Mid-Ohio - Race Day July 19, 2008

Congratulations to the Lizards!!! Another double podium. No. 46 is second, No. 45 third. No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari won in GT2. No. 44 was retired early in the race due to a mechanical failure.

4:57 pm - Johannes crossed the finish line in P2; Joerg in P3. With a lot of traffic on the last few laps, and the No. 87 right behind Joerg he was not able to get close enough to Johannes until the last lap.

4:51 pm - just under 4 minutes left. Joerg less than 2 seconds behind

4:48 - 7 minutes left. Joerg (in P3) is 3 seconds back from Johannes (in P2). It's really coming down to the wire - if Johannes keeps at this pace, and nothing else happens, he will secure P2. If his tires continue to drop off, and Joerg can do a faster pace, Joerg could possibly still pass Johannes to take P2. The No. 87 is still right behind Joerg.

4:46- Johannes and Joerg now going almost the same pace. Joerg 3.4 seconds back. 9 minutes left. 1:22 minute plus pace. The No. 87 is still close behind Joerg but he also did change tires and most likely will not be able to match Joerg's pace.

4:43 pm - Just over 11 minutes to go, Johannes, who did not change tires in his last pit stop, is reporting that his tires are really starting to go off now. Joerg (in P3) is just 4 seconds back from Johannes (in P2) and if Joerg keeps the pace he is going now, he could catch Johannes before the end of the race.

4:39 pm - Joerg lost a bit of time on the last lap as he let a group of the faster prototypes through. He is now 6.2 seconds back from Johannes in the No. 46. Johannes is one lap down from the GT2 leader, the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari. The No. 44 was retired earlier in the race because of a mechanical failure.

4:37 - Positions are unchanged. P1 No. 71; P 2 No. 46, P 3 No. 45. Joerg in the No. 45, on fresher tires than Johannes in the No. 46 is rapidly closing the gap between the two cars - he is now minus 4.6 seconds from the No. 46. 17 minutes left to go, lap times are 1:22 plus...

4:30 pm - 25 minutes left to go in the race. Both the No. 45 and No. 46 should be able to make it to the end of the race without stopping, assuming no problems. Johannes is in P2, Joerg is in P3. Joerg is on much fresher tires and is running 1 to two seconds faster than Johannes. Joerg is 8 seconds behind Johannes. both are one lap down on the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrarr, in the lead. The No. 87 is just behind Joerg and is in P4, but is running a slightly slower pace than Joerg.

4:29 pm - Joerg passed the No. 87 and is now P3. Johannes in the No. 46 is P2. No. 71Tafel Racing Ferrari is P1.

4:27 - The No. 3 and No. 4 have been given a second, and very hefty, penalty of five minutes in the penalty box under green for unjustifiable risk leaving the pit lane. I assume that this was from the earlier incident (and not another one).

4:23 - Joerg in P 4 is nose to tail with the NO. 87 in P3 and is putting a lot of pressure on the No. 87. Joerg's tires are much fresher so the No.87 is certainly having a tough time. No. 71 still in the lead, with Johannes in the No. 46 1 lap down in P2. Just over 30 minutes left in the race.

4:18 pm - Green flag. Correction No. 71 and No. 87 did not take new tires on their earlier pit stop. Joerg in the No. 45 has fresh tires. Johannes in the No. 46 does not have fresh tires as he did not pit - however, he was able to move up to second place when the GT2 cars which were ahead of him pitted. No. 46 P2, No. 45 P4 (Joerg passed the No. 21 to move from sixth to fifth, and the No. 62 served its penalty, moving from third to sixth, putting Joerg in fourth).

4:14 pm - Positions: P1 No. 71; P2 No. 46; P3 No. 62; P 4 No. 87; P 5 No. 21; P 6 No. 45; P 7 No. 61; P 8 No. 73. No 44 has been retired, due to a mechanical (gearbox) problem earlier in the race. The No. 3 and the 4 cars both received a significant penalty (stop under green 2 minutes plus) for running the red flag at pit exit (and then running into each other). Still yellow.

4:12 pm - A bit of a brouhaha between the two GT1 Corvettes leaving pit lane - they appeared to collide and then there was a bit of a tussle as neither wanted to concede the position to the other. Still yellow. Joerg pitted for fuel and tires, and restarted without problem. No. 87, 62 and No. 71 all pitted. The No. 87 and No. 62 did not take tires but the No. 71 did (we think the No. 71 took tires, but we can't confirm that yet). I'll report positions in a minute. The No. 46 did not pit. The No. 62 will be assessed a stop and go penalty under green, but I'm not sure yet the reason.

4:10 pm - Waveby complete. Cars are beginning to pit.

4:08 pm - The waveby has started.

4:03 pm - The No. 46 strategist Eric Ingraham has notified us that the No. 46 should be good on fuel to the end of the race (although it will be tight) - the lengthy caution is helping that situation. All of the GT2 cars ahead of the No. 46 will have to pit for fuel. This means that Johannes has the chance to take the lead (although the No. 71 is more than 1 lap ahead, the GT2 cars that are in positions 2 through 5 are on the same lap as Johannes). The cars which pit and change tires will be on fresher tires, but they will be behind him. The No. 45 will also need to pit. Hopefully they will be able to get the No.45 quickly restarted at the end of the pit stop and will not have the same problem that they did earlier(the No. 45 has no clutch).

4:00 - The pits are open but still yellow flag. Race control is asking teams to be cautious on their entry into the pits around the area of the fire.

3:54 - 1 hour left in the race. Race control notified the teams that if this yellow (and the closed pits) results in a driver exceeding his maximum allowable time in the car, that they will waive that maximum limit. The reason is that cars are till in their driver change window - since the pits have been closed for a lengthy period of time, they are not able to come in for their planned driver change.

3:51 pm - still yellow. Positions: P1 No. 71; P2 No. 87; P3 No. 62 ;P 4 No. 45; P 5 No. 21; P 6 No. 46. No. 71 is one lap ahead of No. 87, 62, 45, 21, and 46 who are all on the same lap. The other cars will all most likely need to pit again, as will the No. 45 and the No. 46 but the No. 46's pit stop should be short, since they already pitted again for fuel.

3:49 - The No. 66 Acura prototype had a fire in pit lane. It was quickly extinguished by fire crews and the driver appears to be OK but I am not sure of that. The car is sitting in pit lane, and yellow flag continues so that they can remove this car.

3:47 pm - No. 45 will pit under the yellow for tires and fuel. Because they have no clutch, they will have the same challenge as earlier in starting the car. bad news on the No. 44 - it will not be able to rejoin the race and will be retired - mechanical (gearbox).

3:45 pm - Yellow flag to remove the No. 30 prototype. The No. 45 and the No. 46 both need to hustle around so that they stay with the GT2 lead pack and don't lose a lap on the wave by.

3:44 - No. 30 prototype is off driver left in Turn 9.

3:39 pm - Green flag. Looks like Johannes lost only two positions in the pit stop under yellow - he is now P6. No. 45 is now P4. Because of the full fuel during the pit stop, the No. 46 will have to stop one additional time (assuming mostly green flag racing) for fuel, but only a short fuel. He is on the same lap as the lead GT2 group, and one lap down from the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari, the GT2 leader. Positions: P1 No. 71; P 2 No. 87, P 3 No. 62; P 4 No. 45; P 5 No. 21; P 6 No. 46. No. 44 is still behind the wall. No update yet from them.

3:38 pm - No. 46 is out of the pits and rejoins. Still yellow but expect green flag this lap. I'll report positions in a minute.

3:37 - No. 46 pits. The crew will attempt to quickly fix his water bottle and will use the opportunity to add fuel and change tires.

3:35 pm - Still yellow. The No. 46 crew may call Johannes in if the yellow lasts much longer - they will use the stop to fix his water bottle. They had to do a second waveby to correct the field lineup - the No. 12 car received a waveby and moved past the overall race leader to the back of the pack.

3:28 pm - Johannes reports that the connection to his water bottle has broken so he has no water. Still yellow. The GT2 leader, the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari, is one lap ahead of the next GT2 group - the No. 87 in P2 and the No. 62 in P3 are on the same lap as the No. 46 in P4 and the No. 45 in P5.
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3:25 pm - Yellow flag. Pits are closed. The No. 45 cannot risk coming into the pits now because they will have the same problem restarting.

3:22 pm - No. 44 is heading behind the wall to see if they can figure out what the problem is and repair so that the car can rejoin the race.

3:20 - No. 44 still in the pits. No. 46 P 4, No. 45 P5.

3:18 pm - Joerg is in P5 - driving with no clutch. This makes it more difficult and very different than driving with the clutch - primarly in the corners where the normal clutch/brake maneuver is replaced by downshifting.

3:12 pm - Positions: P1 No. 71; P 2 No. 62; P 3 No. 87; P4 No. 46; P 5 No. 45; P 6. No 21. No. 71 is 1 lap ahead of the No. 62, the No. 87 and the No. 46, the No. 45 and the No. 21.

No. 44 is still in the pits as they try and get it started.

3:08 pm The No. 45 will not start - no pedal pressure - Joerg cannot get it started in first gear. They are bleeding the clutch. Joerg is trying to start it withouth the clutch. He is off - but unfortunately we lost some time in the pits. It looks like we are having a similar problem in the No. 44 - no clutch and he cannot get it into gear to start it - no pedal pressure. They are bleeding the clutch on the No. 44 to see if they can get going. They are trying to start it by popping the clutch. Lonnie says he does not think there is a first gear. They are trying again to start in third gear.

3:06 pm - No. 46 is in the pits for tires, fuel and driver change to Johannes. No. 44and No. 45 pit simultaneously. Driver changes to Joerg Bergmeister and Lonnie Pechnik.

3:04 pm - The No. 87 Farnbacher team had some issues in their pit stop - they had pitted before the wave by and it seems that the air jack failed or possibly sunk into the tarmac making it difficult to get the right rear wheel off - they manually lifted the car to remove it. It was a lengthy pit stop.

3:02 pm - Positions: P1 No. 87, P2 No. 45, P 3 No.71; P4 No. 62. No. 44 is P 11. No. 87 Farnbacher Loles is in the pits.

2:57 pm - Yellow flag. We are in our fuel window so I expect all three cars to stop for fuel, tires, and driver change sometime during the yellow. Wolf reports that the clutch is usable intermittently but not consistently. Although he can drive without the clutch, it will make it challenging to restart from the pit box. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari is already in the pits and it looks like they have missed the waveby - this means that they will go from P2 and be at least one lap down on the field.

2:55 pm - The No. 54 has pulled off course and stopped. I don't think it will go yellow, but possible. No 11 in the gravel - I think Turn 9. Probably will go yellow. Lead GT2 positions remain unchanged.

2:47 pm - the No. 1 Audi was hit by the No. 54 Ford as the No. 54 was going into the pits. The Audi spun but continued. The No 54 will receive a stop and go penalty of 3 minutes for "dangerous entry into the pits."

2:42 pm - Just over 30 minutes into the race, GT2 positions unchanged - P1 No. 87; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 71; P 5 No. 46; p6 No. 61. No 44 is P11. Patrick reports that he has a lot of oil on his windshield and cannot see very well. Wolf reports the same issue. They use windshield tear off screens - plastic protective screens that they can easily "tear off" during a pit stop. This helps protect the windshields from cracking from debris and also can be faster than having to manually clean the windscreen.

2:31 The No. 12 prototoype spun off course. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche passed the No. 62 Risi Ferrari to take the lead. Risi in P2. Wolf in p3. Wolf reports that the clutch is stuck on the floor so he'll have to drive without it for the rest of the race. Patrick still P5. Seth P11. The NO. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari in P4 is putting a lot of pressure on Wolf, who is in P3.

2:30 pm - The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche in P2 is putting a lot of pressure on the No. 62 Risi Ferrari which is in the lead. Wolf radioed in again another problem with the clutch. We'll see if this becomes a larger issue.

2:18 pm - A clean race start for the entire field. The lead GT2 cars are starting to spread out a bit and have stayed in their starting positions. P1 No. 62 Risi Ferrari, P2 No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche, P3 No. 45 Lizard Porsche, P4 No. 71 Tafel Racing Porsche, P 5 No. 46 Lizard Porsche. No. 44 is P10. Wolf radios in that the clutch doesn't feel 100%.

2:11 pm ET - Green flag.

2:10 pm ET - No green flag. Not sure yet what happened but yellow flag start. This means that the race clock starts but that the race starts under yellow. Pace car is on track.

2:05 pm ET - cars are rolling for first of two pace laps. Wolf Henzler is starting in the No. 45, Patrick Pilet in the No. 46 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44. No. 62 Risi Ferrari is on the pole and No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is P2.

2:00 pm ET - five minutes to engine start and pace laps. It is a double line start - so No. 45 will be in the second row, No. 46 in the third.

1:36 pm ET - Lizard Porsches are on the grid for today's 2 hour and 45 minute race. Race begins at 2:10 pm ET. We will be broadcasting our team radio during the race - see "Follow the Race" at www.lizardms.com for details.

No. 45 wlil start third on the grid, No. 46 will be fifth and No. 44 seventh.


8:30 am - Checkered flag on the session. Join us again at around 1:45 pm for this afternoon's race, which begins at 2:10 ET. No. 45 was P2, No. 45 was P3 and No. 44 P9.

8:29 am - The No. 12 Prototype spun on course, nearly collding with one of the Audis. He is on the grass but appears to be abel to continue.

8:24 - Seth is now on track in the No.44. Just a few minutes left in the session. The No. 45 is P2 and the No. 46 is P3. No. 44 is P9.

8:20 am - Chief strategist Craig Watkins calls Johannes in in in the No.46 for a quick setup change. The No. 46 is third in the session right now, the No. 45 is fourth and the No. 44 is eighth. The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari is first and the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari is second. Times are starting to pick up as the tires and the track warm up.

8:15 am - 15 minutes left in warmup. WE are P3, P6 and P 7 in the session. Johannes van Overbeek has taken over for Patrick in the No. 46 and Joerg for Wolf in the No. 45.

8:00 am - Good morning from Mid-Ohio. It's cooler this morning as the cars head out for the short warmup session this morning before this afternoon's race. Patrick Pilet is out in the No. 46, Wolf Henzler is in the No. 45 and Lonnie Pechnik is in the No. 44. The race begins today at 2:10 pm ET. We will broadcast our team radio during both this morning's warmup and this afternoon's race. For details, see the "Follow the Race" tab on www.lizardms.com.

The race will be broadcast on NBC - it is tape delayed. Schedule is at "Follow the Race" tab on www.lizardms.com.

Times are much slower this morning than yesterday's qualifying session- it's much cooler than yesterday - the track is cold and green and the tires are not yet up to speed.

Mid-Ohio Qualifying July 18

5:59: Risi No. 62 just bested the No. 87 time and is now P1. No. 87 is P2. No. 45 is P3, No. 71 is P4 and No. 46 is P5. No. 44 is P7.

5:58 - Patrick is getting closer but still not fast enough. He gets one more time by, then they will bring him in.

5:55 - The No. 45 was not able to better his time, so he is coming back in. Patrick is out again in the No. 46 for two timed laps.

5:50 - Wolf is now P3, behind the No. 87 Farnbacher in P1 and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari in P2. Correction - Wolf is just one one hundreth of a second off of the No. 62 in P2 and two one-hundreths off of the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche in P1. Patrick is in P4 and Lonnie in P7. Seven minutes left in the session. No. 45 is in the pits - sounds like they are going to make another go at it as is the No. 46. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari just went off course in the the grass and is pitting.

5:46 - Wolf is back in P1: + two-tenths to Domink Farbacher in the No. 71 in P2. Patrick now P3.

5:45 - Tafel Racing No. 71 is now P1. Wolf is P2, Patrick P3 and Lonnie P4.

5:40 pm - Green flag on the qualifying session. Lonnie Pechnik is out in the No. 44 Porsche, Patrick Pilet in the No. 46, and Wolf in the No. After just one lap, Patrick is P1, Wolf P3.

Mid-Ohio - Friday Practices July 18, 2008

6:20 - Wolf pits for an additional change.

6:12 - Johannes is in the pits again. He is currently P4. Patrick will get in the car to finish out the session. There are apparently some beacon problems so I'm not sure if all times are being recorded.

6:06 - The crew calls Seth in for a driver change to Lonnie Pechnik.

6:04 - Johannes is out again in the No. 46.

6:00 - 30 minutes to go in the session. Joerg pits for driver change to Wolf. Johannesis also pitting for a setup change.

5:56 - Joerg is out again. After a few more timed laps, he will do a driver change to Wolf.

5:53 - Joerg is pitting again for another change.

5:51 - Johannes and Joerg are both out again. Joerg is still P1. Johannes is now P3.

4:47 pm - Johannes and Joerg are both pitting. No. 45 received a speeding warning for speeding out of pit exit on his last exit.

4:41 - Joerg in the No. 45 is pitting for a setup adjustment. Johannes spun in the No. 46 after hitting soem dirt, but no damage and is continuing.

4:35 - No. 12 car was briefly slow through turn 8, but now back up to speed. After the first few laps, Joerg is P1 in GT2, Johannes is P2.

4:33 - Seth radioed in that water pressure is zero - he is near pit lane and pits for the crew to check it out. The crew has not found a problem so it could be a sensor problem - he is heading out again.

4:31 - Green flag. The session is starting a few minutes late - they have extended it to 5:30 from the original 5:25 ending time, but it will still be shortened by a few minutes.

4:26 pm- The Lizards are heading out for the session. This is the final practice prior to qualifying, which begins at 5:40 pm. Temperatures are still very high - in the 90s - but it is slightly cooler than yesterday.

4:23 pm - We are just about ready for the green flag for this afternoon's session.
Joerg will go out first in the No. 45, Seth in the No. 44 and Johannes in the No. 46.


1:25 - Checkered flag on the session. We'll be back for the second pracdtice session of the day at 4:25 pm ET. Qualifying starts just after the second session - at 5:40 pm ET.

1:20 pm - Five minutes left in the session. No. 46 now 2, No. 45 P5, No. 44 P6. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is now P1.

1:12 pm - Joerg spun on course into the grass and continued. He's pitting.

1:02 pm - Wolf pits for a setup change. Joerg is taking over and heading out for his second session.

July 18, 2008 - 1:00 pm ET - Good afternoon from Mid-Ohio. Sorry I'm a bit late getting out the blog for the first practice session today. We have about 30 minutes left in the 1 hour session. It's hot today - even hotter than yesterday, but thankfully there is a breeze today. In the first 30 mins, Patrick Pilet is P1 in the GT2 session with a 1:20.607, just ahead of the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari. Joerg was P5 and Lonnie Pechnik in the No. 44 was P6. Johannes van Overbeek is out now in the No. 46, Wolf Henzler is out now in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44. We had a few mechandical issues in yesterday's test session but everything has been resolved. A new race motor was put in the No. 45 last night, I believe that's the last major change we have on the three cars before tomorrow's race.
So far in the two sessions, the times in GT have been extraordinarily close - just a few hundreths of a second - very close considering the length of the track.

** A reminder that we'll be broadcasting our team radios on race day - both the morning wamup and the afternooon race. For schedule and details, see the "Follow the Race" tab at www.lizardms.com. **

Mid-Ohio - Thursday Test Session July 17

5:11 pm - Checkered flag on GT session - now prototypes only. We'll be back with you tomorrow for the morning practice session at 12:25 pm ET.


5:10 pm - No. 3 Corvette is off in turn 7 after a spin but is continuing.

5:07 pm - No. 62 spun in Turn 11 and went into the dirt but continued.

5:06 pm - Just over five minutes left in the session.

5:04 pm - The No. 45 pits for a wing adjustment.

5:02 pm - the No. 46 is back in the pits and Patrick Pilet is heading out again.

4:55 - Green flag. All three Lizard Porsches are out agian. Wolf still P4, Johannes still P5. Seth is P9.

4:44 - Seth is back in the No. 44. The No. 007 is in the gravel in turn 8. 25 minutes left in the session.

4:38 - Wolf now P4 in the No. 45. Johannes P4. Lonnie is P9. Johannes and Lonnie both pit for setup changes.

4:36 - No. 45 completed his install lap and is back in the pits for another quick check.

4:30 - Red flag to remove a car from the track. All three cars are back in pit lane.
35 minutes left in the session. the No. 45 had a water leak so they are working on fixing that now. No. 46 is back out with Johannes in P5. No. 44 is out with Lonnie and is P9. Wolf is heading out in the No. 45 now.

4:20 - We are P4 (No. 45) and P5 (No. 46).The No. 44 with Lonnie Pechnik behind the wheel is now P9. Johannes is in the No. 46, Joerg still in the No. 45.The No. 66 car spun in Turn 10 but continued. The top six Gt2 are withing five tenths of a second of one another.

4:13 - The No. 44 is in the pits for a setup change. The No. 46 is pitting for driver change to Johannes.

4:09 pm- The No. 45 has restarted and he is cycling through the gears. Seth radios in that he has almost no grip in the No. 44 - like "skating on ice"

3:59 - No. 46 is now P2. No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari is P1. It is extremely hot...

3:53 - The No. 11 Viper went off in Turn 2 but is continuing. No. 44 sped in pit lane and has a start and go penalty. We are only a few yards from pit out, so that seems a bit weird. Correction, it was speeding on pit exit. Seth is back in the pits for his stop and go.

3:52 - The No. 44 repair is conplete and Seth is heading out again.

3:49 pm - A hose appears to have come loose on the No. 44, which caused the water problem. They are fixing it now and Seth should be on his way shortly. The No. 45 appears to have a broken axle. The crew is working to repair it in the pits but this may take some time. The No. 46 is in P6 right now, out of 12 GT2 cars.

3:44 pm - The NO. 44 is back in the pits - looks like there's a water leak and he's leeaking fluid out the back which was probably the cause of the spin. The No. 45 is in the pits with some type of mechanical problem - we don't know yet what it is. The No. 46 is still out.

3:42 pm - Joerg radios in that he can't shift there's a problem with the gearbox. he says it feels almost like the driveshaft. He just left pit lane, and is still rolling but can't shift. Seth spun in the No. 44 but continued.

July 17, 2008 - 3:35 pm - Hello from Mid-Ohio Sports Course in beautiful Lexington, Ohio. It is hot, hot, hot here today - thankfully not as humid as Lime Rock, but definitely hot. We are getting ready for this afternoon's first session - it's a test session that was scheduled to start at 3:35 - looks like the session is running late - from one of the earlier support series session.
Patrick Pilet will go out first in the No. 46, Seth Neiman in the No. 44 and Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45.

The crew stayed on the East Coast after Lime Rock last weekend - they worked on repairing the No. 44 from its crash at Lime Rock with the No. 16 Dyson Prototype, and the repairs on the No. 45 from the contact with the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche. We have a bit more track time here at Mid-Ohio than we did at Lime Rock which will definitely help with setup.

The cars are in pit lane, getting ready for the session.

Lime Rock - Race day

4:50 pm - The No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche clinches it - and wins in GT2. No. 46 was not able to cross the finish line but will receive points because it completed more than 70% of the distance of the overall leader. The No. 44 was retired mid-race due to an incident with the No. 16 Dyson prototype.

The Acura (Tequila Patron) prototype has taken the overall win - congratulations to Acura on their first overall win.

4:45 pm - No. 45 is still P1. No. 71 is P2 and No. 87 P3. Of the three Lizard Porsches, only the No. 45 is still running. The No. 44 has been retired due to an earlier accident with the No. 16 Dyson prototype, and the No. 45 has left the pits from damage suffered earlier with the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche.

4:43 pm - On the No. 46, they have removed the rear decklid and the car is smoking significantly. Johannes is exiting the car and the car is being taken behind the wall. Very unfortunate for the No. 46. We have less than five minutes left in the race.

4:42 pm - Johannes calls in that the throttle has started to stick. They have called him into the pits.

4:40 - under 10 minutes to go...

4:34 pm - No. 45 P1. No. 46 in P4. the No. 45 needs to conserve fuel to make sure he can get to the end of the race without needing fuel. No. 46 is fighting damaged right front radiator and bodywork damage - they added water a few minutes ago, but he needs to make it to the end of the race without pitting. No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari is P2 and No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is P3. We believe that the Tafel Racing Ferraris do not have brake lights, but so far, no comment from race control on that.

4:31 - 19 Minutes to go.

4:28 - The No. 45 retains the lead, and is 2 laps ahead of the No. 71 Tafel Racing Porsche in P2. The No. 87 Tafel Racing Porsche is now in P3. The No. 46 Flying Lizard Porsche is now in P 4.

4:25 - No. 46 pits for water and to check the car. Leaking right side radiator but they are not going to replace it. They have filled the water system and sent him on his way. He will now be in P3 or 4 once he rejoins.

4:21 pm - Johannes is still out in the No. 46 after the incident with the No. 87.
The crew is watching oil and water temps carefully in case there was damage during the incident. The No. 45 should be able to make the rest of the race without stopping for tires or fuel, if they can conserve fuel. No. 45 is still 2 laps ahead of the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari in P3 and is now 1 lap ahead of the No. 46 Lizard Porsche which is in P2. It appears that the brake lights on both Tafel Racing Ferraris are not working. In the ALMS, cars must have working brake lights. Johannes is stilli in P2, 1 lap ahead of the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari.

The crew made the call to bring the No. 46 Porsche in to add water to the radiators, which we believe were damaged during the earlier incident with the No. 16 Dyson prorotype.

4:17 pm - The No. 87 has received a black flag and a stop and go penalty for the contact with the No. 46. No. 45 is P1; No. 46 is P2.

4:13 - On the restart, Johannes in the No. 46 was forced off track after a tussle with the No. 87 Farnbacher. Unclear what happened, but he went off course and gathered a lot of dirt. He was able to rejoin, but lost the lead. Johannes radios in that the car appears OK. Wolf Henzler in the No. 45 has moved into the lead. No. 44 has been retired, after an earlier incident with the No. 16 Dyson Prototype.

4:12 pm - Green flag.

4:11 - We are about to go green. At the restart, the No. 46 and No. 45 will be at the back of the field, with no cars behind them.

4:08 pm - Double yellow to pick up a piece of debris on the track. The No. 46 remains in the lead, with the No. 45 just behind in P2. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari missed the Chicane and went off into the dirt. The No. 62 is now P4 and the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche in P4. No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari is P3. Wolf radios in that "the track is very greasy and very slippery. If you have to go off line for any reason, there is so much dirt and you get a strong understeer and slide."

** Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radios live - you can listen by clicking on the "Follow the Race" tab on the home page. **

3:57 pm - The No. 46 holds the lead with the No. 45 just behind in P2. Both cars are 2 laps ahead of the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari in P3, which is ahead of the No. 62 Risi Ferrari in P4. There is just under one hour to go in the race. The No. 44, which was significantly damaged in an earlier incident with the No. 16 Dyson prototype, has been retired from the race.

3:53 - Green flag.

3:47 - Still yellow flag. No. 46 with Johannes is P1; No. 45 with Wolf is P2. The No. 44 is unfortunately out of the race.

3:43 - With this yellow flag, if it is lengthy (15 minutes or so) it's possible that the No. 46 and the No. 45 could make it to the end of the race with no additional fuel. We'll see in a few minutes.

3:40 - No. 44 and the No. 16 Dyson prototype got together in a big incident on track. Driver OK, will report more in a minute. Although the car is drivable, the course officials do not want Darren to drive the car back because it will leave fluid on the track from the damaged front radiators. So unfortunately, it looks like the No. 44 is out of the race. Darren appears to be fine. Double yellow.

3:32 pm ET - Johannes van Overbeek now P1 in the No. 46 and Wolf Henzler now P2 in the No. 45. The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is P3 and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari is P4. No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari is P 5 and the No. 21 is P6. No 44 is P 7. the Lizard cars were able to increase their lead on the GT2 field and both the No. 46 and the No. 45 are now 2 laps ahead of the third place car, the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche.


3:31 - Green flags. I'll report positions in a minute.

3:29 pm - Both the No. 46 and the No. 45 had small hiccups at the end of their pit stops. But the No. 46 got out of the pits just ahead of the No. 45 to take the lead.

3:27 - Joerg just went to reserve, got the wave by, will go one time by and then pit for tires, fuel, and driver change to Wolf. No. 46 will also pit for remaining fuel, driver change to Johannes and fuel. No. 45 is in first, with the No. 46 just behind.

3:26 pm - Wave by has started.

3:24 pm - Positions P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 46; P 3 No. 71; P 4 No. 62;Wave P 5 No. 87; P 6 No. 21; P 7 No. 44. The No. 61 Risi Ferrari, which appears to have been involved in the earlier incident with the 008 and the No. 1 Audi, is now P8.

3:20 pm - No. 45 is very low on fuel. If the yellow flag continues much longer, we will need to pit earlier than we had planned for fuel.

3:16 - Still yellow - should be a few more minutes. We were able to retain our lap lead on the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari, but both the No. 45 and No. 46 have to pit. No. 45 will be very low on fuel right now because they did not pit early in the yellow, as the No. 46 did. The No. 44 had pitted prior to the incident so they are fine on fuel.

3:12 pm - Still yellow while they load the 008 on the transport truck.

3:08 - The No. 46 came in briefly during the yellow for a splash of fuel, but no driver change.

3:05 - Major incident between the No. 1 Audi, the No. 008 Aston Martin, and one of the Risi Ferraris. The No. 1 is limping back to the pits. Double yellow. Since we are in iour pits. The No. 008 appears to be unable to continue. This is both good and bad news for us - we were in our fuel window, wo will have the opportunity to pit under yellow. However, it will also allow other GT2 cars to make up their lap and catch up to the No. 45 and No. 46 during the wave by.


3:03 - The No. 2 Audi went off course briefly in Turn 1 on his way out of the pits, but continued.Lizards still P1 and P2.

3:01 pm - No. 46 will pit in 15 minutes. No. 45 is expected in shortly. Wolf will take over for Joerg in the No. 45 and Johannes for Patrick in the No. 46.

2:59 - Darren Law now P7 in the No. 44.

2:56 - Positions: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 46, P 3 No. 71; P 4 No. 62; P5 No. 87. No. 44 reatined P 8 even with their pit stop. No. 71 is P3 but has just been given a stop and go penalty for avoidable contact, which will the No. 45 and No. 46 some breathing room. No. 62 is 1 lap down on the No. 45 and No. 46. We are getting ready for our pit stops for No. 45 and No. 46


2:55 - No. 44 pits for fuel & driver change. They are making some repairs for damage that happened when Seth went off course early in the race. One of the Risi Ferraris went in the dirt again, but is going again.

2:53 - No. 87 Porsche went for an off road excursion, which allowed the No. 62 Risi Ferrari to pass him into P4.

The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari, which is now P3, must have passed the No. 87 just before the incident.

2:51 - No. 61 Risi Ferrari is in the pits.

2:47 - The No. 61 Risi Ferrari went off again but continued. He is now covered with dirt. Approximately 40 minutes into the 2 hour and 45 minute race, we are getting close the the driver window. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 46; P No. 87; P 4 No. 71; P 5 No. 62; P 6 No. 61; P 7 No. 21;P 8 No.44

2:44 pm - Flying Lizard now P1 and P2 - Joerg in the No. 45 is P1, and Patrick in No. 46 is P2. Seth in No. 44 is P8.

2:43 - Patrick has passed the No. 87 to move into P2. Joerg radioed in something about an Audi, but we don't have any info yet. The No. 61 Ferrari is in the dirt but is going again.

2:42 - The No. 11 is in the pits with some major damage. We did not see the incident on our cameras, but he was able to drive back to the pits and is now going
behind the wall.

2:40 - Patrick in the No. 46 has repassed the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari and is back in P3. Joerg still P1.

2:35 - Joerg has moved into P1, passing the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche to take the lead. Patrick, in the No. 46, is P3. Seth in the No. 44 is P8.

Patrick also made it past the No. 87 to take second, but then went off course into the dirt. he continued but lost his position, allowing both the No. 87 and the No. 71 to move past him. Patrick is now P4. Joerg still in the lead.

2:28 - Positions in GT2 P1 No. 87; P2 No. 45; P3 No. 46; P4 No. 71. Seth in the No. 44 now P8.

2:26 - Seth went off track after a large group threaded through but continued.

2:23 - The No. 62 has spun and is off track. He is going again. the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche, which is in the lead, has received the unsportsmanship flag for blocking the No. 45.
Positions: P1 No. 87; P2 No. 45; P 3 No. 46; P 4 No. 71. No. 44 is P7.

2:21 -Joerg is pushing against the No. 87 and Patrick is just rehind Joerg. With prototype traffic is snaking between them, it is very, very touchy right now.

2:20 - Joreg is putting a lot of pressure on the P1 No. 87 Porsche and the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari is just behind Joerg. Joerg missed the chicane, which means that he had to drop back so he did not get an advantage from the shortcut.

2:18 - Joerg moves to P2 after Risi's pit stop. No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche holds the lead and No. 46 is P4. No. 71 Rafel Racing Ferrari is P3. Seth in No. 44 is now P7. Risi No. 62 is now P8.

2:17 - No. 62 Risi Ferrari is in the pits for an early stop. Appears to be fuel and tires. They were P2.

2:14 - The No. 73 Ferrari went off course and stopped but was able to continue without incident. The No. 73 was in P9 behind Seth, and has now falled to P11.

2:11 pm - Patrick Pilet in the No. 46 in P5 is putting pressure on the No. 71 Ferrari, which is in P4. In the No. 45 in P3, Joerg is in his own battle with the No. 62 Risi Ferrari, which is in P2.

2:06 pm ET - Clean start at the front of the prototype field. Joerg is now P3, having passed No. 71 at the start. Patrick P5, Seth P8. No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is P1, No. 62 Risi Ferrari is P2.

2:05 pm ET - Green flag.

2:01 - We are rolling for pace laps. Joerg is in the No. 45; Patrick in the No. 46 and Seth in the No. 44. Starting positions are 4, 5, and 8.

1:27 - Cars are on the grid. We are starting fourth (No. 45), fifth (No. 46) and eighth (No. 44) on the GT2 grid.

1:15 pm ET - We are back. The cars are heading out for their recon lap and to the grid.

** We'll be back with you around 1:45 pm ET for the race which starts at 2:05 pm ET **

10:30 - Checkered flag on the morning warmup session. Joerg commented on the session today "We made some changes last night that definitely improved the car and it's much better today. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the car. We didn't get much track time yesterday, so we're not quite where we'd like to be, but based on this morning we should have a good car for the race this afternoon."

10:25 am - Five minutes left in the warmup. Wolf still P1 in the No. 45, Johannes now P 6 in the No. 46. Seth P 9 in the No. 44.

10:19 am - Wolf is in the No. 45 and is now P1. Johannes in the No. 46 is P3. No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is second and No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferari is P4.

** The race is being broadcast on SpeedChannel. It is tape delayed, for Sunday July 13 at 9:00 am PT/12:00 pm ET **

10:15 - Joerg now P3. Johannes is in the No. 46 and is P 4. Seth is in P3 in the No. 44.
**Reminder - We are broadcasting our team radio live during the race today and for this morning's warmup - for details see "Follow the Race" tab on www.lizardms.com. **

10:11 am ET - Joerg is P1 right now. Patrick is P3. Seth is P 8. Twelve GT2 cars on track tihs morning.

10:05 am ET - Good morning from Lime Rock. Green flag on the morning warmup session before today's race. Joerg is in the No. 45, Seth in the No. 44 and Patrick in the No. 46. yesterday was a challenge for the teams on the new track. The drivers say that the changes have removed nearly all passing areas, which will make this race extremely difficult given the four classes running on the track at the same time. also, the drivers say that the way that the curbing has been implemented on the new corners makes it difficult for them to navigate - race control has stated that they will disallow laps if a driver appears to shortcut any corners - if they hit the dirt on the entry to the corner, it will be disallowed.

Lime Rock Practice and Qualifying July 11

4:20 pm - Based on the qualifying times, we will start fourth (No.45), fifth (No. 46) and eighth (No. 44) on the GT2 grid. Joerg actually did a faster time, which would have put him in third, but that lap was not allowed by race control (said he shortcutted one of the turns).

4:18 pm - They have called Joerg in to the pits. So - looks like there will be no pole here for the Lizards.

4:17 pm - The No. 87 has just taken P1, pushing the No. 62 Risi Ferrari to P2. Joerg in the No. 45 is P3. he is trying for one more lap. The 11 car is in the run off at 1, but was able to continue.

4:14 pm - The No. 45 and No. 44 are in. Patrick is P3 in the No. 46 and Darren is P7 in the No. 44. Joerg is P4, but is going for another run at a better time. Starting position is always important but at a track like Lime Rock where there are so few passing opportunities, where you start on the grid could be critical. Race control said that Joerg took a shortcut at Turn 7 so they are not allowing that lap.

4:09 pm - Sorry that is Joerg in the No. 45 not Wolf. Timing and scoring is showing Wolf, but it's actually Joerg.

4:05 pm - Joerg is trading fast laps with the No. 87 Farnbacher Porsche. Patrick Pilet has now moved into P2 and No. 87 is now P1. Joerg is P3. No. 44 is P6.

4:03 pm - Joerg is P1 in the No. 45. Only about half of the GT2 field is on track so we'll have to see what happens over the session.

4:02 pm - We are a few minutes into the GT qualifying session. Joerg is in the No.45; Patrick in the No. 46 and Darren in the No. 44. All three cars went out immediately at the start of the session because there's a possibility of rain and they want to get their laps in before any precipitation. It's spitting a bit out there, but no substantial rain yet and the track remains dry.

Afternoon practice is complete and the cars are back in pit lane. We have a short 10 minute break until qualifying starts.

3:40 - No. 46 Lizard Porsche is in the tire wall but has continued. We'll know more about the damage once he is in the pit lane. He's in the pits now - damage appears superficial - to the right passenger side.

3:38 - The 007 Aston Martin is off in Turn 1 but apprears to be able to continue.

3:33 - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari went off into the dirt again, spraying a lot of dirt on to the track. The driver was able to continue, but pitted immediately to let the crew check the car over.

3:28 pm - No. 45 is P 2, No. 46 is P 3 and No. 44 is P 6. With all of the red flags, the drivers have not had many laps so far. let's hope the rain holds off so that we can at least have a clean qualifying session.

3:22 pm - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari went off course into the dit but continued. Looks like there is some debris on the track so red flag to remove it.

3:18 pm - Green flag, we are running again. The skies are starting to darken and the wind is coming up - may be some rain coming our way. The weather here at the base of the Berkshires is very changeable.

3:13 pm - The 007 Aston Martin slowed then stoped on course. Red flag to remove him.
right now, Wolf is in the No. 45 in P2; Johannes is P 5 in the No. 46 and Seth is P 8 in the No. 44. We have only 30 minutes left in the session. Qualifying follows the session - starting at 3:55 pm.

3:00 pm ET - Afternoon practice had just gotten underway when the No. 73 Tafel Ferrari went into the wall. they are pulling it out now. Don't have any info on the driver yet. So another red flag. Let's hope tihs is not indicative of how the race will go tomorrow. Johannes is in the No. 46, Wolf in the No. 45 and Seth in the No. 44.

11:43- Red flag - session is over. another big crash in the Chicane. Looks like the No. 008 GT1 Aston Martin hit the wall. Bad break for those guys since they have just repaired the car after a big crash at St. Pete kept them out of the next two races. Hopefully they'll be able to get it repaired and back on track for the race.
We are heading back to the garage for more prep before this afternoon's practice and qualifying. Afternoon practice starts at 2:45 pm ET.

11:40 am ET - Green flag but just four minutest left in the session. the No. 45 and is heading out for what should be three laps or so. The No. 46 and No. 44 are still in the pits. Looks like they are heading out now too.

11:34 am ET - Red flag - not sure of the reason - could be what we see on TV is that the concrete curbing has disintegrated on one section of the track in the uphill section near the chicane. We can see what looks like a bolt sticking out of the pavement - it will obviously need to be repaired.

11:32 - Wolf went into the run off at the chicane, but continued without incident.

11:22 - Wolf will be taking over in the No. 45, and Johannes in the No. 46. All three engineers are working quickly to make aggressive setup changes so that they can spend the afternoon session making refinements. Joerg commented on the track, "There's no grip on the track at all this morning. The changes on the track may improve some things but it will definitely make passing harder."

11:20 am - Darren pits in the No. 44 for driver change to Seth Neiman.
Joerg and Patrick are still out in the No. 45 and 46, respectively. 25 minutes remain in the session.

11:15 am - Darren had "a little spin" in the No. 44 but continued with no issues.


11:10 am ET - Green flag again on the session. Darren Law is in the No. 44, Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45 and Patrick Pilet in the No. 46.

July 11 - 10:45 am ET - Good morning from Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. It's a beautiful day here at the circuit. We are out for our first run at the newly repaved and configured course. Unfortunately, just a few minutes into the session the No. 40 Duran Ford GTR went off track into the barrier and sustained significant damage. Driver appears to be fine, but it's been a substantial delay in the already short 1 hour practice session. Looks like race control will give us an extension, which means we have about 45 minutes left to go.

All three Lizard Porsches have their race engines in already - part of this session will be making sure that they are completely shaken down. Because of the new track, each driver is also having to effectively relearn the course. So far, now major issues for the cars but we've only done a few laps.