P4 No. 76. Seth Neiman in the car, 2.5 laps down on the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari.

04:43 - Seth pits for fuel, and a replacement headlight cover. Course still under caution. Track should go green this lap.

04:37 - Safety car still out. Lizard Chief Strategist Thomas Blam notified Seth in the No. 80 that he may come in next lap for a splash of fuel.

04:32 - Safety car still out from the earlier incident with the No. 17. GT2 positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 97; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 80; P4 No. 76. Seth Neiman is in the car.

04:21 - Radio Le Mans has reported that the driver of the No. 17 Peugeot has been transported to the medical center. For more information on the incident check the Le Mans website at www.lemans.org.

04:12 - Just completing his double stint, Joerg pits for tires, fuel and driver change to Seth Neiman and brake pad change. Safety car is still out. Positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 97; P4 No. 76; P5 No. 80.

04:04 - Very serious accident on the track - I believe it is one of the Pescarolo Sport cars. Safety car is out. TV has reported it is the No. 17.

03:12 - Joerg is the second fastest GT2 car on the track right now. The No. 82, still in P1, is the fastest. Lead GT2 positions remain unchanged, No. 80 in P4.

02:55 - The 83 Modena car and the No. 12 car are both off track in the gravel.

02:44 - Darren is in pit lane - driver change to Joerg Bergmeister, tires, and fuel.
Darren, having driven for a 2 hour and 15 minute stint, struggled a bit in pit lane to find our pits, which are near the end of pit lane. It's very difficult at night to differentiate the pits. He's safely in and Joerg is in the car.

02:28 - Darren will pit in about 15 minutes for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister. Just over 2 hours until daylight and, once the sun comes up, some intense heat and humidity.

02:03 - The No. 76, in third, just pitted. The top five GT2 cars are now fairly spread out - 2 laps separate the No. 82 in the lead and Darren in the No. 80 in P5. Because the circuit is so long, with that type of a gap, the cars can maintain their position even after a pit stop. So.. not a lot of change in the order of the lead GT2 cars at the moment. 11 hours down, 13 to go.

** Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio. To listen click on the "follow the race" tab on the home page www.lizardms.com **

01:44 - Darren is in the pits, just behind the No. 97, which pitted just ahead of him. The No. 82 also pitted in the last few minutes - still in the lead.

01:36 - Darren will be pitting shortly for fuel and a new drink bottle - not sure about tires yet. He will stay in the car. GT2 positions: P1 No. 82 Risi Ferrari; P2 No. 92 JMW Ferrari; P3 No. 97 BMS Scuderia Ferrari; P4 No. 76 IMSA Matmut; P5 No. 80. Darren is 2 laps down on the No. 82.

01:18 - So far, only two retirements in GT2 - both the Felbermayr Porsches, No. 77 and No. 70.

01:04 CET - GT2 lead positions remain unchanged. P1 No. 82; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 76; P4 no. 97; P5 No. 80. 10 hours gone, 14 left to go. Darren, in the No. 80 is 2 laps down on the No. 82.

00:51 - All appears ok - we were very lucky on that one!

00:48 - The No. 82, which was in the lead, also pitted.

00:45 - Darren pitted, four tires, fuel. No immediately apparent suspension damage, so they are sending him back out again. By the time Darren got into the pits, the tire was gone on the left front, only the wheel was left, from damage when he was hit.

00:40 - Darren radios in that he was hit by a Ferrari and has damage, he is coming in. He was in fifth at the time.

00:22 - Your blogger is taking a quick break. Back with you in a bit. No. 80 P5 with Darren at the wheel.

00:15 - Starting to rain on pit lane. Joerg pits for driver change to Darren Law, tires and fuel. P1 No. 82; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 76. We were in P4 at the time of the pit stop. Now we are P5.

00:12 - Joerg moves to P4. The No. 97 moves to P5. A reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio - to listen, click on the "Follow the Race" tab on the home page - www.lizardms.com.

00:07 - Just past midnight. Nine hours down, 15 to go. GT2 positions remain unchanged.

23:47 - Joerg just did a 4:04.936. Positions: P1 No. 82 Risi; P2 No. 92 JMW Ferrari; P3 No. 76 IMSA Matmut; P4 No. 97 BMS Scuderia Ferrari; P5 No. 80; P6 No. 83 Krohn Racing Ferrari.

23:43 - The No. 92 was in the pits - it was in 2nd at the time. they had a longer than planned pit stop. The No. 82, in the GT2 lead, is also in the pits or tires, fuel, but I don't think a driver change. The No. 97 BMS Scuderia Ferrari, in fourth, has also pitted for tires and fuel and driver change.

23:38 - Joerg is chattering away on the radio that the car is very fast in the corners. He is doing consistently fast laps - the fastest of the GT2 field right now.

23:30 -On fresh tires, Joerg just clocked a 4:05.780. Six seconds faster than the No. 82's last lap (in the lead) and 2 to 3 seconds faster than the other GT2 cars in the lead group. Positions remain relatively unchanged: P1 No. 82 Risi Ferrari; P2 No. 92 JMW Ferrari; P3 No. 76 IMSA Matmut Porsche; P4 No. 97 BMS Scuderia Ferrari; P5 No. 80 Flying Lizard porsche; P6 No. 83 Risi Krohn Racing Ferrari. Joerg is 2 laps down from the No. 82.

The entry list and timing and scoring are available at http://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/pages/accueil_gb.html

23:21 - Joerg pits for fuel, tires but no driver change -he will double stint. He came in and out in fifth position.

23:16 - Joerg radioed in that the fuel light just went on. He will pit shortly.

23:13 - TV showed the No.76 in a big spin and off course excursion into the gravel. The car was in third. It's now in the pits.

23:09 - Joerg is running the fastest pace in GT2 right now. He is in 5th, 24 seconds back from the No. 97 in fourth. No. 82 Risi Competizione continues in the lead, with the No. 92 in second, the No. 76 in third. Joerg will pit in a few minutes for fuel and fresh tires - the plan is for him to double stint. Just passed the 8-hour mark. 16 left to go.

22:59 - The No. 76 IMSA Matmut Porsche, now in second, is in the pits.

22:52 - Car stopped on track. Could be the No. 70 Felbermayr Porsche. Yes, confirmed it's the No. 70, whose teammate, the No. 77 was out of the race early due to an apparent reserve fuel pump problem.

22:50 - All is well so far. GT2 positions remain relatively unchanged. P1 No. 82; P2 No. 76; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 97; P 5 No. 80; P6 No. 83. The No. 1 Audi is now in the garage - not clear why. Joerg is approximately 24 seconds back from the next closest GT2 car - the No. 97.

22:35 - The weather so far in the race has been very calm, but very warm. The humidity continues to rise and thunderstorms are now forecast for midnight and 3 am.

22:25 - Positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 76; P4 No. 97; P5 No. 80; P6 No. 85.

22:21 - Darren is in the pits for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister. No tires, fuel only plus ice for the cool box. He was in fifth at the time of the stop.

22:07 - Team manager Eric Ingraham asks Darren if he can triple stint. Darren says he can keep going but the team makes the call to put Joerg in the car. Darren will pit in 15 minutes or so.

21:59 - The No. 72 Corvette is in the tire wall, substantial damage to the car.

21:56 - Darren now P5. Positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 76; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 97; P5 No. 80; P6 No. 89.

21:52 - The No. 82 pitted for driver change - Jamie Melo now in the car after Mika Salo's triple stint. They are still in the GT2 lead. Salo confirmed on the radio that they plan to double stint their tires through the entire race, and that they triple stinted them for his last stint, but that was "too much."

21:46 - Unfortunately a major incident has taken the No. 2 Audi out of the running. Darren is still in P6. He is well into his double stint. All OK. Positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 78; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 76; P 5 No. 97; P 6 No. 80. It is almost dark now and starting to cool down.

21:21 - Darren reports the fuel light is on. He will pit this lap for fuel and tires but no driver change. He is in sixth at the time of pit. Top GT2 positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 78; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 76; P5 No. 97; P6 No. 80.

21:11 - Darren still P6. He will pit in about 15 minutes. We will do tires, but no driver change.

20:53 - Positions: P1 No. 82; P2 No. 78; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 76; P5 No. 97; P 6 No. 80.
The No. 80 is 2 laps down on the No. 82

20:27 - Seth pitted, driver change to Darren Law. The crew did tires and fuel but did not make any other repairs. Seth was in sixth at the time of pit. I'll report positions in a few minutes.

20:19 - Seth radios in that he had an incident - not sure yet what happened - he has flat spotted the tires and is coming in slowly. Driver is fine. He will pit and the crew will evaluate the car in the pits. If there is mechanical damage or critical aero damage, they will bring it into the garage.

20:15 - The No. 76 is back out after a repair. I don't have details on the problem yet. The pit stop was long enough that the No. 82 was able to gain an entire lap and retake the lead. The No. 92 has moved to P2 and the No. 78 to P3. The No. 76 is in P4and the No. 80 is P5.

20:10 - The No. 76 just pitted and has gone into the garage. This will give the No. 82, which was in P2, a chance to take the lead. The No. 80 in fifth.

20:08- The No. 76 has again set the fastest GT2 race lap 4:04.188.

20:00 - We've reached the 5 hour mark. 19 left to go. Of the starting 17 GT2 cars, there has been one retirement so far - the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche. Seth Neiman is still in the car,now in P5, 2 laps down on the leader. GT2 positions: P1 No. 76; P2 No. 82; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 78; P5 No. 80.

19:53 - The No. 80 still 4th. No change in lead GT2 positions. I received a question of where the Patrick Dempsey No. 81 Advanced Engineering Ferrari was running - I believe they are in 15th in GT2, still running. Timing and scoring is here (it is intermittent so it may not be 100% correct):

http://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/pages/chronos_fr.html

19:39 - In the No. 80, Seth is pitting, for fuel only. He is in P4 at the time of the pits. They are also replacing a drink bottle. It is nearing dusk now and temperatures are starting to drop. Positions: P1 No. 76; P2 No. 82; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 80; P5 No. 78. The No. 80 is one lap down on the No. 76. Still yellow. I believe the No. 89 is still in the pits.

19:38 - Significant incident on track involving multiple cars. The No. 26 was collected by the No. 009 (a third car was involved, but am not sure which one), sent the No. 26 into the wall and significantly damaging the car. Amazingly, considering how hard the hit was, the No. 26 is driving back to the pits under its own power, driver appears fine. Safety car is out.

19:34 - The No. 82, which is in P2, just received a stop and go penalty for "not respecting track limits". Seth in the No. 80 is P4. p1 is No. 76; P2 is No 82; P3 is No. 92. We can see on the TV that the Hankook Ferrari, which was in P5, has a problem on track and is returning slowly back to the pits.

19:24 - The No. 76 is still running extremely fast - 2 seconds faster than the No. 82 Risi Ferrari. The No. 80 now P4. Positions: P1 No. 76; P2 No. 82; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 80.

19:17 - The No. 76 IMSA Matmut Porsche just did the fastest time so far in GT2 - 4:05.024.

19:07 - Seth P3. No. 82 has moved to P2. No. 76 P1.

19:07 - Seth in P2. No. 76, which also pitted and driver change to Narac, has moved into P1. The No. 82 Risi Ferarri is P3 and is currently the fastest car on track.

18:52 - Joerg has pitted for driver change to Seth, tires and fuel. This will be Seth's first stint. At the time of the pit stop, Joerg was in P1, the No. 82 in P2 and the No. 76 in P3.

18:34 - Joerg is pushing hard and has rebuilt a small gap to the No. 76 - now 4 seconds.

18:28 - Joerg still P1. As he ends his second stint, he is starting to slow as his double stinted tires near the end. Patrick Pilet in the No. 76 is right on his bumper. Joerg will pit shortly for driver change to Seth Neiman, but it should be after the No. 76 also pits. Joerg radios in that Patrick is faster on the straights.

18:17 - The No. 75 Porsche is stopped on course but is off the circuit and not a factor.

18:01 - Joerg retained the lead after the last pit stop, he is still P1. No. 76 IMSA Matmut is P2 and No. 82 is P3. No. 89 is P4. We are double stinting our tires, and so is the No. 76 (I believe). The two cars are running at a similar pace. The No. 89 Ferrari has fallen off a bit and is running 2 seconds a lap slower than the two porsches. The No. 82 Risi Ferrari is P4. Three hours into the race.

17:51 - Joerg in the pits. Fuel only - no driver change. I'll report positions in a few minutes. At the time of the pit stop, he was in P1, the No. 76 in P2 and the No. 82 in P3. Joerg had built a gap of 9 seconds ahead of the No. 76, and 40 seconds ahead of the No. 82.

17:47 - Chief strategist Thomas Blam called Joerg into the pits for fuel. Joerg will stay in the car and double stint.

Just spoke with Darren who is resting in the garage until his next stint, "My first stint went fairly well - the car felt good and I was running a good pace. It took me a bit to get settled in - that was the first run I've had here in daylight. I feel like I'm now over the nerves of my first ever run at Le Mans and ready to go." Joerg still P1.

That's Darren on the left talking with Chief Engineer Craig Watkins.

17:34 - Joerg has overtaken the No. 76 and is now in P1.

17:27 - Joerg now right on the bumper of the No.76.

17:23 - The gap now 2.5 seconds.

17:19 - Joerg in P2 now 4 seconds behind the No. 76 which is in the lead, 33 seconds ahead of the No. 82 Risi Ferrari in P3.

17:07 CET - Joerg now P2. The No. 89, which had been leading briefly, did not change tires on the last pit stop, and appeared to have a rear tire problem, which sent them back into the pits. The No. 76 is P1, No. 80 P2. Joerg is running 4 seconds a lap faster than the No. 76. He is eight seconds behind the No. 76. At this pace, he will catch Patrick Pilet in 2 laps.

17:00 CET - Lots of action on the track at the moment - multiple single car incidents. Joerg, in the No.80, in P3. Positions: P1 No. 89 Farnbacher Ferrari has moved into P1; P2 No. 76 now with Patrick Pilet behind the wheel; P3 No. 80, with Joerg Bergmeister; P4 No. 82 Risi Ferrari, now with Pierre Kaffer at the wheel. The No. 76 and the No. 89 did not change tires on their last pit stops, and Joerg is now doing 4 seconds a lap faster - a very significant difference. Joerg is the fastest in GT2 right now.

16:54 CET - looks like we beat the No. 82 Risi Ferrari, which had also pitted, out of the pits. I'll report positions as soon as they refresh. No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche is sitting at pit in and is being pushed by marshals - stopped at the side of the road - looks like this is it for the No. 77. Very disappointing considering their driver lineup, all three drivers have driven with the Lizards in the past: Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz, and Wolf Henzler. On the radio, we heard Marc Lieb say that they ran out of fuel after their reserve fuel pump failed.

16:52 CET - Just under 2 hours into the race. Darren is in the pits for tires, fuel, and driver change back to Joerg Bergmeister for his second stint of the race.

16:30 CET - Just spoke with Joerg a bit about his first stint. He had started from the pole. "At the start, it seemed like we were a bit down on the top speed - the No. 82, No. 76 and No. 77 just drove by me on the straights. We have a new engine in for the race, and it had run only the morning warmup, so maybe it just needed some more time to get up to speed. Other than that, the stint was great - on fast corners we have a really good balance. Once I got settled in, I just tried to stay out of trouble and let the guys in front of me sort it out." Darren Law is now in the car, now in P5. No. 76 still P1; No. 99 P2; No. 82 P3; No. 89 P4; No. 80 P5.

Left: Joerg and Engineer Stefan Pfeiffer

16:23 CET - Darren radioed in that he had a small excursion off track but that all is fine.

16:16 CET - The No. 82 Risi Ferrari, which is still on its starting driver, and I believe its starting tires, is starting to slow. Jaime Melo in the No. 82 is now P3. Darren is seven seconds behind Jaime in P4. the No. 76 is P1 and the No. 99 JMB Racing Ferrari is P2.

16:11 CET - Timing and scoring shows Darren now in P4 - the No. 99 has moved into P3.
No. 76 Porsche still P1, No. 82 Risi Ferrari P2.

16:06 CET - Darren radios in that a car is stopped in the middle of Indianapolis.

16:04 CET - We are green flag racing again, positions now: P1 No. 76 IMSA Matmut; P2 No. 82 Risi Ferrari; P3 No. 80 Flying Lizard Porsche.

15:54 CET - Darren Law behind the wheel. Safety car is still out. The No. 77 Felbermayr had a problem and may still be in the pits.
15:48 - Darren Law is out for his first stint. I'll report positions in a few minutes. The No. 77 Porsche, which had been in fourth, had a problem and is back in the pits. Safety car still out.

15:46 - Joerg is in the pits. Engineer Stefan Pfeiffer notifies the crew to look inside the cockpit to see if there is something on the floorboard. Fuel first, tires, then driver change to Darren Law. Clean pit stop and Darren is out quickly. Still safety car period.

15:44 - Chief Strategist Thomas Blam notifies Joerg that he will most likely pit under this yellow for tires, driver, change and fuel top up.

15:41 - Patrick Long has taken the lead in the No. 76 Porsche, passing both Marc Lieb in the No. 77 and Jaime Melo in the No. 82. Meanwhile the No. 7 Peugeot, attempting to move around the course with a flat tire, which has now come apart and is shedding tire rubber and bodywork across the course. The safety car is out - full course caution.

15:39 - Another collision in pit lane between two Peugeots. The No. 7, which was hit after pulling out in front of another Peugeot, sustained damage and is moving very slowly around the tack.

15:35 - Joerg has closed the gap to the No. 76, in third place, to just over 1 second.

15:29 - Joerg is the fastest on the track right now, he is P4 - just 2 seconds behind the No. 76 IMSA Matmut Porsche, in third (with Joerg's ALMS teammate, Patrick Long, behind the wheel.) All four are nose to tail with prototypes continuing to thread among them - Jaime Melo in the Risi Ferrari is in the lead with three Porsche factory drivers (Marc Lieb in the No. 77, Patrick in the No. 76 and Joerg in the No.80) right behind him.

15:24 - Joerg in P4. The. No. 77 Porsche is P2; No. 76 Porsche is P3; and No. 82 Risi Ferrari is P1.

15:12 - The No. 3 Audi was pulled out of the gravel and has returned to pit lane. Peugeots are now 1 through 3, with the No. 1 Audi P1. Joerg is P1, three seconds behind the GT2 leader, the No. 77. All seems to be OK with the No.80 - nothing more from Joerg about any issues.

15:09 - Joerg now P4. Positions: P1 No. 77 Porsche; P2 No. 82; P3 No. 99; P4 No. 80. The No. 3 Audi is in the tire wall.

15:03 - The No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari and the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche are now first and second in GT2. Joerg now P3 in the No. 80. Joerg now P5. We may have a problem - the crew is getting ready for a possible pit stop. It sounds like something to do with the driver's seat.

15:01 - Peugeots are now running overall P1 and P2 (Numbers 8 and 7). No. 1 Audi (which started second overall) is now P3.

15:00 CET - Green Flag! 24 hours to go. Joerg starts on the pole in GT2.

14:52 CET - Cars are rolling for the formation lap.

14:37 CET - Pit exit is closed. Joerg is on the grid in the No. 80. Race start is 15:00 CET.

*** Listen to team radio from the home page - www.lizardms.com - click on the "Follow the Race Tab." Also listen to radiolemans.com live 24 hour coverage, live 24 hour Eurosport2 coverage, and in the U.S. SpeedTV select coverage.

14:28 CET - we are seeing a few cars come into the pits but all OK so far with the Flying Lizard No. 80 Porsche. Joerg is in the car for the start and has returned to the grid after one recon lap. AT Le Mans, the cars may continue on the course during the recon lap period (15 minute) and may pit for any repairs/adjustments, or rejoin the grid - the pit exit closes at 2:37 and 10 minutes later (when the 5 minute board is shown), all cars must be on the grid and no more work may be done on cars on the grid.

14:15 CET - Good afternoon from Le Mans. It's a gorgeous day here - sunny and warm. The 55 cars are now on the grid and Joerg Bergmeister, who is on the pole, is in the car ready for the recon lap. So far so good...
We are broadcasting our team radio live throughout the race - to listen, click the "Follow the Race" tab on the lizard home page. Joerg will do one recon lap - if everything is fine, he will return to the grid for the race start. If there is a problem, he will return to the pits.

** A reminder that you can reach me during the race at jennifer@lizardms.com. **
Saturday June 13, 2009 - Morning Warmup

*** We'll be back with you in a few hours at 14:30h CET just before race start - see you then - Jennifer ***

9:18 am - Darren is back in the pits. That's it for us this morning. checkered flag on the session.

9:14 am - Darren is out -just in time - to do one lap before the end of the session.
He radios in that he got the bobble entering Tertre Rouge, and switched to reserve.
He will pit this lap, and that will be it for the morning warmup.

9:10 am -Five minutes left - the crew is hustling to do the fuel pump out so that we can get Darren out for one lap.

9:05 am - Seth Neiman has radioed in that he got the fuel bobble and has switched to reserve. He will pit this lap. They first need to pump out fuel in the garage, then do a driver change to Darren Law for his first run in the car this morning.

9:00 - The No. 2 Audi and the No. 81 Ferrari very nearly made contact on track. Bot cars spun but damage appears to be minimal. Also two cars have made contact in the pit lane with some damage - the 007 and a the No. 25.

8:50 - Joerg is back in the pits, all is OK, and Seth is heading out for his first lap.

8:44 am - Joerg will do another lap to see if the brake issue is resolved.

8:36 am CET - Joerg is back in the pits, he has let us know that there's something wrong with the brakes. The crew is now looking at it. They will also do a planned shock change.

8:30 am CET - We are ready to go. Joerg will do an out and an in lap, then assuming all is well, they will do a driver change to Seth Neiman. He'll then hand it over to Darren Law, who will run out the session.

8:15 am CET - Good morning from Le Mans. It's finally here - raceday! After a cold, wet week leading up to the race, raceday will be sunny and hot. It's very pleasant right now in the garages - still cool and calm. The Lizard crew is suiting up for morning warmup, which starts at 8:15. The No. 80 has just started up behind me in the garage and I see Joerg's helmet on the car as he is getting ready to go out first. We have our race engine and transmission in and Joerg will do a quick shakedown first to make sure all is well, bed the rear brakes, etc.. We have had very limited setup time this week because of the rain on Wednesday and the shortened session on Thursday so we need to make the most of the 45 minute warmup this morning to finish our setup.

We are broadcasting our team radio today during morning warmup and the race. To listen, go to the "Follow the Race" tab on our home page.

You can reach me during the race at jennifer@lizardms.com.

24 Heures du Mans - Practice Sessions

2009-06-10T08:18:00.001-07:00

June 11, 2009 - Thursday Qualifying Sessions

24:00 - It's official - Joerg Bergmeister put the No. 80 Flying Lizard Porsche on the GT2 pole - his (and the Lizard's) first ever pole at Le Mans. Congratulations to Joerg and the team.

23:53 - And of course, how could I forget - Joerg is on the (still provisional) GT2 pole - but there are still a few minutes left, so I'll update the blog in a few minutes with the final results.

23:47 - We are done for the night. We had a problem with the left rear upright which we are working to diagnose. Happily, Darren was able to bring the car back into the pits with no further damage. There are no track sessions tomorrow (Friday) so we'll be back with you on raceday for Saturday's morning warmu, 09:00 CET. We have the drivers' parade tomorrow evening, we'll post photos for you Friday night France time. See you Saturday! Jennifer

23:36 - Darren is back in the pits. They are quickly moving the car into the garage to evaluate the problem. They want to finish out the session so are hopeful that they can identify and fix it quickly.

23:31 - Darren radioed in that there's something wrong with the car. He's not sure what it is but will make his way slowly to the pits.

23:07 - Sounds like Darren just made an off track excursion into some gravel. He says car is fine and the crew notifies him to stay out. It is now very dark and starting to cool down considerably. Joerg's fastest lap of the two sessions still holds. 50 minutes left.

22:45 - Seth is in the pits for tires, fuel and driver change to Darren Law. This will be Darren's first run in the car today. We have just under one and a quarter hours left in qualifying. Joerg's fast lap still holds and the No. 80 holds P1. Times are slowing considerably now due to the dark track.

22:36 - Seth radioed in that the car went off briefly and ran the undertray over the curbing. He continued without incident. He will pit as planned on the next lap for driver change to Darren Law for his first stint of the day.

22:35 - Seth is still out. All is well. Joerg still holds P1.

22:15 - Joerg is back in the pits, driver change to Seth Neiman. It is now fully night... Still P1. A beautiful night here - 64 degrees, very pleasant, not too humid.

22:12 - Joerg heads out for the first lap of the second (and final) qualifying session. He is still P1. He will go out, evaluate the changes, then come back in for driver change to Seth Neiman.

22:00 - Green flag on the second qualifying session. The No. 80 has the provisional pole right now, but of course we have 2 hours to go in qualifying. The car is in the garage right now, and they are continuing their setup changes. We should be ready to head out shortly - Joerg will go out to evaluate the changes then come back in.

21:21 - Joerg is in the pits. There are only a few minutes left in this session, so we will park it until the next session, which starts at 22:00 - 40 minutes from now. Joerg is three one-hundreths of a second faster than the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche, in P2.

21:18 - Joerg is now P1 with a 4:03.202.

21:08 - Joerg heads out again. The temperatures are starting to drop as night falls. We should see the track times improve with the cooler temps and the track starts to come up to speed.

21:04 pm - Joerg pits for another setup change and tires. The rear of the car is better now with more stability but the front is too "jumpy". Felbermayr Porsche still P1 (4:03:232), BMS Scuderia Ferrari P2. Joerg now p7 (4:07.130). Live timing and scoring is available on the Le Mans website at www.lemans.org.

21:00 - Joerg heads out again. 25 minutes left in the session.

20:54 - Joerg in the pits. Engineer Stefan Pfeiffer is directing the crew on a setup change.

20:50 - Joerg has moved into P5 and will pit for a setup change. 35 minutes left in the first of the two qualifying sessions.

20:40 - Joerg is out on track again.

20:36 - Joerg pits for a setup change. 50 minutes left in the session. Reminder that we will broadcast our team radio during the race, starting with morning warmup. In the meantime, check out Radio Le Mans - live English language broadcast.

20:34 - Joerg's first feedback is that the car is "lazy", rolling quite a bit and is not very responsive, with a strong oversteer.

20:30 - Seth pits for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister and a splash of fuel, no new tires.

20:22 - One hour left in the session. We are currently 15th in GT2. Joerg will go out next. the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche is in P1, with Risi Competizione No. 82 in P2.

19:53 - Seth is out again.

19:50 - Seth is in the pits for a quick setup change. He is also reporting that the car is very loose.

19:40 - Seth heads out for his first laps of the day, with fresh tires. Our first photo gallery of the week so far is up on the site now - check it out in the gallery section of our home page

19:38 - Darren is called into the pits for driver change to Seth Neiman.

19:32 CET - Darren gives his first feedback of the session that the car is very loose.

19:25 CET - Green flag on the first of two qualifying practice sessions tonight. Except that we have a stalled car exiting pit lane so there's a bit of a hold up getting out of pit lane. Darren Law is in the No. 80 and will do the first laps this evening. The track is dry. We have been told that the qualifying session will run the full 2 hours until 21:25, with the second session starting as scheduled at 22:00.

19:21 CET - Still on a hold but session should start shortly.

18:54 CET - We will have a 15 minute delay on the qualifying practice start - it will now start at 19:15. Race officials are working on some crash barrier repairs on the track.

18:44 CET - Good evening from Le Mans. The rain has finally stopped - it's a pleasant, almost balmy evening here. Today's two, two-hour qualifying practice sessions run from 19:00 CET to 21:00 CET, then from 22:00 to 24:00 (midnight).
Because yesterday's practice session was so wet, we'll use today's qualifying sessions to complete our setup. Qualifying for Le Mans is slightly different than in the American Le Mans Series. Instead of one short session, we have 2 longer sessions. The fastest time over the two sessions is the qualifying time for the car and establishes the starting position. Yesterday, we completed the mandatory 3 night laps for each driver, and the 10 laps required for Darren Law (since he had not driven here before).

We will broadcast our team radio during the race (starting with warmup on Saturday). Also - English language broadcast is live at Radio le Mans - www.radiolemans.com.

June 10, 2009 -- Wednesday Practice Session

23:00 - Seth is safely back in the garage having completed his night laps. We are done for the night. We'll be back on track tomorrow, Thursday for two, two-hour sessions - 19:00-21:00 and 22:00-midnight. - See you then! **** Jennifer

22:42 - Darren pits for driver change to Seth Neiman for his three night laps.

22:22 - Joerg has completed his three night laps and pits for driver change to Darren Law.

22:15 - Joerg is out doing his night laps. 1 hour and 45 minutes left in the session.

21:56 - Darren got the fuel bobble, hit reserve, and pitted. The crew will complete the fuel test, then get ready for the night laps. Joerg will be the first driver out on the night laps.

21:43 - Darren is back on track.

21:40 - Darren is now in the pits. So far all has gone well in the practice - most of it run on a wet track. 20 minute left until dark, and then 2 hours more in the session. All three drivers need to do three laps at night. Once that's complete, I expect we'll come into the garage and call it a night. Tomorrow (Thursday), we have 2, two-hour qualifying sessions. The fastest lap time over those two sessions for each car will determine the starting grid positions.

21:36 - Race officials notified us that we are missing a number on one side of the car so we need to pit to fix that.

21:13 - Joerg pits for a driver change to Darren Law. Still on full wets and it's still raining. Just under 3 hours left in the session. It will be dark in about 45 minutes.

21:08 - After a spring change, Joerg heads out again. It is still raining.

20:58 - Joerg is in pit lane for a setup change on the wet setup.

20:39 - It's raining hard now - Joerg is in the car and he will go out on full wets (full rain tires) to do some work on our rain setup. It is not yet night, so these laps will not count towards his 3 night lap requirement.

19:54 - Seth's radio is very difficult to understand. The crew calls him into the pits. The track is now wet throughout and it is beginning to rain on pit lane. There's little for us to learn on a wet track, so we will park the No. 80 until it either dries out or night falls and the drivers can do their night laps.

19:52 - We heard Seth on the radio, but couldn't understand him.

19:48 - Seth heads out for his first lap of the session.

19:38 - The No. 39 made contact with the tire wall and will need to be towed off course. Yellow flag. The tire wall will need to be repaired so this yellow may last a bit.

This is Darren’s first time at Le Mans. He may be a Le Mans rookie, but he’s no stranger to endurance racing – earlier this year, he won the Daytona 24. He’s driven with the Lizards since 2004. After his first spin on the track, he said, “It’s an amazing opportunity to be here – an amazing track, I’m very happy to be here. I would love more than anything to take two 24 hour wins home this year.”

Darren came to Le Mans directly from the Six Hours of Watkins Glen. “I was a bit tired after Watkins but I'm feeling good now.” He commented on the track, “This is by far the longest track I’ve driven. I was just amazed at how long the straightaways are. The corners come up pretty quick: the slower corners to me are fairly standard, it’s the fast stuff that’s pretty tricky. There are several fast corners that will take a bit to get up to speed- Tetre Rouge, Indianapolis, the Porsche curves. It was a tough intiatition today to have my first laps in the wet, but luckily I got a few dry ones. I’ve still got a lot of work to do in learning the track - I’m ready to look at some data and get back out there. I’m very appreciative that Flying Lizard gave me this opportunity.”

19:33 - The rain has started. 4.5 hours to go. The No. 80 is still in its pit stall as the crew finishes their brake adjustment. Seth Neiman will be next out on the track.

19:18 - Darren is back in the pits. He has completed his 10 laps which qualify him to drive in the race. The crew will do some brake adjustment in the pits, then Seth will go out for his first laps of the session. All three drivers (Joerg Bergmeister, Seth Neiman and Darren Law) all need to do three laps in the dark - which begins around 22:00 CET (10 pm local time).

19:10 - The crew decides to send Darren out on slicks again to do one more lap. The No. 15 is in the gravel trap.

19:06 - Darren reports heavy rain. He says he is slowing down. he needs one more lap to complete his 10 laps. He will pit for tire change to rain tires, the go out for his final lap. Yellow flag, but I don't know what the reason is - looks like the yellow was a notification of rain.

19:04 - Darren reports sprinkles on the track. He's out on slicks so if it begins to rain heavily he will need to pit for rain tires. He still has to complete his 10 laps (and his 3 night laps).

18:53 - Darren is still out - he was, briefly, in P1, and is now P2. There are 17 cars in GT2. Of those, 10 are Ferrari 430s and five are Porsche 911 GT3 RSRS.

18:39 - The rotor changes is complete and Darren is back out again, now on slicks. The track is dry.

18:28 - Darren is back in the pits and the crew is pulling him into the garage for a brake rotor change. Darren reports that there is no grip - probably related to the rain tires, but he's not sure yet. The sun is out now and the track is dry... but... it looks like heavy rain shortly. Today is an open practice session - the first time on track for the teams. The customary test day --normally held the first week of June -- was cancelled this year. Qualifying will be tomorrow (Thursday).

18:12 - Joerg is back in after 1 install lap and Darren Law is now in the car. No rain yet, but it looks imminent. Track is about 1/2 dry.

18:06 - Joerg heads out in the No. 80. He is on rain tires: the track is still wet, but for now it is not raining. There's a strong wind, so the track may dry out quickly.

18:00 CET - Green flag. Joerg is in the car in pit lane. They will wait for a few minutes to allow the first cars out to make at least one complete lap before we head out.

17:55 CET - Just five minutes before the session starts. The practice session is being broadcast live on EuroSport2 in Europe. There is also live English language radio coverage at www.radiolemans.com. We'll broadcast our team radio on raceday, starting with morning warmup.

17:15 CET -- Good afternoon from Le Mans. It's been a cold, wet week so far here in Le Mans as we get ready for the race on Saturday. With several straight days of rain, the weather is finally supposed to clear up - hopefully in time for a dry practice session tonight. Our first practice session of the week begins at 18:00 pm CET - 45 minutes from now.

We'll start the session with Joerg Bergmeister - he'll do some install laps to do a shakedown on the No. 80 Porsche. Once he's satisfied that everything is installed correctly, he'll start doing some setup work if it is dry. If the track is still wet, we may wait out some of 6 hour session, with the hopes that it will dry out. Rain is predicted through 20:00 CET tonight. The session ends at midnight.

Darren will be second in the car - he needs to do 10 full laps during the session since he has not yet driven the track. All three drivers need to do three laps during the night - which begins about 20:00. So if we are lucky, the track will be dry by then and the rain will have stopped. Once Darren has done his 10 laps, we'll either wait until dark for the 3 laps per driver (if it's wet) or continue our setup work if it's dry.

Utah Raceday!

2009-05-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

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.

Salt Lake City - Practice

2009-05-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 16

3:40 pm - Checkered flag on the session. Joerg Bergmeister put the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche on the pole. Seth Neiman in the No. 44 is ninth.

3:36 - The No. 62 came in just over 1 tenth of a second behind Joerg, but wasn't able to beat his time. The No. 87 is making one more attempt. Right now, the top three GT2 cars are separated by 2 tenths of a second.

3:35 pm - Five minutes left - Joerg still holds P1. No. 87 is P2 and No. 62 is P3. Still a few minutes to go and there are a few cars out, including the BMWs, the No. 87 and the No. 62.

3:31 pm - In the No. 87 Wolf, who was in P2 and was working to beat Joerg's time, locked it up and spun on track. We'll see if Joerg's time holds. He is in the pits and we will not go out again.

3:28 pm - Joerg is now P1 with a 1:47.120.

3:36 - The cars are still getting up to speed. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari has already set some fast laps and is in P1 with a 1:47.720. The No. 45 has not yet had a time.

3:20 pm - Green flag on the qualifying session. Joerg Bergmeister will qualify the No. 45 and Seth Neiman will qualify the No. 44. The Lizards have had the fastest time of each practie session so far this week -- but the competition has definitely closed the gap over the last 2 days. We'll see what qualifying has in store for us.

3:10 pm - Checkered flag on the session. Joerg finished out the session with the fastest GT2 time of 1:47.768. Johannes van Overbeek had the sixth fastest time of the session. Qualifying begins in ten minutes.

3:04 pm - No. 87 is now P1 in the session, with a 1:47.848. The No. 62 is second with a 1:47.975 and Joerg is third with a 1:48.085. Six minutes left in the session. Qualifying begins at 3:20 pm MT. In the No. 44, Johannes is now sixth in the session.

2:50 pm - The No. 44 went in the gravel but he continued and is pitting for driver change to Johannes van Overbeek. There does not appear to be damage to the car but the tires are flat spotted so they'll do a tire change.

2:41 pm - Happily, an uneventful session so far. Patrick has the fastest time of the session so far with a 1.48:326. Joerg is currently in the No. 45 - he'll pit in a second for a setup change. Seth Neiman is still out in the No. 44. He currently has the eighth fastest time.

2:33 pm - Patrick pits for driver change to Joerg.

2:20 pm- We are a few minutes into the afternoon practice session - our final practice before qualifying. Red flag immediately into the session to remove a car from the track but we are underway again now. Patrick Long is out in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman is in the No. 44.

10:30 am - Checkered flag on the session. We held the fastest time of the session in the No. 45 (Joerg with a 1:48.123). All is well. We'll be back with you for this afternoon's practice session at 2:10 pm MT.

10:16 am - All going well so far in the morning warmup. Patrick is back in the pits for another setup change. Seth is still out on the track in the No. 44.

10:09 am - Seth is in the pits for a setup change. 21 minutes left in the session. In the No. 45, Joerg still holds the fastest time of the session (Patrick Long is now in the car.) In the No. 44, Johannes van Overbeek holds the sixth fastest time of the session - Seth Neiman is now in that car.

10:04 am - Joerg pits for driver change to Patrick Long. He is still P1 with a 1:48.123.

9:57 - Seth also back on track in the No. 44. 30 minutes left in the session.

9:55 am - In the No. 45, Joerg is back on track.

9:51 am - Seth went off in the No. 44 and is pitting for the crew to look at the car. Joerg is pitting for fuel and new tires. He'll go out for a lap on the new tires, then back in for another setup change. Joerg is back in P1 with a 1:48.643.

9:48 am - Joerg is back on track again after a setup change. Seth Neiman is now out in the No. 44.

9:43 am - Joerg is in the pits for a change. He says the car is a bit looser and slippery than yesterday. He currently ahs the second fastest GT2 time so far this session. In the No. 44 Johannes is still out and has the third fastes time. The No. 62 is in P1.

9:36 am - Joerg as the fastest time of the session so far with a 1:49.390. Johannes is third in the No. 44. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari is 2nd. The track is still cold so we'll see times fall over the session.

9:30 am - Green flag on the morning practice. Joerg and Johannes are both on track.

9:22 am MT - Good morning from Miller Motorsports Park. It's a gorgeous day here at the track - crisp and clear this morning but it should get into the high 70s today and the mid-80s tomorrow for raceday. The first of the two practices today starts in a few minutes - 9:30-10:30 am MT. The second practice runs from 2:30-3:20 and then qualifying starts at 3:20 pm. Johannes van Overbeek will go out first in the No. 44 and Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45.

Friday, May 15 -

4:07 pm - Checkered flag for GT2 on the session. In the No. 45, Joerg Bergmeister had the fastest GT2 time of the session of 1:48.215 - nearly one second faster than the next closest GT2 car. We'll be back with you tomorrow.

3:58 pm - They've figured out the problem in the No. 44 but won't be able to get it back on track before the end of the session so they are done for today. In the No. 45, Joerg now has the fastest time of the session - with a 1:48.435. Joerg is back out again after a pit stop for a setup change and will finish out the session. Less than 10 minutes left in the session. In the No. 44, Johannes was fifth fastest in the session. Lap times are still coming down as the track grip increases over the session.

3:45 pm - The No. 44 is heading back to the garage. There is gear oil "everywhere" so they need to figure out what's going on. They'll check it out in the garage.

3:31 pm - Patrick pits for a driver change to Joerg Bergmeister.

3:19 pm - Red flag to remove debris from the track in corner 14.

3:18 pm - Johannes van Overbeek is now in the No. 44 - he's currently P7 in the session. Patrick Long is still in the No. 45 - still holding P1, with a 1:49.139.

3:03 pm - Seth is in the pits for driver change to Johannes van Overbeek. This is Johannes' second race with us this year. He is alternating with Darren Law as Seth's co-driver for this season. Darren is at Laguna this weekend in Grand-Am driving with Brumos.

2:58 pm - Patrick is currently P1 in the session. Seth is P8. 14 cars on the track right now.

2:54 pm - Patrick pitted for a change and gave us the first report on the new Cup cars - he says it's very difficult to pass them. Those Cup cars are fast in the straights so we were expecting that.

2:43 pm -Green flag and we are on track. new for this race is the Challenge class - there will be five Cup cars from the IMSA GT3 Challenge series joining us on the grid.

2:35 pm MT - Good afternoon from Toole, Utah. We are at Miller Motorsports Park getting ready for our first practice session for this Sunday's Utah Grand Prix. A beautiful spring day here in Utah. The mountains still have a dusting of snow and it's still relatively cool. Temperatures are supposed to heat up by the race into the 80s. Patrick Long is in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman is in the No. 44. The session starts at 2:40 and will last until 1:10 pm.

Long Beach Race!

2009-04-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

April 18, 2009 - RACE!

5:58 pm - Checkered flag. The No. 45 wins in GT2. The No. 44 is fifth. A major car fire in the No. 28 Corvette resulted in a yellow flag ending - the driver of the No. 28 Corvette appears to be OK and we can see him waving to the crowd on the television.

5:54 pm - The car that caught fire was the No. 28 GT2 Corvette. The driver is out of the car and being assisted by safety personnel. The race may finish under yellow.

5:52 pm - A fire in a Corvette in Turn 1. Fire crews are on the scene. I'll report more in a minute.

5:48 - The No. 45 is by the No. 18 and has clear running right now. The No. 62 is in P2 but is 26 seconds back. The No. 44 is in fourth. Nine minutes left.

5:45 pm - 13 minutes left. Joerg is in P1 in the No. 45. He is stuck behind the No. 18 Vici Porsche, which is on a slower pace and is in fourth. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche, which is P11 after a lengthy pit stop early in the race, is behind Joerg on track. Darren Law in the No. 44 is fifth.

5:40 pm - 17 minutes left in the race. GT2 positions: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 92; P 3 No. 62; P 4 No. 18; P 5 No. 44; P 6 No. 21.

5:37 pm - The No. 45 is still P1, 35 seconds ahead of the No. 62 which is P2. The No. 62 is doing a slightly faster pace. The No. 44 is now P6.

5:35 pm - Spin in the middle of Turn 17 - the No. 90 BMW and the No. 28 Corvette. A prototype narrowly missed them but no contact and all cars contiued.

5:29 pm - Under 30 minutes left in the race.

5:28 pm - The No. 45 is once again in the lead. The No. 62 is P2 and the No. 90 is P3.The No. 45 is 36 seconds ahead of the No. 62. Darren is now P6.

5:26 pm - The No. 62 is in the pits for tires, fuel, and driver change to Jaime Melo.

5:25 pm - The No. 62 has taken the lead during our pit stop, but they have not yet pitted. The No. 45 is P2. The No. 44 has moved up to P7. Both cars should be good for the remainder of the race with no additional pit stops needed.

5:23 pm - The No. 45, in the lead, pits for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister, tires and short fuel. The No. 21 has also just pitted, but most of the rest of the GT2 field has not yet pitted.

5:18 pm - Course wlil stay green. Patrick Long is still in P1, with a good lead on the No. 62 which has climbed from the rear of the pack into P2. The No. 44 has moved to P8. The No. 45 will pit in one or two laps for driver change, tires, and fuel. This is a critical pit stop - although the No. 45 has a 30 second gap to the No. 62 if the No pits under green, and then there is a yellow immediately after, and the No. 62 has not yet pitted, it will be able to pit under yellow, and possibly gain a position.

5:15 pm - The No. 3 Corvette was slow on course and has pulled off into the safety area. It's possible that the course may go yellow.

5:12 pm - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari has passed the No. 92 BMW to take second. He is 25 seconds back from Patrick Long in the No. 45. Neither car has pitted.

5:09 pm - Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 18; P 5 No. 90. No. 44 is now P11.

5:04 pm - The No. 87 is in the pits, something appears to be wrong with the right front suspension. Patrick Long in the No. 45 has taken the lead and now has a 22 second lead on the No. 92 BMW which is in second. The No. 44 is in 12th.

5:03 pm - Patrick moves into P1, finally being able to safely pass the No. 87 as the No. 87 slowed, possibly with a flat, the npitted.

4:56 pm - Patrick is still P2 in the No. 45, behind the No. 87 Farnbacher Porsche.Darren is in P12 in the No. 44. Just under 1 hour left to go and no cautions or major incidents so far.

4:53 - The No. 11 Viper spun and contacted the tire wall but continued.

4:50 pm - Darren heads out in the No. 44 with new tires and fuel. Patrick is still P2, close behind the No. 87 but he has been unable to pass. He has built a gap of 18 seconds ahead of the P3 GT2 car- the No. 92 BMW.

4:47 - 30 minutes into the race. 1 hour 10 minutes left to go. Driver window is now open and drivers will begin to pit for driver change. No yellows so far int he race. The No. 44 will pit for driver change to Darren Law, tires and fuel.

4:44 pm - GT2 positions: P1 No. 87, P2 No. 45; P 3 No. 92; P4 No. 18; P5 No. 90; P 6 No. 62; P 7 No. 17; P 8 No. 11; P 9 No. 40; P 10 No. 28; P 11 No. 21; P 12 No. 44.

4:42 pm - The driver change window will open shortly (30 minutes).

4:33 pm- Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio - go to the home page for details (Follow the Race tab). Radio le Mans is also broadcasting live - http://www.radiolemans.com.

4:30 - Thankfully, so far it has been an uneventful race. Patrick in the No. 45 is still P2, and Seth in the No. 44 is P12. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari has moved from the back of the pack up to eighth.

4:23 - The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche, which started in the lead, and Patrick Long in the No. 45, which started in second are nose to tail. They have already built a good gap from the next closest GT2 car, the No. 92 BMW.

4:21 pm - The first few laps of the race will be a challenge as the GT2 field sorts itself out. We have some fast cars, including the No. 62 starting from the back who need to thread their way through.

4:20 pm - Green flag

4:18 pm - Correction, it will be a double file restart.

4:17 pm - Yellow flag start - not sure what happened but they did not go green. They will go single file on the restart. The race clock did start, but still yellow.

4:12 pm - Pace laps have begun. Patrick Long will start second in GT2 in the No. 45. Seth Neiman will start 10th in the No. 44.

4:10 pm - Engine start. Five minutes to race start.

3:55 pm - Green flag for the recon laps which precede the gridding of the cars. The race will start at 4:15 pm PT.

3:53 pm - Seth Neiman will start in the No. 44 and Patrick Long in the No. 45. We qualified third in the No. 45 and eleventh in the No. 44. However, several cars, including the pole setter no. 62 Risi Ferrari, have moved to the back so our new starting positions will be second and tenth.

*** A special note to the Big Lizard in Ohio - hi from Seth! **

3:45 pm ET - We are just 30 minutes away from the start of the Long Beach race. The race is the shortest of the season - 1 hour and 45 minutes long. The race will be broadcast on ABC - tape-delayed on Sunday, April 19 - in most markets it will start at 9;30 am PT - check your local listings to confirm the time.

** We are broadcasting our team radio - to listen, go to www.lizardms.com, click on the "follow the race" tab and follow instructions. **

Long Beach - Practice & Qualifying

2009-04-17T08:43:00.001-07:00

April 17, 2009 -

4:30 pm - Unfortunately, on Patrick's last lap, he had to negotiate traffic from a slower GT2 car, and will settle for third. The No. 62 Risi is on the pole and No. 87 is second. Seth Neiman in the No. 44 will start 11th in GT2.

4:20 - Patrick will go out for one last try at bettering his time. 4 minutes left. The No. 62 is P1; No. 87 is P2, No. 45 is P3.

4:17 pm - Patrick is in the pits. I think he's done for the session but there's a chance they may send him out again. He is currently P2, with Jaime Melo in the No. 62 in P1. Seth Neiman in the No. 44 is P12.

4:14 pm - The No. 62 went into the run off but did not impact the wall and continued.

4:13 pm - Patrick is P1, + three-tenths from the nearest GT2, the No. 87. 11 minutes left.

4:09 pm - Green flag.

4:07 pm - Red flag to remove debris from the track. This should be a short red but since the session is only 25 minutes,every minute counts.

4:05 pm - the No. 21 Panoz brushed the tire wall and is stopped but is clear of traffic. both Lizard cars held back at the start, which turned out to be a good decision as teh No. 28 Corvette and the No. 21 Panoz collided exiting pit lane, and the No. 21 lost his rear bumper.

4:00 pm PT - Green flag on qualifying.

3:48 pm - Good afternoon - we are just a few minutes away from this afternoon's qualifying session for Saturday's race. Seth Neiman will qualify the No. 44 and Patrick Long will qualify the No. 45.

9:40 - Checkered flag on this morning's practice session. We'll be back with you for GT2 qualifying at 4:00 pm PT. The No. 45 had the second fastest GT2 time in the session, the No. 44 had the ninth fastest time in the session.

9:37 - The No. 92 BMW is in the run off at Turn 9. He is continuing.

9:32 - Patrick Long will pit in the No. 45 for fresh tires then will finish out the session. Seth is still out in the No. 44.

9:29 - The No. 28 GT2 Corvette (with Boris Said driving for Long Beach) spun in Turn 10 but continued.

9:26 - No. 44 went into the run off at Turn 1, he'll pit for the crew to check out the tires. No impact with the tire wall. The No. 87 is back on track today after sustaining significant damage at the end of yesterday's afternoon practice. 12 minutes left in the session.

9:16 am - No. 44 is P3, No. 44 is P6. Seth Neiman is out in the No.44 and Patrick Long in the No. 45.

9:12 - the No. 4 Corvette is in the ptis with some damage to the right front. No. 44 is called into the pits for driver change to Seth.

9:10 am - Darren now P2. No. 45 engineer Stefan Pfeiffer calls Joerg into the pits for driver change to Patrick Long.

9:07 am - No. 62 Risi Ferarri is in the run off at Turn 8 but avoided impact with the tire wall. He has continued. Dirk Mueller in the No. 92 is now P1.

9:06 am - Joerg radios in that the tires are starting to come in after a few laps on course. He is currently P1 in the session. Darren Law is P4.

9:00 am - Green flag. Cars on course.

8:45 am PT - Good morning from Long Beach, California. The ALMS teams are in the pits waiting for our cars to arrive from the paddock for this morning's practice, scheduled to start at 9 am.

At Long Beach, we have limited on track time prior to the race. Yesterday there were two practice sessions, and today one 40 minute session prior to qualifying. In yesterday's sessions, all went well for the Lizards and we made a lot of progress on our setup - focused on gearing changes to suit the Long Beach course (see Craig Watkin's article on setup in the Daily Reptile - click on the Daily Reptile tab on the home page.)

Joerg Bergmeister will go out first in the No. 45. Darren Law is out first in the No.44.

Qualifying begins at 4:00 pm today, Friday.

St. Pete - Raceday!

2009-04-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

April 4, 2009

3:15 pm - Checkered flag. Flying Lizard No. 45 Porsche wins St. Pete! Our first win of the season. No. 44 finishes fifth. Congratulations to the team for a seamless race.

3:05 pm - 10 minutes left. Joerg still 2 laps ahead of the second place GT2 car, the No. 92 Rahal Letterman BMW. The No. 66 is stopped on course but is offline and is local yellow only. The course is still green. They will leave the No. 66 where it is until the end of the race.

3:02 pm - Darren has passed the No. 40 for P5.

3:00 pm - Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 92 (which passed the No. 21 a few laps ago); P3 No. 21; P4 No. 28; P5 No. 40; P6 No. 55. Darren now six seconds behind the No. 40 and running five seconds per lap faster.

2:54 - Darren has closed the gap to the No. 40, which is in P5. He is now 30 seconds back. 20 minutes left in the race.

2:52 - A good GT2 battle for second position among the No. 21, the No. 28, and the No. 92 - all fighting for P 2. The No. 21 passed the No. 28 and the No. 92 has also passed. So new positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 21; P 3 No. 92; P 4 No. 28; P 5 No. 40; P 6 No. 44.

2:50 pm - 25 minutes left in the race. Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45 is P1; Darren Law in the No. 44 is P6. GT2 positions: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 28; P3 No. 21; P 4 No. 92; P4 No. 40; P 6 No. 44. Joerg is still 2 laps up on the second place GT2 car.

2:45 pm - The No. 66 prototype is slow again on course - this is the third or fourth time he's been slow on the track.

2:42 - The No. 20 Mazda went on a lengthy off track excursion but continued. he's back in the pits.

2:41 pm - Darren radioed in that he's very happy with the car. He's running five or six seconds a lap faster than the No. 40, which is in fifth, 1 lap ahead of him.

2:39 - the No. 87 is back on track after its lengthy repair, but is at least 13 laps down on Joerg, who is in the lead in the No. 45. Darren is in sixth.

2:33 - slow car in Turn 5 drivers right. No. 45 and No. 44 are by him, although it was a close call for the No. 44 as Darren went by.

2:32 pm - 43 minutes left in the race. GT2 positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 28, P3 No. 21; P 4 No. 92; P 4 No. 40; P 6 No. 44.

2:27 pm - Green flag. In the No. 45, Joerg is 2 laps heads of the No. 40 in P2. The No. 21 is in third, the No. 28 in 4th, and the No. 92 in fifth. The No. 44 is sixth.
Second through fifth place are all on the same lap, 2 laps down from Joerg. Darren in the No. 44 in sixth, is 2 laps down on that GT2 group. Of the starting GT2 cars, timing and scoring shows four have retired - the No. 62 Risi Ferrari, the No. 90 BMW, the No. 22, and the No. 11. The No. 87 is still in the pits - with a very lengthy pit stop.

2:21 pm - No. 45 still in the lead after its scheduled pit stop. Joerg Bergmeister is 1 lap up on the No. 92 in P2. He is right in front of the overall leader on track, so he will get the waveby and be able to gain an additional lap (or a portion) on the GT2 field.

2:18 pm - Joerg is now in the No. 45 and heads out to catch back up to the pack. The course is still yellow. The No. 40, which was in P3, also pitted. I'll report positions as soon as we get another beacon hit. I think the No. 45 will retain the lead.

2:15 pm - In the No. 44, Darren is now P6 He is 1 lap up on the next closest GT2 car. Patrick is in the lead in the No.45 - he will pit under this yellow for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister, tires, and fuel. Both Patrick and Darren report that the track is extremely slick - like driving on a wet track.

2:13 pm - Yellow flag. No. 87 appears to be still in the pits, as is the No. 90 and No. 62 - all with problems.

2:11 pm - GT2 positions: No. 45 P1; No. 40 P2; No. 92 P 3; No. 87 P 4 (still in the pits). The No. 44 is in P 9. The No. 11 Viper is in the wall drivers right through 10 - he is on the course and won't be able to continue Will go yellow.

2:09 pm - Patrick has passed the No. 87 to take the lead. the No. 87 is coming into the pits. It may have a problem -he was slowing over the last few laps. yes, the TV coverage shows them pulling on components in the right rear of the car - so it is a longer than normal pit stop so far.

2:07 pm - The No. 92 BMW went off into the grass, Patrick is now by the Corvette. Patrick is still P2, now 7 seconds behind the No. 87 in the lead. In the No. 44 Darren is in ninth. Both the No. 62 Risi and the No. 90 BMW appear to be stil in the pits with issues.

2:02 pm - Patrick just 1 second back from Wolf in the No. 87. He can now see him in his sights. Correction - Patrick is farther back - timing and scoring is incorrect. Patrick is getting boxed in by slower traffic as he attempts to move through. I'll report the gap between Patrick and No. 87 as soon as I can. Patrick is trapped behind the GT2 Corvette right now. Darren Law in the No. 44 is now in ninth.

2:00 - Seth is pitting this lap for driver change to Darren Law, tires and fuel.

1:56 - Appears to be big problems for the No. 62 Risi - they are in the pits and appears to be a major problem. They were running in P2 at the time. This puts Patrick into P2, with No. 87 in the lead. Patrick is caught in traffic as he works to try and close the gap between him and the No. 87. He is now 4 seconds behind Wolf.

The No. 90 BMW is also in the pits with an apparent problem - it looks like the car will not start.

1:54 pm - GT2 positions remain unchanged. So far, no major incidents in the race. St. Pete is a high consequence track - there is no runoff so a mistake here can easliy take you into the wall.

1:46 - Patrick is about 7 seconds behind the No. 62, which is in second. Now that he is past the BMWs, he is on the pace of the two GT2 leaders, the No. 87 and the No. 62 - all running 1:15s and change.

1:43 pm - GT2 Positions are: P1 No. 87; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 45; P 4 No. 92; P5 No. 90. No 44 is P11. Just over one hour and a half to go in the race.

1:34 - Patrick made a clean pass of the No. 90 and is now in third. There's now a gap between him and the two GT2 leaders - the No. 87 Farnbacher in the lead and the No. 62 Risi in second. He will need to make up the lost time and get back into the hunt for the lead.

1:33 - Patrick is in a BMW sandwich - a tough position because he has to defend agaisnt the No. 92 behind him (which is in fifth) while still trying to pass the No. 90 ahead of him.

1:32 - Wolf Henzler in the No. 87 did a clean pass of the No. 62 to take the lead.

1:30 - The GT2 leaders are No. 62 Risi and No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche which are running nose to tail. There's a gap now to the No. 90 and the No. 45, in fourth.

1:28 - Patrick is putting a lot of pressure on the No. 90 BMW which is in third now and just ahead of him. Patrick radioed in that he was almost put into the wall in Turn 2 by the No. 90.

1:24 - GT2 positions: P1 No. 62; P 2 No. 90; P 3 No. 87; P 4 No. 45; P 5 No. 92. No. 44 is P11.

1:23 - No. 11 Viper spun, the No. 44 was behind but was able to avoid him. The viper has continued. No contact with any other cars.

1:22 pm - In the No. 45, Patrick has passed the No. 92 BMW moving into fourth.

1:21 pm - Risi is P1, The No. 90 BMW is P2, No. 87 is P3 and No. 92 is P4 and No. 45 is P5.

1:20 pm ET - Green flag on the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg.

1:15 pm - Engine start, five minutes to race start, parade lap about to begin.

12:55 - 25 minutes to race start. The cars are ligning up on the grid. A thank you to Flying Lizard sponsors ShoreTel, eSilicon and RedlineCoffee.com, who is new to the program this year. I had some Redline Coffee this morning in fact - a great start to raceday. You can find out details on getting your own Redline at www.redlinecoffee.com

*** The race will be broadcast live on ABC, starting at 1:30 pm ET(the race starts at 1:20). We are also broacasting our team radio, to listen go click on the "Follow the Race" tab at www.lizardms.com ***

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12:45 pm ET - Countdown to the race begins. The pit exit is open and cars are out on their recon laps. Because we had so little time this morning to do a shakedown after the repairs on the No. 45, we are using the recon laps to ensure everything is OK. Patrick Long will start fifth on the grid in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman will start eleventh in the No. 44.

9:42 - Checkered flag. 1 lap - I think that sets the record as our shortest warmup ever.

9:41 am - Green flag.

9:39 am - Good news, we may have a short few minutes on track. Green flag expected in a minute.

9:33 - Not the best start to the morning - it looks like we will not have any warmup at all. They are wroking to remove the Mazda from the track but the session is scheduled to end at 9:40. This will make it difficult for the No. 45 - the car will not have any time to finish its setup after the repair from the crash yesterday in qualifying. We still have the recon laps prior to the race, but that's it.

Race will begin at 1:20 pm ET today - it will be broadcast live on ABC, with a "catch up start" with broadcast starting at 1;30 pm ET.

9:30 - Green flag, but then red flag - One of the Mazdas (the 16) is in the wall in Turn 4. Damage looks quite significant to the car. Driver is exiting the car and appears OK.

** Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio during this morning warmup and the race. To listen, click on the "Follow the Race" tab on the home page at www.lizardms.com **

9:26 am - We are still on hold. Session should start in a minute. Because the session will end at 9:40, Joerg is now in the car and will be the only driver in the No. 45 for the session.

9:20 am ET - Morning Warmup - Good morning from St. Petersburg, Florida. We are in pit lane ready to head out for the final session before the race this afternoon. We are on a short hold but should start shortly. Seth Neiman is in the No. 44 and Patrick Long in the No. 45.

St. Pete - Practice Sessions

2009-04-03T04:55:00.000-07:00

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.

Sebring Raceday March 21, 2009

2009-03-21T04:56:00.001-07:00

March 21, 2009

10:30 pm - Checkered flag. No. 45 finishes fourth and No. 44 fifth in GT2. Both Lizard Porsches complete another grueling Sebring. Congratulations to Risi Competizione for their win with the No. 62 Ferrari.

10:27 pm - 3 minutes left.

10:23 - Positions: P1 No. 62; P 2 No. 95; P3 No. 21; P4 No. 45; P 4 No. No. 44. P 6 No. 61. No. 62 is pitting for fuel.

10:21 - The No. 44 is in the pits - I think they are adding water, but looks like all is OK.

10:00 - 30 minutes to go. The 07 Peugeot has pulled off in Turn 7. I don't think that it will go yellow but it may.

9:50 pm - The No. 45 just has to hang on and do a fast enough speed to stay ahead of the No. 61 in P6. He is about 30 seconds ahead, and is going 1 to 2 seconds slower than the No. 61. There are 40 minutes left, a bit less than 20 laps. If Joerg can hold this pace, he has a good chance to stay ahead of the No. 61. Also the No. 61 still has one more pit stop and assuming that the No. 45 holds together, we can finish out the race with no more pit stops.

9:40 pm - 50 minutes left in the race. the No. 44 is P4, the No. 45 is still P5.

9:34 pm - Darren Law heads out of pit lane to rejoin in the No. 44. They are in P4. No. 62 is P1, No. 95 is P2; No. 21 is P3. The No. 45 is still in P5.

9:33 pm - Joerg thinks something may have broken in the front. He is still going but can't tell what the issue is.

9:30 pm - Joerg is out again. I think he will be in P6 once the timing and scoring catches up. Johannes meanwhile is now in P4 in the No. 44 and will pit shortly for the last planned driver change to Darren Law, tires and fuel.

9:27 - Joerg is in pit lane. He says that the car will steer to the right, but not to the left. The crew is evaluating if they can repair the car to continue racing.

9:25 - Things seemed OK on the No. 45 and they were ready to send the car out once they refueled, but they cannot get the fuel hose in because of the damage to the hood. They sent the car out again without refueling. Joerg reports that the steering is off and I expect that he will pit again. No. 21 also pitted and is back out again.

9:20 - So...looks like our chance for a podium for the No. 45 may be over but the No. 44 is still in the hunt in P5. I'll report status of the No. 45 once he is back in the pits and we know more.

9:18 - Marc had contact from the No. 21 and is limping back into the pits with significant damage. Tire damage, but we can't tell if the radiators are damaged - hopefully he can make it back in without damaging the motor.

9:13 pm - In the No. 45, Marc is still behind the No. 21 - the No. 21 will pit in 4 laps. He is putting a tremendous amount of pressue on the No. 21 in the corners but has not yet been able to get by. This is for position - if Marc can get by, he will move into P3. Johannes in the No. 44 is in P5. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari holds the lead and the No. 95 Ferrari is P2.

9:11 pm - The No. 45 got split by traffic. A Corvette is now between him and the No. 21.

9:07 - Marc Lieb is now nose to tail with the No. 21.

8:54 - Marc has closed the gap to the No. 21 to 5 seconds.

8:43 - No. 45 now just 9 seconds back from the No. 21 - for position. He'll have him in his sights soon. No. 44 still comfortably in P5. No. 62 is P1 and No. 95 Ferrari is P2. No. 21 P3.

8:41 - Gap narrows to 11 seconds.

8:36 - Gap from the No. 45 (in P4) to the No. 21 (in P3) now down to 13 seconds. Go Marc!

8:32 - Just under 2 hours left to go.

8:27 - Darren got the bobble and strategist Eric Ingraham calls him into the pits. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 95; P3 No. 21; P4 No. 45; P5 No. 44. During the pit stops, the No. 45 was able to close the gap to the No. 21 - now 16 seconds back. In the No. 44, Johannes van Overbeek is out, still in P5 and one lap up on the No. 61 in P6.

8:25 pm - No. 45 in the pits. Driver change from Patrick Long to Marc Lieb. Tires and fuel. Clean stop and they are back out.

8:23 pm - No. 45 has moved up one position to P3 while the No. 21 was in the pits. However Patrick in the No. 45 will pit on the next lap.

8:21 pm - No. 21 and No. 62 are in the pits for tires, fuel and driver changes. No. 45 will pit shortly. Positions: P1 No. 62; P 2 No. 95; P3 No. 21; P4 No. 45; P 5 No. 44. No. 45 is on the same lap as No. 21.

8:16 pm - The No. 45 will pit in 4 to 5 laps. We expect the No. 21 Panoz, which is one position ahead of the No. 45 to pit about soon as well.

8:02 pm - It's now completely dark on the track. 2 hours 28 minutes left to go.

7:57 pm- Patrick has closed the gap to the No. 21 by 2 seconds. Timing and scoring shows Dominik in the No. 21 - so the earlier Ian James must have been an error. They are on the same lap and Patrick is now running 1 to 2 seconds per lap faster.

7:47 - Darren slid off in 13 but continued without incident. Correction on the driver in No. 21 - timing and scoring is showing as Ian James now, not Dominik.

7:40 - Patrick is 22 seconds back on the No. 21 Panoz. They are both on a fast pace but Patrick is slightly faster. Dominik Farnbacher is in the No. 21. In the No. 44, Darren is also on a good pace, 2 laps back from Patrick.

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7:30 - Darren has passed the No. 61 and is back in P5. Patrick remains in P4 in the No. 45. Patrick is on the same lap as the next closest GT2 car - the No. 21 Panoz, and is going at a slightly faster pace. In the No. 44, Darren is 2 laps back from Patrick.

7:27 - The No. 61 Ferrari did get past the No. 44 while the No. 22 was in the pits so Darren is now P6. but he is close behind the No. 61 and will work to get past again once his tires are warmed up.

7:23 - Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 95; P3 No. 21; P4 No. 45; P5 No. 44. The No. 44 is in the pits, Darren Law is in the car. They should be able to retain their P5 position after the pit stop. I'll report in a minute.

7:22 - In the No. 44, Seth has the fuel light and will get the bobble shortly. He should pit on the next lap.

7:19 pm - Joerg pits for driver change to Patrick, tires and fuel. He will go out on the same lap as the No. 21, which is still in P3.

7:18 pm - Both the No. 62 Risi Ferrari (in P1) and the No. 21 Panoz (in P3) pitted. The No. 21 is up in the air and they are working on it - calipers are off the car - probably a brake pad change.
7:13 pm - Joerg radioed in that he had a "little moment in turn 5" but continued without incident.

7:10 pm - No change in GT2. The No. 44 will pit in 15 minutes, the No. 45 slightly earlier.

7:00 - The 95, which is in P2, pitted and is heading back out, still in P2.

6:55 - Change of plans, Seth will stay out for now in the No. 44. he is in P5. In the No. 45, Joerg is P4.

6:52 - Seth reports a tire smell on braking. They will bring him in and driver change to Darren Law.

6:48 - Joerg radioed in that something fell apart and he can't fix it. I think it was related to his drink bottle or cool suit. He has 14 laps to go.

6:46 - Joerg in the No. 45 has passed the No. 44 and is now one lap up. Both cars retain their positions.

6:41 - Seth reports that in the No. 44 the engine does not sound right at the top of sixth gear. The No. 44 still in fifth, No. 45 still in fourth.

6:27 - 007 is smoking on track and going slow. Unclear what happened. May have lost a motor. They are off course so will probably not go yellow. 4 hours left to go -more than 1 hour longer than our standard 2 hour and 45 minute race.

6:24 - The No. 44 spun but continued. He may pit for tires. Seth radioed in that tires are OK and he will stay out.

6:20 pm. Positions are: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 95; P3 No. 21; P4 No. 45; P 5 No. 44. No 45 and 44 are 4 laps down on the GT2 leader, the No. 62 Risi Ferrari. They are 2 laps down on the No. 95 in P2 and approx 1 lap down on the No. 21 in P 3. the No. 62, 95 and 45 are all running a similar pace. The No. 21 is slightly slower.

6:15 - No. 44 is pitting for driver change to Seth Neiman, tires and fuel. No. 45 is also pitting for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister, tires and fuel. No. 62, which is stil in the lead, is also in the pits, but the No. 45 beat them out of the pits, gaining back one of their laps. The No. 45 is still several laps down on the No. 62 but we have 4 hours left to go!

6:13 pm - No. 21, which was in P3, is in the pits, No. 61 is also pitting.

6:07 pm - 4 or 5 laps before the No. 45 pits for driver change to Joerg Bergmeister for his third stint, tires and fuel.

6:02 pm - In the No. 45, Marc is now by the No.95 Ferrari, but not for position. Marc is still 2 laps back from the No. 95, which is in second. Under 20 minutes remaining for Johannes in the No. 44 in his stint.

6:00 - The 95 Ferrari came out of the pits and on track just in front of the No. 45.

5:58 pm - The No. 95 Ferrari is in the pits for what appears to be a standard pit stop. They were in P2 at the time of the pit, now 2 laps down from the No. 62 Ferrari, still in the lead. Marc Lieb still in P4 in teh No. 45, Johannes van Overbeek still in P5 in the No.44.

5:29 - In the No. 45 Marc has passed Johannes and taken 4. The No. 44 is 5th. They are both 2 laps down on the next closest GT2 car, the No. 21 and 3 laps down on the 95 in P2 and approx 4 laps down on the No. 62 in the lead.

5:25 - The No. 45 has nearly caught the No. 44 and the pack.

5:20 pm - The No. 45 has free running but the No. 44 is stuck behind the GT2 leaders (but is several laps down) who are going at a slower pace.

5:17 pm - Green flag. No. 44 now P4 and No. 45 P 5.

5:12 pm - No. 45 pits first. No. 44 second. No. 45 took a longer fuel and tires so the No. 44 was out first. No driver changes in either car. The wind is coming up so our rain may be coming.

5:10 pm - Both Lizards are running together and both got the wave by. The No. 45 is in front. Latest plan is that both Lizards will stop for a short fuel. The cars which received the wave by now need to catch up with the rest of the field and they will go green.

5:05 pm - No. 44 reports that there was a fire in the right rear of the No. 45- oil. He says that the fire is now out. Marc Lieb in the No. 45 is P4 and Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44 is P4. Still yellow. Just under 5 and a half hours to go.

5:00 pm - Marc Lieb caught the pack in the No. 45 - hopefully he will get the waveby. Still yellow. The No. 44 will stay out. The No. 45 may come in for a short fuel but Marc will stay in the car.

4:56 - Tequila patron prototype in the tire wall. Double yellow. Marc radios in that the No. 87 is really slow on course.

4:53 - Darren made it to the pits, driver change to Johannes van Overbeek, fuel and tires. He was in P4 when he pitted. He may need to retake the No. 61 again on track to get back to P4 - I'll confirm that in a minute.

4:50 - In the No. 45. Marc did a 2:04.294 - fastest GT2 race lap so far.He is on the same lap as the No. 61 Ferrari and is working on reeling him in to move to P5.

Darren radios in that he is out of gas. He is pitting. Fuel light and bobble and on reserve heading into Turn 7.

4:37 - In the No. 44, Darren passed No. 61 to take P4. Marc Lieb in the No. 45 P 6.

4:34 pm - The No. 44 retook P 5 when the No. 45 pitted and he is now just behind the No. 61 Ferrari. The No. 44 should pit in the next 15 minutes or so for their driver change.

4:33 pm - No. 45 pits for driver change to Marc Lieb, tires and fuel. The No. 45 is P5 - close behind the No. 61 Krohn Racing Ferrari which is P4.

4:10 pm - 9 or 10 laps until the No. 45 pits.

4:06 pm - GT2 positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 95; P3 No. 21; P 4 No. 61; P 5 No. 45; P 6 No. 44. The No. 62 is on its own lap, nearly two laps ahead of the No. 95 and No. 21. The No. 61 is 3 laps back from the N. 62. Patrick Long in the No. 45 and Darren Law in the No. 44 are 4 laps back.

3:59 pm - The No. 45 is now only 5 laps from the GT2 leader, the No. 62 Risi Ferrari

3:53 - In the No.45, Patrick passed Darren to take fifth. Darren now in sixth. .

3:52 - Darren is back on track in the No. 44. He will be on the same lap as patrick Long in the No. 45 and is just a few seconds in front of Patrick.

3:48 - The No. 44 got the bobble and will pit for tires,fuel and driver change to Darren Law for his second stint of the race.

3:47 pm ET - Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 95; P3 No. 21; P 4 No. 61; P 5 No. 44, P 6. No 45; The No. 92, which had been in the front pack, appears to have a problem and has pitted, dropping back several positions and allowing No. 44 to move to P 5 and No. 45 to move to P 6. No. 62 Risi Ferarri pitted in what appears to be a scheduled pit stop and is back out again, still in the lead, 1 laps ahead of the No. 95 in P2.

3:42 pm - Patrick successfully negotiated being passed by the overall leader (the 02 Audi) and the No. 08 Peugot who are battling for P1 and driving nose to tail.

3:30 pm - Patrick Long is out again in the No. 45 after tires, fuel and driver change. He is in P7.

3:26 - Joerg reports the fuel light is on and he will pit.

3:20 pm - 4 laps until No. 45 pits for driver change from Joerg Bergmeister to Patrick Long, tires and fuel. about 15 minutes left until the No. 44 pits.

3:14 pm- Race control says that No. 95 in P3 has no headlights. Regularions require that all cars run with working headlights. Correction - race control confirms that 95 does have headlights now.

3:10 pm - GT2 positions remain relatively unchanged: No. 62 has led most of the race since the No. 87 had its problems early on. The No. 92 is in 2nd, and the No. 95 in third. The No. 21 is P4, No. 61 P5, No. 44 P 6 and No. 45 P 7. Joerg radioed in that something fell off the dashboard but doesn't know what it was.

3:06 pm - 10 laps until the next No. 45 pit stop.

3:01 pm - Joerg just passed the No. 44. But he is sill one lap behind him - sorry my earlier info was incorrect. Joerg is P 7, Seth is P 6 in the No. 44.

2:53 pm ET - One of the Peugeots just navigated a huge spin on course - avoiding contact with anyone and continuing.

2:49 - Joerg radioed in tha the car is getting quicker - the grip is coming up on the tires and track.

2:45 pm - No. 44 is out again with Seth Neiman behind the wheel. They are in sixth, No. 45 in seventh.

2:40 Joerg radios in that there is a big vibration in the rear. Actually he said "Bid" , which we guess is mix of big and bad. Joerg says his right foot keeps falling asleep - he may have to pit early for a drive rchange. No. 62 Risi Ferarri, still in the lead, heads out from their scheduled pit stop. The No. 44 will pit shortly for fuel and driver change to Seth Neiman. They are now in their second round of stints.

2:37 - No. 92 is in the pits.

2:34 - Joerg just did a 2:02.997- fastest GT2 race lap so far. He is running 2 to 6 seconds faster than the rest of the field in P 7. He is 2 laps back from the next closest GT2 car, the No. 61 in P 6.

2:30 pm - Positions: P1 No. 62; P 2 No. 92; P 3 No. 95 - they are all spaced approximately 1 lap apart. P4 No. 21; P 5 No. 44; P 6 No. 61; P 7 No. 45; P 8 No. 007; P 9 No. 11; P 10 No. 40. No. 87 is back from behind the wall and has rejoined the race after a lengthy repair. They are in 12th.

2:24 - Marc pits. Short fuel, tires. Joerg is in the car for his second stint and quickly out again.

2:21 pm - Marc got the bobble and will pit this lap. Tires, fuel and driver change to Joerg Bergmeister. He is in P7.

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2:07 - Johannes passed the No. 61 Krohn Racing Ferrari and moved into P 5. Marc lieb in the No. 45 is 2 laps down from the No. 61. He is running 5 seconds per lap faster than the No. 61.

2:05 pm - In the No. 44, Johannes is closing in on the No. 61 for position. If he passes, he'll move into P5. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2. No 92; P 3 No 95; P4 No. 21; P 5 No. 61; P 6 No. 44; P 7 No. 45. No. 87 is still in the garage under repair.

2:00 pm - With No. 28 in the pits, Marc Lieb in theNo. 45 moves to P8. No. 44 is P6. They are 2 laps apart.

1:56 - No. 28 Corvette slow on course. Just when we thought things couldn't get any better, rain is forecast for 4 pm ET - 2 hours from now.

1:44 - No 11 Viper went off but avoided wall contact and continued.

1:42 - Green flag. No. 45 in P8 is five laps behind the GT2 leader, the NO. 62 Risi Ferrari. No. 44 in P 6 is 3 laps back. The No. 44 is one lap down on the next closest GT2 car, the No. 61. The No. 45 is 1 lap down on its next closest car, the No. 28.

1:40 pm - Still yellow. Positions: P1 No. 62; P 2 No. 92; P 3 No. 95; P 4 No. 21; P 5 No. 61; P 6 No. 44; P 7 No. 28; P 8 No. 45; P 9 No. 11; P 10 No. 007.

1:38 - Darren pitted for fuel and a quick fix in the cockpit. No. 45 will pit shortly for fuel top up and tires.

1:36 - Race control notified us that the No. 45 (and the No. 40) will both receive the wave by - this is to fix the problem from earlier in which the 45 was held up by the No. 40.

1:31 - Still yellow. The No. 45 crew is very frustrated because they were held up by another car during the yellow who was going very slow and did not receive the wave by, costing us a lap. No. 44 did get the waveby. First ten positions before the restart: P1 No. 62; P 2 No. 95; P 3 No. 92; P 4 No. 21; P 5 No. 61; P 6 No. 44; P 7 No. 28; P 8 No. 45; P 9 No 11; P 10 No. 007.

1:25 - The No. 37 is off track between turn 10 and 11. Double yellow.

1:13- Both Lizards pit - the No. 45 is in first and Marc Lieb gets in the car. Tires and fuel. Johannnes van Overbeek takes over in the No. 44, tires and fuel.
No. 45 is out first. No. 45 was in P8 and No. 44 was P 6 at the time of their pit stops

1:11 pm - The No. 11, in P8, had a flat and pitted, moving Patrick into P 8.

1:09 pm - Both crews are ready for their pit stops. We don't have radio communication with Patrick so we aren't sure if he can hear our instructions when to pit. But he'll get the "bobble" soon, which is his sign that he needs to switch to reserve fuel and pit.

1:04 pm - Both Lizard Porsches will pit in the next 10 mins or so for driver changes, tires and fuel. Johannes van Overbeek will get in the No. 44 and Marc Lieb in the No. 45.

12:57 - The No. 87 Porsche just went by, being pushed by its crew as they head behind the wall.

12:50 - No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche has requested permission to go behind the wall - whatever the issue is they can't fix it in pit lane.

12:45 pm - We've lost radio communication with Patrick in the No. 45 - we think he can hear us but we can't hear him. He has 12 laps to go before his pit stop for driver change. He is in P9.
Positions: P1 No. 62 Risi Ferrari, P2 No. 92 BMW, P 3 No. 95 Ferrari, P4 No. 21; P 5 No. 61; P 6 No. 44; P 7 No. 28; No. 8 No. 11; P 9 No. 45.

12:34 - patrick radios in that he has a problem but we can't get clarification on what it is. The crew is ready for a pit stop just in case.

12:31 - Patrick Long now P9. Darren Law P 6.

12:30 - Positions: No. 62 P1; No. 95 P2; No. 92 P 3; No. 61 P 4; No. 21 P 5; No. 44 P 6; No. 11 P 7; No.28 P 8; No. 87 P 9: No. 45 P 10. No. 87 still in the pits, next lap Patrick in the No. 45 will move to P 9.

12:26 - The No. 28 is back out again in P8. Patrick is 2 laps down from them in P 10. No. 87 still in the pits.

12:22 - The No. 28 GT2 Corvette was in the tire wall (after apparent contact from one of hte Audis) both cars continued. No. 87 still in the pits, I believe. Wiht the No. 28 and the No. 87 both in the pits Darren Law moves up to P 6. in the No. 45, Patrick is still 2 laps down on the No. 87 and No. 28, so we'll see how long they stay in the pits and if Patrick will move up in position.

12:19 - No. 87 in the pits for an unexpected pit stop. No. 90 also in the pits. Sounds like the No. 87 may have had contact with another car on course - TV shows the crew working on the right rear suspension. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari now in the lead.

12:16 - Positions: P1 No. 87, P 2 No. 62 (both on the same lap with the No. 62 nose to tail with the No. 87); P3 No. 95 (one lap down); P 4 No. 92; P 5 No. 61 ; P 6 No. 21; P 7. No. 28 ; P 8 No. 44; P 9 No. 11; P 10 No. 45; P 11 No. 007; P 12 No. 40; P 13 No. 90. Smoke reported from center rear of No. 90. No. 44 is 3 laps down on the No. 87; No. 45 is 6 laps down.

12:15 - Patrick has passed the 007 to take 10th. Darren is now in P8.

12:12 - Green flag.

12:05 - Darren pits for a short splash of fuel. No. 45 stays out and gets the waveby and hustles to catch the back of the pack. Patrick will pit this lap for 8 seconds of fuel.

12:04 - In the No. 44, unfortunately Darren in the No.44 is just behind the overall leader so he will not get a chance to get a waveby and catch the back of the GT2 pack. In the No. 44, Darren is now P9. In the No. 45, Patrick is P 11.

12:00 - still yellow. The overall leaders are now starting to pit for tires, fuel and driver changes. Darren radios in that the No. 44 is "very reasonable - pretty stable, that if it stays like this he should be good for the whole stint."

11:55 - The Tequila Patron prototype and the No. 40 got together - right in front of Darren but luckily he was able to avoid the incident. Damage to both cars but both have continued back to the pits. Double yellow. The Patron car didn't stop in its pit stall but continued back on track. Hopefully both cars will get the wave by and possibly regain a lap on some of the GT2 field.

11:52 - No. 45 in the pits. Fuel and tires. Patrick Long heads out. They are in P12. Clean, fast pit stop.

11:49 - Joerg has the (fuel) bobble, goes to fuel reserve and will pit the next lap for tires, fuel and driver change to Patrick Long. No. 45 still P 12, No. 44 now P10 (the No. 007 still in the pits for repairs after their tire wall incident). The No. 87 passed the No. 45 cleanly as Joerg prepared to enter pit lane.

11:48 - Car off in turn 17. Looks like the 007 in the tires at turn 17. Looks like he will be able to continue and will pit.

11:44 am - No. 44 is out with Darren Law in the car. Sticker tires, full fuel.

11:40 - No. 44 will pit for fuel, tires and driver change from Seth Neiman to Darren Law. No. 45 will pit in a few minutes. Joerg in the No. 45 has made up a lap on the next closest GT2 car - the No. 28. Joerg is in 12 after being hit by the No. 40, resulting in a 12 minute pit stop to repair the left rear toe link. Seth radios in that the has a flat tire - he's coming in to the pits shortly.

11:34 - No. 87 back in the GT2 lead. No. 62 P2, No. 95 P3.

11:31 - Strategist thomas Blam notifies Joerg that he has 8 laps remaining in his first stint. Patrick Long will take over in the No. 45 for his first stint. The No. 44 has moved into P 10. The No. 44 will also pit soon and Darren Law will take the wheel.

11:30 - No. 87 pits for tires and fuel. No. 62 takes the lead. In P 12, Joerg is running at the pace of the No. 62 - they are by far the fastest GT2 cars on track right now, running 3 to 5 seconds faster than the rest of the field.

11:26 am - GT2 positions remain basically unchanged. No. 87 is P1, No. 62 is P2; No. 21 is P3; No. 61 P 4; No. 95 P5 (just received a 20 second hold for no balaclava for pit stop supervisor during pit stop); No. 92 P 6; No. 007 P 7; No. 28 P 8; No. 40 P 9; No. 11 P 10; No. 44 P11; No. 45 P 12. No. 90 has entered the race (after failing to get going from the grid and being pushed behind the wall for repairs) but is now 28 laps down on the overall leader.

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As a thank you to our fans, we are offering 15% off anything in the online store for today only - valid through midnight ET March 21. ** To get the 15%, enter the code "sebring09" without quotation marks in the coupon code box on checkout.

**

11:00 am - Quick recap of the first 30 minutes - a rocky start for the Lizards - Joerg Bergmeister was in third position when he was hit by the No. 40 as it attempted to pass. The impact broke the left rear upright and cost the No. 45 12 minutes in the pits. Joerg is now in 13th. In the No. 44, Seth Neiman spun early in the race, requiring an early pit stop for new tires. he is in 11th. We still have over 11 hours to go.

10:54 am - Joerg is back on the pace and just clocked a 2:03.933 - the fastest GT2 times on the track right now. The No. 02 Audi is in the overall lead.

10:51 am - No. 87 is P1; No. 95 P2; No. 62 P3 (having moved up from the back of the pack); No. 21 P4; No. 40 P 5; No. 61 P 6; No 92 P 7; No. 11 P 8; No. 007 P9; No. 28 P 10; No. 44 P 11; No. 45 P 12. the No. 90 BMW has not yet joined the race and is in 13th.

10:47 am - No. 45 is back out he is in 13th and has lost 5 or 6 laps on the field during the pit stop to repair the suspension (replaced a toe link on the left rear) after being hit by the No. 40 early in the race. Joerg reports that the steering wheel is off to the left.

10:45 - Positions: P1 No.87, P2. No 95, P 3 No. 21, P 4 No. 62, P 5 No. 40, P 6 No. 61, P 7 No. 92, P 8 No. 11, P 9 No. 007, P 10 No. 28, P 11 No 44, P 12 No. 45, P 13 No. 90 (No. 90 has not joined the race yet).

10:44 - We saw a replay of the No. 44's spin early in the race, which resulted in an early pit stop. Neiman was able to avoid the tire wall, and no damage to the car.

10:40 - The No 45 still in the pits. The crew is replacing some of the suspension links in the pits.

10:36 - Joerg thinks that the left rear upright is damaged. The crew will fuel, then evaluate the problem. They are replacing the left rear upright in the pits.

10:35 - No. 45 was hit by No. 40 Ford when the 40 attempted to pass. Joerg thinks that the rear axle may be broken but the crew is hopeful that it is jut a rear tire. Joerg is pitting.

10:32 am - No. 87 is P1. The No. 95 Ferrari has taken second, the No. 45 is third. No. 45 is attempting to pass with the Robertston Ford just behind him in P4. Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45. The No. 44 is 12th. No. 44 is pitting - not sure what happened. Will report in a minute. Fuel and tires.

10:31 am - A clean start for the entire field. I'll report positions in a few minutes.

10:30 am - Green flag. The No. 90 BMW has gone behind the wall for repairs. the 2nd Peugeot has joined the race from pit lane.

10:26 am - The cars are heading out for their single pace lap today.
All cars appear to be on the grid except one of the Peugeots which is in pit lane under repairs. One GT2 car still on the grid - not sure which one it is - it's the 90 BMW - they are pushing it quickly back to pit lane for repairs.

10:22 am - 8 minutes to race start. One pace lap.

10:14 - Race control has notified drivers to get in their cars.

10:06 am - 24 minutes to race start.

9:46 am - The cars are on the grid. Looks like everyone except one of the Peugeots made the grid. We will be starting 2nd in the No. 45 and 13th in the No. 44. Joerg will start in the No. 45. Race start at 10:30 am ET. No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is on the pole. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari will start from the back (in 15th) because they did not fulfill the requirement for all three drivers to drive 3 laps during night practice. Starting grid is here: http://www.imsatiming.com

***We are broadcasting our team radio today - to listen click on the "Follow the Race" tab at www.lizardms.com.***

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*** We'l be back with you around 10 am ET for the race!!! See you then. Jennifer ***

8:25 am - Checkered flag.In the No. 44, Joerg is called into the pits. Both cars will do a set of pit stop practices with driver changes.

8:21 am - No. 44 pits. Darren and Johannes will not go out this am. Joerg is still out in the No. 45.

8:18 am - 7 minutes left in the session.

8:16 am - No. 45 pits for a setup change and fuel. No. 44 is also called into the pits for tires.

8:10 am - The No. 44 pits for fuel and tires.

8:08 am - Joerg is currently P5 in the No. 45. Seth is P 7 in the No. 44. All good so far. This morning's warmup session is 25 minutes - till 8:25 am.

8:00 am - Green flag. The Lizard Porsches are out. We have timing and scoring now but no TV feed. Seth Neiman in the No. 44, Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45.

7:55 am ET - Morning warmup

Good morning from Sebring. We are five minutes from our morning warmup- the final chance to make any changes before the race, which starts at 10;30 am ET. Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman is in the No. 44.

*** Team radio - We are broadcasting our team radios all day today - you can listen in from the home page - click on the "Follow the Race" tab for info. ***

Unfortunately our TV feed just went south so we may not have TV or timing coverage for this session.

Sebring - Thursday/Friday Practice Sessions

2009-03-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Friday March 20 - Morning Practice

10:57 am - checkered flag. In the No. 45, Patrick retains P1 in the session with a 2:03.722. Darren was P3 with a 2:03.988 and the No. 87 (which hit the tire wall in practice and went back to the garage early for repairs) was P2. We'll be back with you tomorrow, race day! for morning warmup at 8:00 am ET - see you then -- Jennifer ***

10:46 - Green flag. Johannes is out in the No.44 and Patrick in the No. 45.

10:36 - Just under 20 minutes left in the session. Patrick long is still P1 in the No. 45. Johannes van Overbeek is just getting into the No. 44, taking over for Seth Neiman. Red flag - Richard Lietz is in the wall in Turn 9 the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche.

10:23 am - Patrick heads out again in the No. 45. Seth Neiman is still in the No. 44

10:20 - Patrick pits for fuel, check tire pressures, and a setup change. Still P1. No. 87 now P2. No. 44 is P3.

10:15 - Patrick Long is now P1 in GT2 with a time of 2:03.794, on fresh tires. Darren is P 2. Darren pits for driver change to Seth Neiman.

10:11 am -Darren is now P1 in GT2 with a time of 2:03.988.

10:08 am - Darren Law is now in P2 in the No. 44. Times are slower than qualifying - the track is cold and still a bit damp from the mist and fog which covered the area this morning. The sun is starting to warm things up a bit. I expect race start tomorrow to be very similar conditions. One of the most challenging aspects of a race like Sebring is the range of track conditions that teams can face - the race starts at 10:30 during the start of the heat of the day and ends at 10:30 at night - temperatures can differ significantly, even here in temperate Florida.

10:05 am - Patrick will pit for fresh tires. Darren is still out in the No. 44. Patrick is currently P3, Jaime Melo (who has just arrived from Italy) is P2 in the No. 62 Risi Ferrari. P1 is the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche with Wolf Henzler at the wheel.

9:50 am - Patrick Long is in pit lane in the No. 45 and Darren Law is in the No. 44.
Stefan Pfeiffer gave us the run down on this morning's practice - Patrick will go out on used tires for the first few laps to do a shakedown. Then they'll switch to fresh tires and start their setup work.

9:45 am - Good morning - we are just about ready for morning practice which starts at 9:55 am. It will be a bit of a hustle this morning to finish setup work - we weren't able to do much last night in the night practice session because of the rain and resulting wet track. A reminder that we'll be broadcasting our radio all day tomorrow - for details go to www.lizardms.com - the "Follow the Race Tab."

Our store at the track is up and running - everything looks good. I'm glad it was there since I lost my watch this morning - Paul (who manages our store) got me set up with a Flying Lizard Bulova watch - very cool... you can check them out at www.lizardms.com/store

Thursday March 19
8:53 pm - Darren and Patrick pit together and the evening practice is complete for the Lizards. All six drivers have done their 3 laps so we are heading back to the garage. We'll see you tomorrow for the 1-hour Friday practice at 9:55 am ET.

8:49 - Patrick asked for a few more laps so he could check the traction control.

8:46 pm - Thomas Blam calls Patrick into the pits - he's done and most likely they will head back to the garage. In the No. 44, Darren will just do his 3 laps and then they are done.

8:41 pm - Seth pits for driver change to Darren Law. We couldn't hear Seth on the radio but believe he said an alarm of some sort. They will check it before Darren goes out. Patrick's driver ID is now working.

8:40 pm - It appears that Patrick's driver ID is not working so they are pitting him to plug in his driver ID plug, then they'll send him out again for one more lap.

8:34 - Johannes has done his 3 laps and is pitting for driver change to Seth Neiman. Joerg has also done his 3 laps and is pitting for driver change to Patrick Long. 25 minutes left...

8:27 - The No. 44 is idling in pit lane in the No. 45 pit stall. The No. 45 is refueling and is now in No. 44 pit stall. Johannes is cleared to go out in the No. 44 and Joerg will head out as soon as the fuel is done.

8:20 - Marc is in the pits after doing his 3 laps and then completing a fuel test. Joerg is getting ready to get in. By the end of his stint, Marc's times were down to 2:05.464 - just a few seconds off of the qualifying times. He reports that the track is now almost dry. Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44 is heading from the paddock to pit lane. 40 minutes left in the session.

8:04 pm - Marc is out on track. Lap times are 12 seconds slower than earlier today -- everyone is being very careful.

8:00 pm ET - Looks like we have some action now - Marc Lieb is on the radio in the No. 45 heading to pit lane. The No. 44 will be another 20 mins or so. We have one hour to complete the 3 laps for each drivers. Neither car will attempt any setup changes during this session - it's cold, wet and will soon be very dark so it will not be of much use for setup work. Marc will head out on slick tires - the track is now dry enough.

7:45 pm ET - Evening practice is underway but only a few cars are on track - the two GT1 Corvettes and the Audis. We had very heavy rain around 5:30 pm today which flooded the track and paddock. Luckily the rain was over by 6:30 and there's a nice breeze so things are drying out quickly. The Lizards should be underway in the next 30 minutes or so. Each driver is required to do 3 laps during this night practice. Patrick Long took advantage of the break to be a guest on the SpeedTV evening show tonight being filmed above pit lane.

Sebring - Qualifying

2009-03-19T11:33:00.001-07:00

Thursday March 19, 2009
3:15 pm - Joerg qualified second in GT2 in the No. 45. The No. 44 will start 13th on the grid. No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche is on the pole.

2:55 - Joerg has moved to P2 with a 2:03.433. He is just 4 tenths of a second behind the No. 87 in P1. Strategist Thomas Blam has called Joerg into the pits. There's a lot of the dirt on the track now and Thomas and engineer Stefan Pfeiffer make the decision to bring Joerg in. Positions: P1 No. 87, P 2 No. 45, P 3 No. 95. No. 44 is in P 12.

2:55 - The No. 92 is in the pits with an apparent problem - they are putting it on rollers and heading back to the garage.

2:52 - Joerg is P3, No. 87 has moved into P1 with 2:03.051. No. 95 is P2 with a 2:03.579. Joerg is 2:03.642. Seth is in P12 in the No. 44.

2:51 pm - Joerg is P2, with a 2:05.859. Mika Salo in the No. 62 is P1 with a 2:04.930.

2:48 pm - Joerg radios in that there is less grip than this morning. He's warming up the tires getting ready to try his first fast lap.

2:45 pm ET - Green flag on qualifying. Joerg and Seth are both on track. This is a 25 minute, GT only session.

2:35 pm ET - Good afternoon from Sebring. Qualifying will begin in 10 minutes. Joerg Bergmeister will qualify the No.45. Seth Neiman will qualify the No. 44.

Sebring - Race week Practice Sessions

2009-03-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

Thu, March 19

11:15 am - Checkered flag. Joerg in the No. 45 had the fastest time in the session with a 2:02.654. Both Lizard Porsches are heading back to the garage for final prep before this afternoon's qualifying session at 2:45 pm ET. *** See you then ... Jennifer ***

11:00 - Joerg Bergmeister is now in the No. 45 and is back in P1 with a 2:02.654. Seth is still in the No. 44

10:47 - Seth pits for a damper change. He will stay in the car.

10:45 - Patrick pits for fuel. He will stay in the car.
30 minutes left in the session No. 87 Farnbacher Loles is now in P1. The No. 21 is P2 and Patrick is P3.

10:33 - Patrick Long in the No. 45 is now P1 with a 2:03.940. Times are beginning to come down now.

10:28 am - No. 92 BMW is P1; No. 90 BMW is P2; No. 21 Panoz is P3. No. 45 is P4. No. 44 is P 12. Times are slower this morning than yesterday's sessions - the track is cold and tires are still warming up.

10:20 am - Green flag. Cars on course
A reminder that qualifying is this afternoon at 2:45 pm.
You can watch live coverage at SpeedTV.com

http://www.speedtv.com/programs/american-le-mans-series-qualifying-live/
And listen to radio coverage through radiolemans.com:

http://www.radiolemans.com/

10:15 am - Good morning from Sebring. It's a bit cooler today with some low clouds and a light breeze. Both Lizard Porsches are in pit lane preparing for this morning's practice session which starts at 10:20 am ET. The Daily Reptile newsletter is now available - see the Daily Reptile tab at www.lizardms.com. We'll publish this *most* track days at each race.
Darren Law is in the No. 44; Patrick Long in the No. 45.

Wed, March 18

Checkered flag - the top times of the session were: No. 87 P1, 2.02.591. No. 45 P2 2.03.258. No 62 P3 2.03.303. We'll be back with you tomorrow for the morning practice at 10:20 am ET.

3:30 pm - Patrick Long is now out in the No. 45.

3:19 pm - Seth Neiman in the No. 44 pits for a driver change to Johannes van Overbeek.

GT2 qualifying will be held tomorrow, Thursday at 2:45 pm ET.

3:04 pm - Welcome back - it's the second session of the day today and both Lizard Porsches are on track. The No. 45 missed this morning's sessoin as the crew worked to diagnose an electrical problem. All is now resolved and the No. 45 is on track with Joerg Bergmeister at the wheel. Seth Neiman is out in the No. 44.

11:37 - Checkered flag. We are heading back to the garage. We'll be back for this afternoon's session.

11:35 - Seth radios in that the Ferrari is stopped on track. Red flag. The No. 44 pits.

11;26 am ET - 14 minutes left in this morning's practice session. The No. 44 has been cycling through setup changes over the session. Seth Neiman is in the car and Chief Engineer Craig WAtkins calls him into the pits for a rollbar, damper and ride height change. The No. 44 is currently P5 in the session. The No. 95 Ferrari has the fastest time of the session so far, a 2:02.897. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is P2 with a 2.03.046. The No. 92 BMW is P3 with a 2:03.056. No. 62 Risi Ferrari is P4 with a 2:.03.096.

11 am ET - Good morning from Sebring. Today is the first official practice day of Sebring race week. We've been testing since Monday. It's warm and fairly dry so far here at the circuit. we had some rain last night but sessions have all been dry.

Darren Law is out in the No. 44 right now. Darren will be driving with Seth Neiman and Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44. The No. 45 is in the garage and will not be heading out for this session. The No. 45 driver lineup is Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long and Marc Lieb. In the test sessions earlier in the week, the Lizard Porsches have been consistently running in the top lap times, with the No. 62 Risi Ferrari and the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche.

I spoke with Thomas Blam, Lizard Chief strategist this morning. He commented on the field so far, "Based on what we've seen in testing this week, it looks like we'll have some very strong competition in GT2. The European Ferrari entry is proving to be very quick - we now Bruni is fast and he's been showing it. The Rahal Letterman BMW has also been consistent - not the quickest, but in the top 5 or 6."
"The No. 45 Lizard Porsche did well yesterday - we are pleased with our progress so far this week. The No. 45 will be out for this afternoon's session. Our focus from there will be getting ready for qualifying - that's our primary goal for Thursday and also to make sure that everything is set for night practice. The track can be very dark here at night so we have to make sure that the headlights work well, and that the drivers can see effectively at night."

Sebring Winter Test

2009-01-26T06:57:00.000-08:00

5:30 pm ET - Checkered flag on the last session of the 3 day test. Patrick and Darren will come in on the next lap and we'll head back to the paddock. Thanks for checking in with us. We'll be back on track for the Sebring race, March 21, 2009.
Talk to you all soon .. Jennifer

5:12 pm - No. 46 pits again for a shock change, rollbar change and other adjustments.

5:00 pm - Seth pitted in the No. 46 and Darren Law is now in the car. In the No. 45, Patrick is back in the pits in the No.45 - the last setup change went "in the wrong direction" so he is back in for a fix.

4:42 pm - Patrick is in the pits in the No. 45 for a setup change. The 45 finished their tire tests during the last session, so they are now working on their shock and other adjustments. Patrick has now had three days to get used to being back in an RSR (after a year in prototypes with Penske in 2008). The No. 45 crew will try and use as much of this last session as they can to progress on setup.

Jan 28, 2009 - 4:10 pm ET - We are on track for the final session of the three day test. Seth Neiman is in the No. 46 and Patrick Long in the No. 45. Red flag - we are not sure yet what the issue is.

2:40 pm - Checkered flag. Seth and Patrick will head back to the pits and we'll take the cars back to the garage. We'll be back this afternoon for the last session which starts at 4:00 pm ET. .. Jen

2:34 pm - The No. 45 has finished its tire test. Joerg pits for driver change to Patrick Long. Patrick will run out the session - just six minutes left - about 2 timed laps.

2:24 pm - Seth pits for more water in his water bottle and fuel. joerg is still out in the No. 45.

2:13 pm - Things are all good here but it's pretty quiet. Joerg Bergmeister has taken over for Patrick in the No.45.

9:32 am ET - Seth spun in the No. 46 and is back in pit lane for new tires. Patrick is still out in the No. 45.

January 28, 2009 - 9:20 am ET - Good morning from Sebring. It's the third and final day of our test and our first run with the 2009 Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs. Our test session this morning runs from 9:10 to 10:50 am. The second sesion is 1:00 to 2:40 and the last session is 4:00 to 5:00 pm ET.

So far so good this week, we have been progressing through our setup and development plans as scheduled. We have three cars here this week, two 09 Porsches and one of our 08 cars. The 09 Porsches are numbered the No. 45 and the No. 46 - these will run as the No. 45 and No. 44 during the season this year. The No. 44 that we are running here is the 08 Porsche.

Patrick Long is out now in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman is in the No. 46.

Darren Law is in the pits waiting for his turn in the car. I asked him about the new cars, "I drove the new car on Monday and did a few laps in it on Tuesday. In general, the cars have been really good so far. I think it says a lot that within the first two days of running the new cars, we've almost equalled our lap times from last year; it shows a lot of promise for the season, especially when you consider the additional restrictions that have been placed on the GT2 cars this year."

4:20 pm - Checkered flag. Testing Day 2 is complete. Thankfully, no major problems or incidents for the Lizards. We'll be back on the blog tomorrow for the first session at 9:10 am ET ... Jen

3:52 pm - The No. 46 is in the pits for a driver change from Joerg to Johannes. Seth is also getting into the No. 44.

3:45 pm - Darren just completed three laps in the No. 44 and is now bringing it in for Seth to hop in. Just over 30 mins left in the session. We have one more day on track on Wednesday, then will pack up and head home to Sonoma, California.

3:30 pm - Things are pretty uneventful here, which is great. The No. 45 is well into its tire test - No. 44 and No. 46 are continuing to make setup changes. We see Doug Fehan (Corvette Racing's Program Manager) next to our pits timing the GT2 cars... And some of the Risi contingent just appeared in our pits, checking in. They are not testing here this week.

3:14 pm - All going well during the afernoon test. The tire test is underway on the No. 45 with Patrick at the wheel, so things have been pretty quiet in the pits. In the No. 46, Craig Watkins is still working with Joerg on setup. One hour to go...

2:30 pm - Green flag. Patrick is out on the No. 45, Joerg in the No. 46 and Seth in the No. 44. Engineer Stefan Pfeiffer is still making incremental setup adjustments. Both cars have a tire test planned later in the session once the engineers are happy with the setup. In a tire test, the team compares the new 2009 tires with last year's tires - alternating between them in short and long runs.

Jan 21, 2:25 pm ET - We are 20 minutes into this afternoon's session. Patrick and Joerg have switched cars for this session - Patrick in the No. 45 and Joerg in the No. 46. Seth is in the No. 44. Red flag and all three cars are in the pits. This is the second and final test of the day and runs to 4:20 pm.

***Checkered flag on this morning's (Tuesday's) test session. We'll be back with you at 2:10 pm today.*** Jen

9:50 - Both the No. 45 and 46 are back in the pits for shock adjustments, ride height and other changes. The No. 44 is back on track with Seth behind the wheel again after a shock change. Craig told Patrick in the No. 46 to go ahead and run out the sessios (just 8 minutes left) and that this would be the last change they would do. the No. 44 is back in the pits for one more change from crew chief Tommy Sadler.

9:41 - Green flag. Patrick is out again in the No. 46 and Joerg in the No. 45.

9:36 am - Patrick is in pit lane in the No. 46 and was ready to head out again after a change when a red flag was called. We don't know what it's for yet. Seth Neiman in the No. 44 is also in the pits. Joerg was the last of the three back to the pits. We will sit tight until we get the go ahead from race control.

9:15 am - 45 minutes left to go in the session. Patrick Long is still in the No. 46 and Joerg in the No. 45.

9:00 am - Patrick Long just radioed in to warn the No. 44, which is running just in front of him that he's "on a hot one". The fastest time so far this morning is a 2:01.9 by Joerg in the No.45 on the 3.7 mile course. Patrick was just behind him with a 2:02.00 Although it's difficult to compare times from a January test here to a March race, the fastest practice lap time in 2008 (qualifying was not held) was 2:00.945 (Jaime Melo, Risi Competizione). So we are a second off of that. Chief strategist Thomas Blam said, "We are seeing some good times this morning. We are running under ideal track conditions - the sun is out and the track is fast. We will probably see times drop off this afternoon. The GT2 cars have been slowed down from 2009 (due to regulation changes - see the Car Prep Notebook tab on the www.lizardms.com home page for details) so it's difficult to really tell yet how things will play out in March."

8:45 am - Chief engineer Craig Watkins is sitting next to me in the pits. I asked him how things were going - "So far, overall, testing is going well. On the 09 cars, today our focus is on getting the damper comparisons done and test the 09 tires and make a few minor kinematic adjustments. We are still not at a point yet were we can tell the significance of the improvements of the cars from 2008 - we should have a better idea by the end of the test tomorrow."

Tue Jan 27 - 8:30 am - No. 45 and No. 46 are back in the pits. With the tires and the track starting to warm up, the drivers can now give more detailed feedback. The aero changes in the new 09 Porsche gave the car a lot more downforce. The Sebring circuit is very bumpy and rough, so the drivers and engineers are focused on figuring out how to set the car up to manage the bumps without sacrificing speed. Johannes is now also in the pits in the No. 44 with a driver change to Seth Neiman. We are running three cars at the test this week - the two new 2009 Porsches (the No. 45 and No. 46) and one of our 2008 cars (the No. 44 at this test). For the ALMS season, we will run just two Porsches this year - the No. 44 (running as the No. 46 at this teas) and the No. 45. Timing and scoring is not available to us in the pits so I won't have times until after the session.

Tue, Jan 27 - 8:23 am - All three Porsches pitted for the engineers to make setup adjustments. Joerg will stay in the No. 45 and just headed out again. Johannes is still in the No. 44 and Patrick Long is now in the No. 46, taking over from Darren. All three cars left the pits and are back on track. Because there are a limited on number of cars at this 3-day test, there is very little traffic, which makes it much easier for the drivers to focus on getting the cars dialed in vs. managing traffic. A few more cars just left pit lane - including the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche. They also have a new 2009 car this year. Because the new Porsches just arrived in the U.S. last week from Germany they are all white and won't have their full liveries until the SEbring race.

Tue Jan 27, 8:00 am - We are on track for this today's first session - all three Porsches are on track - Joerg is in the No. 45, Darren Law in the No. 46 and Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 44. After just one lap, Joerg radioed in that the Porsche is "fast today." This is a 2-hour testing session and runs until 10 am ET. The new Rahal BMW is also on track right now. The track is still very cold - the fog has just lifted and it will take a while before things warm up. The No. 15 Lowes' Acura prorotype and the No. 66 Acura just left pit lane for their first runs of the day.

*** There is one more test session this afteroon, but the blog is signing off today - we'll be back for tomorrow's (Tuesday's) sessions. For full testing schedule, see the schedule tab on the Lizard home page.***

Patrick Long drove the new 2009 Porsche for the first time in this second session today. His take on the car so far "I did two timed laps just to get a sample. Joerg (Bergmeister), Stefan (Pfeiffer, No. 45 engineer) and Porsche have been working today through the rollout and I think we are just starting to get a balance on the handling. For me personally, it's great to be back in an RSR. It's the perfect blend of technology with the practical feel of driving. I'm looking forward to being back with the Lizards - this time for a full season."

Joerg is out of the car - his reaction "It's always hard to say at Sebring: the track is sometimes really fast and sometimes not so fast, timewise we are not as fast yet as last year, but the balance of the car feels really good. So now we have to focus on the details and dialing it in to get the car to where we need it to be."

Seth just got out of the car - his take so far, "Every year, we come to Sebring with a new car and our first challenge is to come to grips with how it is different. Clearly has made some advances with the front grip and it is also clear that we don't know how to make them go fast yet."

2:06 pm ET - Patrick Long heads out in the No. 45.Joerg is sitting on pit wall debriefing with Roland Kussmaul from Porsche and No. 45 engineer Stefan Pfeiffer.

2:00 pm ET - Things are going very well so far - Seth Neiman is just getting out of the No. 46 so I'll be able to get his perspective in a minute. Darren Law, looking very tired after his win yesterday at Daytona, will get into the No. 46. Joerg is still out in the No. 45 and will switch shortly with Patrick Long.

12:35 pm ET - The first of the two afternoon sesssions is underway. Both new Porsches are now on track - Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 46 (the No. 46 will run the season as the No. 44).

10:11 am ET - Checkered flag on the short morning session. Both cars are back safely in pit lane and are heading back to the garage. We'll be back for this afternoon's session at 12:20 ET and then 3:40 pm ET. ** Jennifer

Mon January 26 - 10:00 am ET - Good morning from Sebring. It's a beautiful day here - mild and no wind - looks like it will be quite warm later in the day. We have two cars out for this morning's session - one of our new 2009 Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs and one of our 2008 cars. This is the first time that have we've run the new 09 cars and we've spent the last week getting them ready for the test. We have only one of the new cars on track right now - the other is in the garage and will be out later in the day.

Joerg Bergmeister is out first in the No. 45. So far, things have gone smoothly as they did several install laps and now are beginning to shake down the car. Seth Neimas is on track in the 2008 Porsche - we are running that car as the No. 44 for the test. (The second 2009 Porsche is running as the No. 46 here.) For the season, the Porsches will run as the No. 44 and the No. 45.

The drivers are all very happy this morning - three of our five drivers were on the podium at the Daytona 24 yesterday. Darren Law won in the DP class with his teammates from Brumos and Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long won in GT with TRG. Congratulations to everyone!

About This Blog

2009-01-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

This is the ongoing blog for Flying Lizard Motorsports.

2009 is the sixth consecutive ALMS season for the Sonoma, California-based GT2 team. Since its first year of competition in 2004, the team has finished every year in the top three in the ALMS GT2 team and drivers' championships. Notably, in 2008, the team won both the ALMS GT2 drivers' (No. 45 Porsche of Joerg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler) and team championships. In 2007, Flying Lizard was second in the ALMS GT2 team championship and No. 45 drivers Johannes van Overbeek and Joerg Bergmeister finished second in the ALMS GT2 drivers' championship.

The 2009 ALMS season spans 10 races throughout North America. The season kicks off in March with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and concludes with the season finale at Laguna Seca on October.

Flying Lizard has also competed in the 24 Heures du Mans from 2005 through 2008, finishing third in 2005, fourth in 2006, and sixth in 2008.

Flying Lizard Motorsports was founded in 2003 by team principal (and driver of the No. 44 Porsche) Seth Neiman. The team is based in Sonoma, California at Infineon Raceway.

Team partners include Porsche and Michelin.

Visit the Flying Lizard website and online store at www.lizardms.com.

Copyright © 2009 Flying Lizard Motorsports, LLC. The Flying Lizard text and Flying Lizard logotype are trademarks of Flying Lizard Motorsports, LLC. All Rights Reserved.