June 12, 2011 – Le Mans Final Note

3:30 pm CET, June 12 – Although it wasn’t the finish that we had hoped for, the Lizards are delighted to have completed this grueling race – our seventh 24 Heures du Mans. The No. 80 Flying Lizard Porsche of Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, and Lucas Luhr finished 6th in GTE Pro. The No. 81 of Seth Neiman, Darren Law and Spencer Pumpelly was retired in Hour 18 (Mechanical); they were 2nd in GTE Am at the time. It was a heartbreaker for the 81 crew, but a fantastic showing nonetheless. Congrats to the Lizards for bringing the No. 80 home. Thanks to all of our fans who stayed with us over the 24. We’ll see you all in a few weeks at Lime Rock as we head back to our ALMS competition.

June 12, 2011 – Le Mans Hour Eighteen Update

09.00 CET June 12, 2011 — Just into hour 18, the No. 81 GTE Am Flying Lizard Porsche lost drive with Spencer Pumpelly, who was in P2 at the time, behind the wheel. Spencer was unable to continue, and and the No. 81 was retired. It was a very disappointing end to a fantastic showing by Spencer, Darren Law and Seth Neiman who ran nearly problem free until the incident.

More trouble was not far behind: just after the 81 retirement, Patrick Long in the No. 80 radioed in that he had a problem. He was able to make it to the pits, where the crew repaired a broken injector wire to cylinder number 1. Lucas Luhr took over the wheel from Patrick, but the repair cost the No. 80 four positions, pushing them from fourth to eighth.

It was a frustrating 30 minutes for the Lizards who had successfully navigated the multiple incidents during the night-including another large incident involving the then-GTE leader (the No. 74 Corvette) and the 63 Felbermayr GTE Am Porsche-with no major issues other than tire punctures.

The No. 80 is currently P8 in GTE Am. The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari currently leads GTE Pro.

June 11, 2011 – Le Mans Twelve Hour Update

03.30 CET June 12, Circuit de la Sarthe – Just past the halfway point at the 24 Heures du Mans, Spencer Pumpelly is first in GTE Am in the No. 81 and Lucas Luhr is 7th in GTE Pro. We’ve had just two hours of green flag since the lengthy caution to repair the damage caused by the accident with the No. 01 Audi. The Lizards have continued to run relatively problem-free, and the drivers are double stinting over the night. After the cleanup from the accident, the green flag flew at 01.00 CET this morning: Patrick Long was in the No. 80 and Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 81. 30 minutes after the caution, Spencer turned the wheel of the No. 81 over to Darren Law, who took the GTE Am lead shortly after. At 2.30 am, Patrick pitted for driver change to Lucas Luhr and 30 minutes later Spencer again took over for Darren. Shortly after taking the wheel, Spencer lost some time with an unplanned pit stop to replace a punctured tire, but still retains P2 in GTE Am. The No. 80 is still P7 in GTE Pro. The No. 74 Corvette leads GTE Pro and the No. 61 Ferrari leads GTE Am.

Le Mans Almost Ten Hour Update

Circuit de la Sarthe — 0.40h CET, Sunday June 12 — Just shy of the 10 hour mark, Patrick Long is sixth in GTE Pro in the No. 80 and Spencer Pumpelly is fourth in GTE Am in the No. 81. Both drivers are circulating the course under a caution caused by a very large accident involving the No. 01 Audi and a Ferrari. We have been under this caution for nearly two hours, with green flag expected shortly at 0.45 this morning.

We’ve had no major issues since the tire puncture on the No. 80 early in the race, and have been cycling through our driver lineup and pit stops. Both cars have already changed pads once. So far, no rain and it has warmed up significantly since this morning. We’ll report more once we are under green again.

Le Mans Four Hour Update

June 11, 2011 — Circuit de la Sarthe — 19.30h CET — Just past four hours into the 2011 24 Heures du Mans, Patrick Long is in the No. 80 Flying Lizard Porsche, still on his first stint, and is currently seventh in the GTE Pro Class. In the No. 81, Spencer Pumpelly is currently fourth in GTE Am.

It was a clean start for the entire field, with Joerg Bergmeister starting 12th in class in the No. 80 and Darren Law third in the No. 81. An early tire puncture sent Joerg into the pits for an unscheduled stop for new tires. As the drivers began to settle in, a major accident involving the No. 3 Audi resulted in a full course yellow which lasted more than an hour. As the track workers scrambled to repair the wall which was damaged in the accident and clear up the debris which was scattered over a significant distance, the drivers circled the track under yellow.

Just past the two-hour mark, the course went green, with Joerg and Darren still on their first (double) stints. 40 minutes later, Darren handed the wheel over to Seth Neiman for his first stint in the No. 81 — now in P4 in GTE Am. At the three-hour mark, Joerg pitted for driver change to Patrick Long, and then Spencer Pumpelly took over in the No. 81 for his first stint.

With no major incidents so far in the race except the tire puncture, the Lizards are pushing to stay consistent and avoid problems. The weather has held — it’s been fairly pleasant