Detroit Raceday - August 30 Lizards 1st, 2nd and 4th!

5:21 pm - Checkered flag. No. 45 wins in GT2 at Detroit. No. 46 is second, No. 44 is fourth. It was almost a first triple podium for the team, but not to be, as Risi No. 62 Ferrari takes third. Great race by all three Lizard Porsches. Congratulations to the entire team.

5:19 pm - 90 seconds to go. Lizards still P1 (No.45), P2 (No. 46), P4 (No. 44)

5:16 pm - 4 minutes left. Unfortunately, it looks like our hopes of a triple podium are rapidly disappearing as the No. 44 loses time to the No. 62 Risi Ferrari, which passed to take third. No. 45 is still in the lead, and the No. 46 in second.

5:12 pm - 8 minutes left. No. 45 is first, No. 46 is second, No. 62 has passed the No. 44 and Martin reports that he was hit during the pass. He reports that he was hit again.

5:10 pm - Green flag.

5:08 pm - GT2 positions: P1 No. 45, P2 No. 44, P 3 No. 46, P 4 No. 62, P 5 No. 61. We believe that the No. 62 may be still having problems with their door. We also believe they may use the yellow to pit for tires. All Lizard cars should be good to the end of the race for tires and fuel and should not need to pit.

5:05 pm - Some good news - Wolf is back on the radio.

5:02 pm - The No. 21 spun on course and impacted a tire wall, but (narrowly) avoided another car. He continued, but the course is yellow to remove debris. This is not good news for us - it will allow the No. 62 to reclose the gap to the No. 46 and to the No. 44 and No. 45 and could allow the No. 61 to regain a lap to get on the same lap as the lead group. The No. 44 and No.

5:00 pm ET - 20 minutes to go. Wolf Henzler in the No. 45 is in first. He is 32 seconds ahead of the No. 44 in second, and 45 seconds ahead of the No. 46 which is in third. Mika Salo on the No. 62 is in fourth, and is 55 seconds back from Wolf, 10 seconds back from Johannes. Johannes is running the fastest pace of the three Lizards right now, working to build more of a gap from the No. 62. We have not been able to hear Wolf since the last pit stop and driver change, but we believe that he can hear us.

4:54 - Mika Salo in the No. 62 has passed the No. 21 to take fourth. He is now 7 seconds back from Johannes in the No. 46, who is in P3.

4:51 pm - Lizards back to first, second and third. Johannes made a quick recovery following his contact with the No. 7 Penske prototype, and resulting spin off course and punctured tire, which required a pit stop for a new tire. Johannes had been leading at the time of the incident. No. 21 is in fourth, and the No. 62 is in fifth.

4:50 pm - 30 minutes left. Wolf Henzler in the No. 45 is P1. He is 27 seconds ahead of Martin Ragginger the No. 44 in P2. Johannes van Overveek in the No. 46 has passed the No. 21 to move back to third. The No. 21 Panoz is fourth and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari is fifth.

4:44 pm - 36 minutes left. The No. 45 is in P1, the No. 44 is P2, the No. 21 is P3, the No. 46 is P4 and the No. 62 is P5. The No. 45, No. 44, No. 46 and No. 62 should be good on fuel for the rest of the race. I can't confirm if the No. 21 will make it or will need to stop again. the No. 62 is just 3 seconds behind Johannes in P4. Johannes is gaining on the No. 21 Panoz in P3 which is running a significantly slower pace. The No. 62 is running a slightly slower than normal pace - it is possible that they may still be having problems with the driver side door, which caused issues earlier for them.

4:41 pm - 39 minutes left. The engineers are trying to determine how hard the cars can push without risking running out of fuel. No. 7 has been assessed a black flag, stop and go for avoidable contact with the No. 46.

4:39 pm - Positions: P1 No. 45, P 2. No 44, P 3 No. 21, P 4 No. 46, P 5. No 62. The No. 62 is putting a lot of pressure on the No. 46.

4:38 - Johannes pits for tire change and is out quickly again in the No. 46 and is just ahead of the No. 62. This is for position. Johannes is P4 and No. 62 is P5.

4:36 pm - The No. 46 appears to have collided with one of the Penske prototypes and spun and went off course. He was able to continue but believes he has a left rear flat.

4:35 pm - 45 minutes to go. Lizards P1, P2, and P3 - No. 46, No. 45, and No. 44. . The No. 44 in P3 is +22 seconds from the No. 21 in P4.

4:27 - P1 No. 46, P 2 No. 45, P 3 No. 44, P 4 No. 21, P 5 No. 62. All three Lizard Porsches are on the same lap and running close together. The No. 21 in fourth is 9 seconds back from the No. 44. The No. 62, which had to pit twice successively under green, first to repair an open door and again to serve a penalty, is now in fifth, 40 seconds back from the No. 21.

4:26 - More bad news for the No. 62 Risi Ferrari - a stop and go penalty for exceeding pit lane speed limit. They will need to pit again to serve the pentaly. They were in P5 at the time of the penalty.

4:23 - Green flag. The No. 62 has pitted to repair the driver door, putting the Lizard Porsches first, second, and third in GT2. We do not think that we have radio communication with the No. 45 - we think Wolf can hear us, but we can't hear him. Positions: P1 No. 46, P 2 No. 45, P 3 No. 44.

4:20 pm The No. 62 is indeed in the lead, but he keeps opening and sutting the door. There may be a problem. He may need to come in again. Positions: P1 No. 62, P 2 No. 46, P 3 No. 45, P 4 No. 44, P 5 No. 21. Still yellow.


4:19 pm - The No. 46 pits for driver change from Patrick Pilet to Johannes van Overbeek, fuel and tires. No. 44 pits for driver change from Lonnie Pechnik to Martin Ragginger, tires and fuel. No. 45 pits lst of the three for driver change from Joerg Bergmeister to Wolf Henzler, tires, and fuel. The No. 46 needed more fuel thatn the other two cars, so had a slightly longer stop. I thought I saw a red Ferrari beat either the No. 45 or No. 44 out of the pits, but not sure if it was the 61 or 62 or the 45 or 44. I'll report positions in a minute.

4:07 pm - No. 54 has spun, flat right rear, in turn 7. Double yellow to recover the No. 54 from the track. Drivers are getting ready to do a driver change. All of the GT2 leaders should be coming in. P1 No. 46, P 2 No. 62, P 3 No. 44, P 4 No. 21, P 5 No. 45. The No. 45 will also take advantage of the yellow to come in for a driver change back to Wolf Henzler. The yellow will help the No. 44 and No. 45, allowing them to close the gaps among the cars.

4:04 pm - GT2 positions. P1 No. 46, P 2 No. 62, P 3 No. 44, P 4 No. 21, P 5 No. 45. Patrick Pilet in the No. 46, who has been driving for 90 minutes on his starting tires is still the fastest GT2 car on the track.

4:00 pm - 1 hour and 20 minutes left in the race. The No. 44 now in P3. No. 21 moves to P4.

3:57 pm - GT2 positions: P1 No. 46, P2 No. 62, P 3 No. 21, P 4 No. 44, P 5 No. 45. The cars which have not yet done driver change (all of the top 5 except the No. 45) are entering their window for driver change - I expect most of them to pit within the next 20 minutes (if there is no yellow that is, if there is a yellow, they will pit earlier).

3:54 - Joerg in the No. 45 is back on the pace after a few slower laps held up by traffic. Joerg is in P5 and is 17 seconds behind Lonnie Pechnik in the NO. 44 in P4 and is 35 seconds back from Patrick Pilet in the No. 46, who is in the lead. The No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari is in the pits.

3:50 - Patrick in the No. 46 (in the lead) and Jaime Melo in the No. 62 (in second) are far outpacing the rest of the GT2 field - 2 to five seconds per lap. They are running a nearly identical pace, but Patrick is 12 seconds ahead of the No. 62.

3:47 - The No. 62 has passed the No. 21 to move to P2. Positions: P1 No. 46, P 2 No. 62, P 3 No. 21, P 4. No 44, P 5 No. 45. The No. 46 is 10 seconds ahead of the No. 62 in P2 and 24 seconds ahead of the No. 45 in P5. The No. 45 does not need to do a driver change - Joerg Bergmeister is in the car and Wolf Henzler started - but the other four GT2 leading cars do - the No. 46, No. 62, No. 21, and No. 44. The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari, which started second, had a lengthy pit stop and dropped out of the lead group and is now 11th.

3:46 - In the lead in the No. 46, Patrick's lap times are getting faster every lap. He has nearly a 10 second lead on the No. 21 now and is running 2 to 3 seconds faster per lap.

3:42 - The No. 15 is off course and blocking the track in Turn 4. He continued but it was pretty close for several cars coming around the blind corner to encounter him first drivers' left, then right, then in the middle of the track. Patrick now 7 seconds ahead of the No. 21. The No. 62, in P3, has closed the gap to the No. 21 to three tenths. In the No. 44 in P4, Lonnie is staying close to the No. 62 Ferrari. Joerg is 7 seconds behind the No. 44 in P5. The No. 46, No. 62, No. 21, and No. 44 all still need to pit for driver change. The No. 45 does not.

3:39 pm - In the lead, Patrick in the No. 46 is building a gap on the No. 21 Panoz, which is running a slower pace. The No. 62, which is in P3, is 3 seconds back from the No. 21.

3:36 pm - Green flag. Patrick Pilet in the No. 46 is P1. No. 21 is P2. No. 44 with Lonnie Pechnik is P3. No. 62 Risi Ferrari is P4. No. 45 with Joerg Bergmeister is P 5. Lonnie radios in that the No. 62 has passed him to move into P3. The No. 46 has not yet pitted in the race. The No. 44 has pitted once for short fuel and tires, but still needs to do its driver change to Martin Ragginger. The No. 45 has pitted once for tires, fuel and driver change from Wolf Henzler to Joerg Bergmeister. The No. 62 has pitted once but still has its starting driver, Jaime Melo. The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari, which had been in second place at the time of its pit stop, is stuck in the pits and apparently will not start. The No. 16 Dyson prototype is in the tire wall but has rejoined. No yellow.

3:29 pm - Still yellow. No. 46 P1, No. 21 P2, No. 44 P3, No. 62 P 4, No. 61 P 4, No. 45 P6. (I believe that the No. 61 has a stop and go penalty still to serve so that will put the No. 45 into P5.)

3:26 pm - No. 46, which has not yet pitted, is in P1. The No. 44, which pitted early in the race, but still has starting driver Lonnie Pechnik, is P3. Timing and Scoring shows No. 45, which did pit and did a driver change, tires and fuel, in P6. I'll report in a minute. Still yellow as they have do do some repairs on the tire wall that was impacted by the Audi.

Race control says that a black flag should be shown to car No. 71 and when that car is running again (it's still in the pits and apparently cannot start) it must serve a start and go for running over pit equipment.

3:24 - No. 45 pits for short fuel, tires, and driver change from Wolf Henzler to Joerg Bergmeister No. 46 stays out for now. Clean stop for the No. 45. The No. 46 did not pit, so Patrick Pilet is in the lead. The No. 71 Tafel Ferrari is still in the pits and apparently will not start.

3:22 pm - The No. 71 and No. 73 Tafel Ferraris are in the pits. The No. 71 had been in P2 at the time of its pit stop, so No. 46 moves to P2 and No. 44 to P 4. Wtill yellow. Lizard Porsches No. 45 and No. 46 are getting ready for a pit stop.

3:16 pm - All three drivers are readying for possible pit stops and possible driver changes. Still yellow. GT2 field: P1 No. 45, P 2 No. 71, P 3 No. 46, P 4 No. 21, P 4 No. 44, P 6 No. 62, P 7 No. 61. The No. 62, which had been in second, pitted under this yellow but no driver change - Melo is still in the car. Several other GT2 cars have also pitted, allowing Lonnie to move into P5 in the No. 44. The No. 45 and No. 46 have not yet pitted during the race. The No. 44 pitted for a short fuel and tires early in the race during the first yellow. The No. 61 has been given a black flag and a stop and go penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limiti.

3:12 pm - The No. 2 Audi is in Turn 13 in the tire wall. Double yellow. We can see the driver in the cockpit and he appears OK. Signficant damage to the left rear of the car.

3:10 pm - GT2 lead positions remain unchanged from the start. Wolf Henzler in the No. 45 is in the lead, Jaime Melo in the No. 62 is P2, Dominik Farnbacher in the No. 71 is in P3, and Patrick Pilet in the No. 46 is in P4. they are once again bunched togehter nose to tail. The No. 2 Audi is off in Turn 8 now sideways across the track.

3:07 pm - Here comes another pack of prototypes - weaving through. Lonnie now P8 in the No. 44.

3:06 pm - Two prototypes have made it safely through and now the four GT2 cars are again bunched together.

3:05 pm - Looks like the No. 62 touched the No. 45 briefly and is trying for an opportunity to pass. A group of prototypes is coming and will need to thread through the GT2 group.


3:02 pm - All four GT2 leaders are bunched up nose to tail. The No. 45, No 62, No. 71 and No. 46. Just half a second spread from the No. 45 to the No. 46.

2:56 pm - Wolf holding P1 with No. 62 Risi Ferrari close behind him. The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari is in P3, close behind the No. 62. No. 46 is P4. In the No. 44, Lonnie is regaining the positions that he lost during his pit stop and is back up to 9th.

2:53 - Green flag.

2:51 - No. 44 pits for fuel and tires. Still yellow. Race should restart this time by. Clean fast stop for the No. 44 and Lonnie is out again.

2:44 - Still yellow. Wolf radios in that there is not much grip on the track.

2:39 pm - The No. 007 is in the tire wall. Double yellow. Positions: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 62; P 3. No 71; P 4 No. 46; P 5 No. 61; P 6 No. 21; P 7 No. 44.

2:37 pm - It was a clean race start.

2:35 pm - Green flag.

2:28 pm ET - We have engine start and the cars will head out shortly for 2 pace laps.

Starting drivers: Lonnie Pechnik in No. 44; and Wolf Henzler in the No. 45,
and Patrick Pilet in the No. 46.

*** Race will begin at 2:35 pm ET. We are broadcasting our radio live - to listen, click on the Follow the Race tab at www.lizardms.com. The race is also broadcast live on SpeedTV. ***

1:52 pm - Good afternoon from Detroit. Recon laps are just finishing - cars have only a few more minutes before pit exit closes and the grid closes. Everything is OK so far with the three Lizard Porsches and they are all on the grid. The No. 45 will start on the pole, the No. 46 starts fourth and the No. 44 seventh. The weather is clear and beautiful today - but fairly warm and still humid from all of the rain last week.

10:35 - Checkered flag. No. 46 was P3 in the session, No. 45 P 4 and No. 44 P 5. We'll be back with you around 2 pm ET this afternoon for the race! See you then.
*** Jen

10:30 am - The No. 44 hustled in for a driver change to Martin so that he could get in a few laps in the session.

10:28 am - So far so good in the session. 6 minutes left.

10:20 am - Green flag. Because of the rain yesterday during both practice sessions, this is the first dry track running that we've had this week, other than the qualifying session. We have 15 minutes left in the morning warmup - basically all of the setup time that we'll get for this afernoon's race. Wolf Henzler put the No. 45 Porsche on the pole yesterday so that car will start from the front of the grid. The No. 46 is 4th and the No. 44 is 7th.

*** Reminder that we are broadcasting our team radio during this morning's warmup session and the race. The morning warmup session started 20 minutes late - so it will run from 10:10 am ET to 10:35 am ET. The race begins at 2:35 pm ET and will be broadcast live on SPEEDtv. **

10:12 am ET - Lonnie Pechnik is in the No. 44, Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45, Johannes van Overbeek is in the No.46. All three cars are lined up with the rest of the field at pit out, waiting for the No. 2 Audi to be loaded on the roll back. Looks like there some significant damage to that car. Driver is fine.

August 30 - 10:10 am ET - Good morning from Detroit. Things are a bit delayed this morning because of heavy fog this morning. The session is just starting, but on the first green lap, the No. 2 Audi went into the wall and we are now red flag. He may be able to continue under his own power but we are red flag right now.