Long Beach - Race - Lizards 2nd, 3rd and 7th

Checkered flag - Wolf did everything he could without risking the car to pass the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari, but couldn't make it past, although it looked like an extremely close finish at the end. We'll wait for final results, but it looks like the No. 71 takes the win, the No. 45 settles for second, with the No. 46 in third. It was an exciting finish to the race, with the leading GT2 cars neck and neck for the last 10 minutes. With just a few minutes to go, the No. 87 Farnbacher Porsche, in fourth place, bumped the No. 46 in the hairpin turn, causing a chain reaction and pushing Patrick into Wolf in the No.45. Luckily neither of the Lizard cars were damaged, although the No. 87 may have damaged a radiator.

Happily, Long Beach did not see the rate of attrition that we saw at St. Pete a few weeks ago, and 12 of the 14 GT2 entries finished the race.

Congratulations to the entire Lizard team for their third podium in a row. We will see you all in a few weeks in Salt Lake City! ** Jennifer **

** Six minutes remain ** Wolf in P2, Patrick in P3.

5:50 - Wolf is putting tremendous pressure on the No. 71 Ferrai, looking for an opp to pass. Patrick is right behind Wolf.

5:45 - The No. 62 was assessed a stop and go penalty. They are now in P 9, following the penalty. Nine minutes left.

** 12 mintues lef tin the race **
5:38 pm - The No. 21 Panoz is stopped on the front straight - course is now yellow. No. 37 is still sideways in exit of Turn 11. This yellow could work to our advantage, allowing No. 45 to close the 5 second gap between him and the leader, the No. 71 Tafel RAcing Ferrari. However it will also allow the other GT2 cars on the lead lap (the No. 46, and No. 48) to close their gap.

Positions: P 1 No. 71; P2 No. 45; P 3 No. 46; P 4. No 48; P 5 No. 61.

5:37 pm - The No. 37 Intersport prototype sideways on course in exit of Turn 11.

** 25 minutes left in the race **

5:29 - The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari did not change tires during its pit stop, taking that gamble to be able to get out of the pits ahead of the No. 45 and No. 46, who did take new tires. The No. 62 continued to have some issues in the pits and had a lengthy pit stop. So new positions: P1 No. 71; P 2. No 45; P 3. No 46; P 4 No. 48; P 5 No. 62; P 6 No. 61; P 7 No. 5; P 8 No. 62. Lonnie is in p 11.

5:27 - No. 46 is out with Patrick Pilet in the car. No. 45 is out with Wolf Henzler in the car. Both cars changed all four tires and fuel. Both cars exited the pits under green. The No. 62 is in the pits and is apparently having trouble starting.

5:24 - No. 46 and No. 45 are both called into the pits. 31 minutes left in the race

5:20 - The No. 46 and No. 45 crew are working to determine the optimal time to pit during the yellow. The field has now bunched up under yellow and positions are: P1 No. 45; P2 No. 46; P 3 No. 62; P 4. No 71; P 5 No. 48 Corsa Ferrari. The No. 87 Tafel Porsche had a long pit stop, and has falled down to 12th. No. 44 is in P 13.

5:17 - Yellow flag and pits are closed. Cause of yellow is to remove debris from Turn 11. Race control notifies that it should be a short yellow. Both the No. 46 and the No. 45 crew call their drivers in for driver change, tires and fuel.

5:15 - Debris reported in Turn 11. The crew gets ready for a possible yellow. Air temperatures are starting to drop off significantly now and we should see the track start to cool down quickly.

5:10 - The No. 87 was slow on course but I'm not sure of the reason. He continued and is now back on pace.

5:02- Joerg passes the No. 45 to take the lead. Johannes is in P2 in the No.46. Lonnie Pechnik in the No. 44 is in P 13, 1 lap down on the next closest car, the Aston Martin.

**Just under one hour left in the race. **

4:51 - Lonnie Pechnik is out in the No. 44. The No. 44 was the first of the GT2 cars to pit. Positions are: P1 No. 46; P 2 No. 45; P3 No. 62; P 4 No. 71; P 5 No. 87; P 6 No. 61. No. 44 is out in P 13 after a fast pit stop for fuel and tires, with no need for repairs. We should start to see the rest of the GT2 field begin to pit.

4:49 pm - The No. 44 gets ready to pit and driver change to Lonnie Pechnik. The car chief notifies the crew to inspect the car after fueling to determine if there is any damage. The cars are starting to enter the driver/fuel window.

4:43 - Seth in the No. 44 impacted the tire wall, but has continued. He asked the crew to have a look at the rear of the car as he goes by on the front straight to visually inspect it.

4:39 - The strategist of the No.46 Porsche has asked Johannes to let Joerg pass if possible but it's a tough situation because all of the cars are so close together. Prorotype traffic is also starting to thread through the GT2 field. The prototype traffic has widened the gap between the GT2 cars - giving Joerg some breathing room in front of the No. 62 and also putting some distance between the No. 62 Ferrari and the No. 71 Tafel Ferrari in P4. Positions: P1 No. 46; P2 No. 45; P 3 No. 62; P 4 No. 71.


4:33 - The top seven GT2 cars are nose to tail. The No. 62 Ferrari is looking for opportunities to pass Joerg. Joerg in turn, is putting pressure on Johannes, but doesn't want to get too close and risk a problem that could take them both out. The top five cars are within three tenths of a second of one another on their lap times.

4:30 pm - Green flag. Looks like the No. 37 prototype went off line to avoid traffic in front of him. He was able to continue without incident. The GT2 field maintained positiosn on the restart. Johannes in the No. 46 in P1; Joerg in the No. 45 in P2; Seth in the No. 44 in P11.

4;22 pm - The course is yellow and the pits are closed. The No. 11 will need to be removed from the course.

4:21 pm - The race today is just 1 hour and 40 minutes - our shortest race of the season. The No. 11 Viperis slow on the front straight and appears to have pulled off course and stopped.

4:18 pm PT - Green Flag - a clean start for the field. Johannes retained top position at the start, and Joerg is P2. Jaime Melo in No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari is in P 3, with Dominik Farnbacher in the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari in P4. The No. 87 Farnbacher Porsche is P5.

4:11 pm PT - Engine start for the 2 pace laps.

4:00 pm PT - The cars are on the grid. Lizards are starting first (No.46), second (No.45) and eighth (No.44) on the 14-car GT2 grid.

3:51 pm PT - The cars are out on their recon lap. Reminder that we are broadcasting our radio live during the race. See the follow the race tab on the home page for details. The race is tape delayed and will be broadcast on Sunday April 20 on ABC. Check your local listings for broadcast times as it may vary in your market.

3:43 pm PT - We are getting ready for the recon lap (the laps(s) which precede the lining up of the cars on the grid.) Starting drivers will be: Seth Neiman in the No.44 Porsche, Joerg Bergmeister in the No.45 and Johannes van Overbeek in the No.46. We have a short hold to clean some oil off the track.

Morning Warmup
7:30 - Checker is out and the warmup session is over. Joerg was P1 in the No.45, Johannes was P2 in the No.46, and Seth was P 7 in the No. 44. Once the cars are in the pits, the crew will practice driver changes, then head back to the paddock to finish prep for the race.

Race begins at 4:10 pm PT today. ABC will broadcast the race tape delayed starting on Sunday. So - live during the race, please join us on the radio - see the "Follow the Race" tab on the home page for details.


7:27 - 3 minutes left to go. Joerg is P1 in the No. 45. Johannes reports flowers, dirt and bushes on the track - someone evidently went through the planted beds on the side of the course.


7:19 am - Red flag just two minutes into the session after an Acura prototype collided with the Mazda prototype on course, sending the Mazda into the tire wall. Looks like some damage to both cars, although both were able to continue back to the pits.

7:10 am PT - Good morning from Long Beach. It's cool and cloudy this morning, with a chance of rain. We have a 15 minute warmup this morning, our last chance to do any setup changes prior to the race. Unfortunately, with the cool temperatures, it will take most of the session to get the tires up to temp, so we could definitely use a longer session. The cars are lining up at pit out, with Joerg in the No. 45, Seth in the No.44, and Johannes in the No. 45.

Reminder that we are broadasting our radio live during morning warmup and the race tonight- for details, see the follow the race tab on the home page, or directly here
http://powerlink.powerstream.net/002/00324/live2.asx.

The race starts at 4:10 pm PT today, and will be broadcast tape-delayed on Sunday, April 10 starting at 9:30 am PT.