Flying Lizard: From Le Mans to Lime Rock for ALMS Round Five

June 29, 2009 - Sonoma, Calif. - The Flying Lizard squad is back in California following their trip to Le Mans and is preparing for the fifth round of the ALMS season at Lime Rock Park on July 18. "It is definitely an adjustment to shift from the longest circuit of the year at Le Mans to the shortest at Lime Rock," said Flying Lizard Chief Strategist Thomas Blam. "And unfortunately, the adjustment this year turned out to be a bit more extensive than we had planned."

Blam is referring to the team's No. 44 Porsche, which was destroyed two weeks ago at Le Mans and is being re-tubbed with a replacement chassis this week at the team's shop in Sonoma. The Lizards' fifth Le Mans program came to an abrupt end 15 hours into the 24 hour race after a serious accident just before the first Chicane at the end of the Mulsanne. The No. 80 (with the driver trio of Darren Law, Seth Neiman, and Joerg Bergmeister) had been fourth in GT2 at the time of the incident. Law had just taken over the wheel for the sunrise stint when he hit oil on the track, which sent him flying at full speed into the tire wall and the metal barrier behind it. He suffered some bumps and bruises in the accident, but was back in the cockpit a few days later for a Grand-Am race at Mid-Ohio.

"It was a frustrating and disappointing end to our week at Le Mans," added Law. "Everything was going very well for the team up until the accident. Because of the weather and some mechanical issues in practice, I hadn't had as much seat time as I had hoped, but I was very comfortable with the car and the track by race start. We had a fast car and the crew was operating at 100 percent and it seemed like we were just settling into our rhythm when the accident happened just after dawn. It was a shame: not the way we had planned it, for sure."

The new No. 44 will be ready for the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock on July 18. Seth Neiman will be joined by Johannes van Overbeek for the 2 hour and 45 minute race on the 1.51 mile circuit. (Law and van Overbeek are trading off driving duties in the No. 44 this season.) The No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche, driven by Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, is focused on retaining their GT2 championship lead, they are 21 points ahead of Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari. Bergmeister has won at Lime Rock for the last three consecutive years: twice with Flying Lizard (2008 with Wolf Henzler, and 2007 with Johannes van Overbeek), and in 2006 with Patrick Long (Petersen/White Lightning). Blam added, "Lime Rock is going to be a tough race, more than 25 cars are expected and on that narrow circuit, that's a lot. Risi had a very strong showing at Le Mans: a double podium with the No. 82 (No. 62 in ALMS) Ferrari taking the GT2 win and the No. 83 Krohn Racing Ferrari third. We expect they will have a lot of momentum going into Lime Rock."

Flying Lizard Chief Engineer Craig Watkins discussed the challenge of getting a new car up to speed. "Breaking in a new chassis presents some challenges. The car is the most rigid that it will ever be in its lifetime so it will be extremely responsive to setup changes, more so than a chassis with more time on it which has less torsional rigidity."

Watkins continued, "Lime Rock is almost like a street course in some ways: it is short and speed is not sustained the way it is in the straights at a road course like Miller or Road America. Lime Rock is a very high downforce track, and the tire compound choice and mix will be critical. Because we have so little setup time, we need to have some good luck with the weather and no red flags during the practice sessions so we are ready by qualifying. Qualifying is important at every race, but it can be crucial at a track like Lime Rock where there are so few safe passing opportunities."

Race Details
The 2009 Northeast Grand Prix gets the green flag Saturday, July 18 at 2:05 pm Eastern Time. It will be broadcast live on SPEEDTV. In Europe, MotorsTV will broadcast the race tape delayed on Monday, July 27th beginning at 9:15 PM (UK); 9:00 pm CET (Central European Time). Fans can also listen in at radiolemans.com and to the Flying Lizard team radio at www.lizardms.com.

Lizard team gear will be available in the paddock at the Flying Lizard store July 17-18. To visit the online store, click here.

About 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.

Flying Lizard has also competed in the 24 Heures du Mans from 2005 through 2009, finishing third in 2005, fourth in 2006, and sixth in 2008.

Flying Lizard is sponsored in the American Le Mans Series by ShoreTel, a leading provider of enterprise IP telephony solutions and eSilicon, a semiconductor company, both based in Sunnyvale, California; and RedlineCoffee.com, a premium coffee company dedicated to motorsport enthusiasts, based in Boulder, Colorado. Team partners include Porsche and Michelin.

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