April 10, 2012 – Sonoma, California – Flying Lizard returns to Long Beach this week for the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach race, which gets the green flag Saturday April 14 at 4:30 pm PT. Porsche factory drivers Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long return in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and factory driver Marco Holzer rejoins Seth Neiman in the No. 44 sister Porsche.

After a disappointing season start at Sebring in March, the Lizards are ready for the unique challenges of a street course. The two-hour event is held on a 1.968, 11-turn temporary course in downtown Long Beach. It’s a notoriously high-consequence circuit which includes a hairpin turn, few passing opportunities and no run-off.

Flying Lizard chief engineer Craig Watkins discussed Long Beach, “Porsches have historically performed well on what I’d call a ‘stop and start’ course like Long Beach where the drivers are hard on the brakes going into a 90 degree turn, then hard on the throttle out of the turn. The rear engine design of the Porsche allows the drivers to put power down with minimum wheel spin. We have an opportunity to do well here if we can navigate traffic — there are only a few places to pass at Long Beach — and avoid any incidents: with no run off, one mistake here usually means the end of your race.”

Watkins continued, “Like most street races, there’s very little track time: a two-hour warmup, then qualifying and then we race. A storm front is moving into California this week; we might have rain on Friday which could further reduce our track time. It’s Marco Holzer’s first time here so we’ll also need to make sure he gets seat time but I’m confident that he’ll pick up the circuit very quickly. Another challenge is the ocean climate: a cool ocean breeze in the afternoon combined with sand will make for a very slippery, low-grip track.”

Follow the Lizards
The Long Beach race gets the green flag Saturday, April 14 at 4:30 pm PT. The race will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com. In-car video will also be available live on www.americanlemans.com. The race is also broadcast live on MotorsTV in Europe, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and on Fox Sports Middle East and Latin America. Read the team’s race blog and listen to the team radio live during the race. Details at www.lizardms.com.

About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Flying Lizard returns to the American Le Mans Series for their ninth season and the fourth consecutive season for Bergmeister and Long together in the No. 45. The Lizards have won two ALMS GT team championships (2008 and 2009) and have finished in the top three each year since 2004. The team has secured three ALMS GT drivers’ championships: Bergmeister and Long took the title together in 2009 and 2010 and Bergmeister with Wolf Henzler in 2008. Bergmeister is five-time ALMS GT drivers’ champion (2005-2006 and 2008-2010) and Long has won the title three times (2005, and 2009-2010), all with Bergmeister. Bergmeister is the only driver in Grand-Am and ALMS history to win the championship in both series in the same year (2006).

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

Visit the team website at www.lizardms.com. For the latest team racing apparel and Porsche gear visit the Flying Lizard stores online and in the paddock.

The privateer team is based in Sonoma, California.

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