Utah - Race! - No. 45 wins, No. 46 P2; No. 44 P 6
3:53- No. 45 wins Utah Grand Prix!!! No. 46 is P2; No. 44 P 6. Congratulations to the Lizards for a fantastic race.
3:52 pm - 1 lap left. Patrick and Joerg are running together with Patrick physically in front, but Joerg in P1. Patrick will let Joerg pass so they can cross together. No. 44 is in P6.
3:49 - 2 laps left. Patrick moves past the No. 87 Porsche into P2. The 87 managed to make it into the pits before running out of gas.
3:48 pm - A car is sideways in Turn 5. 87 did not pit. We are down to the final laps.
3:46 - pm - 5 minutes left, the No. 5 Vici Porsche has gone off course. Still green. We still think Farnbacher will pit. On track, Patrick is physically ahead of Joerg, although one lap back. Patrick is on the tail of the No. 87, which we believe will still need to pit again. We see dust and some cars have gone off, but we don't have detail yet. still green.
3:41 pm - 10 minutes left. P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 87; P 3 No. 46; P 4 No. 71. No. 44 is P6. In the No. 46, Patrick is right on the tail of the No. 87.
3:38 - Darren in the No. 44 is having problems with the fuel reserve. The crew calls him in. He is having to slow down to make it back in.
3:36 - Confirmed that Patrick Pilet in the No. 46 is now P3, behind the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche in P2, and the No. 45 Lizard Porsche in P1. 15 minutes left to go in the race.
3:32 pm MT - The No. 71 Tafel Ferrari crew may be getting ready for a pit stop, which would mean they have to add fuel to finish the race. They pitted earlier than the No. 45 and No. 46 in the race. Tafel was in P2 when they pitted. The No. 45 and No. 46 do not need to pit again for fuel. With Tafel pitting, the No. 46 should move into P3 - we'll confirm that in a minute. No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is in P2. We believe the No. 87 will have to pit again for fuel also, which could give the No. 46 the opportunity to move into P2.
3:30 - Course will stay green. 22 minutes left. The No. 37 prototype has spun and gone off course, after making contact with the No. 28 Corvette. Both cars were able to continue.
3:26. Positions: P1 No.45; P2 No. 71; P3 No.87; P 4 No. 46; P5 No. 21; P 6 No.44.
the No. 1 Audi is off couse and stuck in the gravel. Course may go yellow. If it goes yellow, it could definitely work against the No.45, allowing the GT2 field to close the 1 lap gap that the No. 45 has. It could work in favor of the No. 46, which is in P4, and the No. 44, in P6. The No. 40 Ford, which collided with the Audi, has damage and has pitted.
3:23 - the No. 2 Audi spun on course and has pitted.
** 29 minutes left **
3:21 pm - We believe the No. 45 will be able to finish the race without pitting for fuel. The No. 44 will have to pit for fuel unless there is a long yellow.
3:19 pm - No. 46 gave us a thumbs up as he went by on the front straight, so we know he can hear us, although we can't hear him.
3:14 pm - 38 minutes left to go in the race. The No. 45 has led in GT2 the entire race so far. 45 P1; 46 P 4; 44 P 6. We still have no radio communication with Patrick, although we think he can hear us. We know that he has no water in his water bottle, which will make this stint very difficult for him because of the heat.
3:11 pm - With the No. 62 out of the running, the No. 87 and No. 46 both move up. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 71; P3 No 87; P4 No 46; P 5 No 21; P 6 No 44. The 45 is one lap up on the field. The 71, 87, and 45 are on the same lap. The No. 44 in sixth is 2 laps down from the No. 45, and on the same lap as the No. 21, which is in fifth. if the field continues in this order, it looks like this will come down to the fuel - if any of the lead cars can make it to the end of the race without pitting for fuel or tires.
3:08 pm - Looks like the No. 62 hit the No. 28 GT2 Corvette, went briefly airborne, and then off track. Melo is out of the car, and it looks like they are out of the race. Another tough break for the Risi team. The course is still green, not sure if they will go yellow.
3:06 - One of the Ferraris just went of course, but it's not clear yet which one.
3:02 pm MT - We are having Internet problems - and lost a few blog entries. Positions: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 71; P 3 No. 62; P 4 No. 87; P 5 No. 46; P 6 No. 21; P 7 No. 44. Both the No. 45 and No. 46 pitted for driver change. Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45; Patrick Pilet in the No. 46. Both cars may have to stop again for fuel before the end of the race - we will know more a bit later. We believe the No. 71 and the No. 87 will also have to stop for fuel. We have lost radio communication with the No. 46, although we think he can hear us.
Joerg in the No. 45 is still one lap up on the rest of the GT2 field.
2:44 pm - No. 62 and No. 87 have pitted for driver change, tires and fuel. No. 45 in P1 and No. 46 now in P2. They will pit within the next 5-10 minutes. No. 44 will also have to pit once more for fuel.
2:35 pm - Positions: No. 45 P1; No. 62 P2; No. 46 P3; No. 71 P 4; No. 87 P5. No. 45 is on the lead lap. Wolf still one lap up on the closest GT2 cars.
2:33 pm - The No. 48 Ferrari and the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche both went off course, but continued. In the No. 45, Wolf has led the entire race so far - nearly 1.5 ours. The Lowes No. 15 prototype and one of the Dyson cars have collided on course as the Dyson returned to the track after going off in the gravel - caussing damage to the No. 15.
2:29 pm - No. 45 in P1; No. 62 in P2; No 46 in P 3; No. 21 in P4. No. 48 in P5. No. 45, No. 62. All of the top 5 GT2 cars still have to do a driver change. No. 44 in P 10.
2:26 pm - The crew calls No. 44 into the pits for driver change, tires and fuel. Seth Neiman will hand the wheel over to Darren. It's the No. 11 car that's off course and a local yellow, but not a full course.
2:24 - Car off outside of 13 - not sure who it is yet. Course still green. Positions remain unchanged. No. 45 P1; No. 46 P 5; No. 44 P 8. No. 71 Tafel Ferrari and No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche should have to pit shortly for fuel.
2;28 - Darren Law, heading out in the No.44, reports that the helmet blower, which helps cool the driver in the car, is not functioning. Both the No. 71 and the No. 87 are pitting.
2:16 pm - No. 11 Viper went into the Kitty Litter but continued. Looks like No. 37 was able to get out of the gravel and has continued. No. 44 will pit shortly for its first pit stop. If no yellow happens during the next 20 minutes or so, No. 45 and No. 46 will pit when they have to switch to reserve fuel. 1 hour, 30 minutes left in the race.
2:13 pm MT - Positions: P 1 No. 45; P 2 No. 71; P 3 No. 87; P 4 No. 62; P 5 No. 46. Seth is in P 11 in the No. 44. We are getting close to the driver change window for all cars. No. 37 prototype is off course in the gravel so course may go yellow.
2:08 pm MT - The cars which did not pit under the earlier yellows are starting to pit now for driver change. We are in the window for the No. 44 and expect a pit stop from them in the next 15 minutes. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari, which started from pit lane, has moved to P 4. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is P3. The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari is P 2. All are still one lap back on Wolf in the No. 45.
2:03 pm mt - Course is still green, looks like it is the No. 73 Tafel Ferrari which went off track and is currently stopped off course. Unclear if he will be able to continue. Probably no yellow as the car is off course. Positions: P 1 No. 45; P 2 No. 71; P 3 No. 21; P 4 No. 28; P 5 No. 87. No. 44 is in P 14. The No. 73 has continued and is returning to the pits. There's bodywork damage on the front right. 1 hour and 45 minutes left in the race.
1:59 - In the No. 45, Wolf is once again having to thread through the slower GT2 cars, which are a lap down. It's tough going as there are a lot of them and he has to thread one by one through them, in between faster prototypes. A car is off in Turn 5 and the course may go yellow. All drivers are called to get ready - if the cours egoes yellow, the cars will most likely pit for driver change, tires and fuel.
1:57 pm - Johannes in No. 46 now P 7; Wolf in No. 45 still P1, one lap ahead of field.
1:54 pm MT - Positions P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 71; P 3 No. 21; P 4 No. 28; P 5 No. 87; P 6 No. 62; P 7 No. 46; P 8 No. 40; P 9 No. 18; P 10 No. 5. No. 44 is P 15.
1:47 pm MT - Wolf in the No. 45 has caught the GT2 pack which is bunched together (and on a different lap). He's stuck behind them looking for opportunities to pass. Positions: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 71; P 3 No. 21; P 4 No. 28; P 5 No. 40. Johannes in No. 46 has moved back up to P 10. The entire GT2 field is one lap down on Wolf. The pit stop counter on timing and scoring dow not appear to be working so I can't tell who has pitted. No. 45 and No. 46 have both pitted once.
1:44 pm - Green flag.
1:42 pm - The No. 45 in P 1, has a one lap lead on the GT2 field. Still yellow.
1:41 pm - The No. 46 pits for tires and fuel. Johannes was in P 2 at the time of the pit stop, but the No. 71 Tafel Ferrari and several other GT2 cars did not pit.
1:37 - Still under yellow. The No. 45 pits for tires and fuel and is out quickly - retaining the lead and he may have gained a lap on the second closest GT2 car (the No. 46) - we'll see in a minute. I'll report positions again once we are green and the field sorts itself out.
1:36 - Strategists are working to determine if they will pit or not, depending on whta happesns with the overall leader.
1:33 - On the restart, two prototypes collide on course and significant bodywork damage to the Tequila Patron No. 9 Prototype. Debris on track. Double Yellow
:26 pm - Both Audis (the overall leaders) are pitting under yellow, and a large portion of the field follows. All three Lizard cars stay out.
1:22 pm - yellow flag - pits are closed to clear debris. This is bad luck for us because it will allow the pack to close the gap - Wolf had bult nearly an 11 second lead on the second closest GT2 car - the No. 46. Johannes in the No. 46 was just 2 seeconds ahead of the No. 71 Tafel Ferrari.
1:29 pm - It's an incredible chase for the P1 and P2 field - a large field close together weaving through the slower GT2 traffic. The No. 37 has now fallen back, with the Audis and Penskes moving ahead. The No. 6 Penske Porsche went briefly off track and lost a bit of time. the No. 37 appears to have spun on course and has now fallen back a bit - great start for him though, leading the overall race for the first 15 minutes.
1:16 pm MT - Top 5 GT2 positions: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 46; P 3 No. 71; P 4 No. 48; P 5 No. 28.
1:11 pm MT - Wolf has the fastest time in GT2 - more than 1.5 seconds ahead of the next closest GT2 car, the No. 46.
1:08 pm MT - Clean start. Wolf in the No. 45 in P1; Johannes in the No. 46 in P2; Seth in the No. 44 in P 14. In an unexpected turn of events, the No. 37 Intersport prototype (which started 8th) has moved into the overall lead ahead of the Audis.
1:06 pm MT - Green Flag
1:02 pm MT - The grid is clear and we are just about ready to start the pace lap.
Green flag at 1:05 pm. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari had problems just prior to the recon laps and did not make it onto the grid. They will start from pit lane. This puts Patrick Pilet in No. 46 into P2 starting, and the No. 44 will start 13th. The No. 45 is on the pole. There are 16 GT2 entries.
12:15 pm MT - We are just about to start the recon laps which precede the grid.
Seth will start in the No. 44, Wolf in the No. 45 and Johannes in the No. 46.
Race starts at 1:05 pm MT.
**Reminder- we will broadcast our radio live during the race - to listen, click on the follow the race tab on the home page. TV broadcast is live on SpeedTV. ***
9:25 am MT - Checkered flag. The cars head back to the pits - crew will get a good read of the tire pressures and wear, each car will practice driver changes, and then head back to the garages for final prep before the race. Recon laps will start at 12:30 pm MT.
9:17 am MT - No. 45 pits for driver change to Joerg. Johannes will stay out for the entire session in the No. 46 and Darren in the No. 44. 8 minutes left in the session.
9:06 am MT - Wolf pits in the No. 45 for a fast fuel stop. 18 minutes left in the session. Darren is starting to get the feel of the No. 44 setup and comments that it feels too loose and bouncy on turn in. Sebastien Constans, engineer in the No. 44, calls Darren into the pits.
9:05 am MT - It's fairly cool this morning - about 65 degrees and slightly windy. The sun is just now coming out in full force. The No. 45 and No. 46 both went out with very light fuel so the drivers could test the reserve fuel systems. Both cars will pit immediately for fuel, but tires will still not be up to temp so no changes yet. The No. 46 is in, but No. 45 will do one more lap, then pit.
9:00 am MT - Green flag and the cars head out. Darren is in the No.44, Wolf in the No. 45 and Johannes in the No. 46.
7:50 am MT - We are just 10 minutes away from morning warmup. All three Lizard Porsches are in the pits, getting ready for the short 25 minute session. Darren Law arrived late last night from Laguna Seca, and will use the morning session to learn the new track configuration and adjust back to the RSR after spending the last few days in the Brumos prototype in Grand Am.