September 2, 2011 – Baltimore, Maryland – It’s been a rough start to the Baltimore Grand Prix race weekend. The practice sessions were delayed by several hours today for the promoter to complete track preparations, however IMSA was able minimize the effect on the teams and ran two practice sessions in the afternoon. Luckily there were few red flags in practice, giving the drivers some time to learn the new circuit and meet basic setup goals.

In the 15-minute qualifying session, Patrick Long clocked the third fastest time in the No. 45 and Darren Law was eighth in the No. 44. Towards the end of the session, Long made contact with the No. 62 Risi Ferrari. As a result of the incident, IMSA officials excluded both the No. 45 and the No. 62 from qualifying; both cars will start from the back of the grid. The No. 44 is also required to start from the back of the grid because the car failed to meet the minimum lap time requirement for both drivers.

Law commented, “We went in a direction just before qualifying that didn’t work out, but we know what we need to do tomorrow to get to the right setup. I’m actually really enjoying the circuit. It’s fun to drive but very bumpy – more than some of the other street courses we have run. The track is very tight and working traffic is going to keep us on our toes, especially starting from the back. It should really be an exciting show tomorrow.”

Long added, “The 45 made steady progress over the day: we started out at 2 pm with a car that we weren’t happy with but by qualifying we had a solid racecar. We didn’t have the car for the pole today, but I thought we might have something for P2; unfortunately I got tangled up with the No. 62 and we’ll be starting from the back tomorrow.”

The two-mile, 12-turn temporary street circuit weaves through the heart of downtown Baltimore, circling the scenic Inner Harbor and Camden Yards. It’s the first race on this circuit and the first Baltimore-based event for the American Le Mans Series. The Lizard driver lineup this weekend is Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long in the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and Seth Neiman and Darren Law in the No. 44.

Heading into the seventh race of the 9-event ALMS season, Bergmeister and Long are sixth in the GT drivers’ championship with 51 points; Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller of the No. 56 BMW lead with 108 points. Flying Lizard is fourth in the GT team championships, tied with Team Falken Tire. 75 possible points remain: 20 at Baltimore, 25 at Laguna Seca and 30 at Petit Le Mans.

Follow the Race
The Baltimore Grand Prix broadcast on ABC begins at 4:00 pm ET on Sunday Sept. 4 (2:00 pm PT: note difference in starting time between time zones; please check local listings). ESPN3.com will carry live coverage of the race (starting at 4:30 pm ET on Sat., Oct 3). American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón races are also broadcast live in Canada on Rogers SportsNet, in Europe on MotorsTV, and in the Middle East and Latin America on Fox. Check local TV listings for details. Outside of the U.S., the race will be available live at americanlemans.com/live.

Flying Lizard will broadcast the team radio live throughout the race; read the team race blog for frequent team updates at www.lizardms.com

About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Flying Lizard Motorsports has competed in the American Le Mans Series GT class since 2004. The team has finished in the top three in the ALMS GT drivers’ and team championships every year since 2004. In 2010, Flying Lizard No. 45 drivers Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long won a hard-fought battle for the GT drivers’ championship. In 2009 and 2008, the team swept all ALMS GT titles: drivers’ championship (Bergmeister and Long in 2009, Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler in 2008); Flying Lizard won the team championship; and Porsche won the manufacturer championship. In 2009, the Flying Lizard No. 44 Porsche also won the Michelin Green X Challenge championship.

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.

The team is sponsored in the ALMS by Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), a global software innovator delivering context-aware mediation and messaging solutions for communication service providers and eSilicon, a semiconductor company.

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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