April 16, 2013 – Sonoma, California – Flying Lizard Motorsports returns to the racetrack this week for the second ALMS race of the 2013 season, a two-hour race in Long Beach, California. The team enters the weekend in 2nd place in both driver and team championship points and will again campaign two cars at the 1.97-mile street circuit. The complete No. 45 car driver lineup from the Sebring race will return, with Nelson Canache Jr. (Venezuela) and Spencer Pumpelly (USA) again sharing the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Brian Wong (USA) will be joined in the No. 44 car by Dion von Moltke (South Africa), a newcomer to the team who is coming off of major race wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring to start his season. Spencer Pumpelly will be entered in both cars in order to maximize the team’s setup work during the sole 2-hour practice session but he will race and earn points only in the No. 45 for the race itself. The race weekend schedule is very compact, with the cars seeing the track only for the practice session, fifteen minute GTC qualifying, and the race itself.

Dion’s first race with the team will not be his last, as he will complete the 2013 season with the team. Dion spoke about the race and the season as a whole, saying “I could not be more excited to be joining Flying Lizard Motorsports in Long Beach with Brian Wong as a co-driver, and then continuing with the team for the remainder of the season! I have known Brian for a few years now and have raced against him so it will be great to have him as a teammate instead of as a competitor. He is very fast and we both get along really well so I know we will work together to bring our “A” game to Long Beach. The team itself has a fantastic reputation in sports car racing and it will be an honor to throw on that Flying Lizard race suit and to help the team run for the 2013 championship. For PR Newswire, my long term partner in motorsports, this represents a return to the ALMS series and the new partnership with Flying Lizard Motorsports offers new opportunities to grandstand their incredible products and services. I’m of course disappointed to have to give up my close second place position in the Grand-Am Rolex Series GT championship and in prior years I would have jumped on a plane to be able to make both races, but this year the choice had to be made, and I look forward to the merger and to not have to make these difficult decisions on conflict weekends between the series.”

Spencer welcomes Dion to the team, adding “I look forward to Long Beach every year. It is one of the biggest events on the calendar and a race with a great history behind it. I’m really happy Dion will be joining Nelson, Brian, and me. He brings a lot of experience in GTC and will make us a strong 2-car team. Hopefully we can continue our solid championship run.”

The 2013 Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach gets the green flag at 4:30pm PT on Saturday, April 20th. Qualifying will be broadcast live on ESPN and ALMS.com on Friday, April 19th from 5:00pm to 6:30pm PT. The race will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and ALMS.com on Saturday, April 20th from 4:15pm to 6:45pm PT, and tape delayed on ABC on Sunday, April 21st from 10:00am to 12:00pm PT. Internationally the race will be broadcast live on ALMS.com from 4:15pm to 6:45pm PT and on MotorsTV from 1:30am to 3:30am CET.

About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Flying Lizard is based on Sonoma, California, and has competed in the American Le Mans Series for ten consecutive seasons, from 2004 to 2012 in the GT class and in 2013 in GTC. The Lizards have won two ALMS GT team championships (2008 and 2009) and have secured three ALMS GT Drivers’ championships (2008, 2009, and 2010).

Flying Lizard has also competed in the 24 Heures du Mans from 2005 through 2012, finishing third in 2005, fourth in 2006, sixth in 2008, sixth in 2011, and fourth in 2012.

Please visit the team website at www.lizardms.com and the team store at www.flyinglizardstore.com.

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