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.