2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

Ever since its founding in 2003, Flying Lizard Motorsports has been a truly venomous competitor. The team started competing in the American Le Mans Series in 2004 and has finished in the top-three in the GT2 drivers' and team championships every year.

Then, in 2007, things really began to pick up for Seth Neiman's team. The team would take delivery of the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Type 997). The improved rigidity and handling due to its lowered center of gravity and wider rear track would lead to Flying Lizard finishing 2nd in the driver standings at the end of 2007.

In 2008, Flying Lizard Motorsports ascended to dominant levels. In only its fifth season, Flying Lizard would go on to win its first ever GT2 class championship, as well as the drivers' title. The team would then repeat the effort in 2009 winning both the drivers' and teams' titles.

Heading into the 2010 season, invariably the question was, 'Could they make it three in a row?' The team wouldn't assume they would just win the titles again. They would do everything they could to help ensure success. Neiman would bring back a couple of factory Porsche drivers to spearhead the assault on the 2010 season.

Fielding two cars for the season, the Flying Lizard number 45 would be driven by factory Porsche drivers Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long. The number 44 Porsche would be driven by Seth Neiman and Darren Law. A third driver for each car would be added for the longer events, which would include a trip back across the Atlantic for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

Le Mans would be on the horizon, and on the team's mind, but it would have to wait. The American Le Mans Series season would kick off in March in sunny Florida at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Teams, foreign and domestic, arrived in Sebring, Florida in the middle of March in order to prepare for what was the 58th 12 Hours of Sebring. Teams arrived early for a couple of days testing before practice officially began.

Flying Lizard Motorsports would arrive with its two cars and a driver lineup that would include Marc Lieb driving with Bergmeister and Long in the number 45 Porsche, and, Richard Lietz joining Neiman and Law in the number 44 car. There would be thirteen cars in the GT2 field; thirteen out of a field of thirty-four.

First hosting a race in 1950, Sebring is considered by many to be one of America's classic venues. Although the layout of the circuit has changed a number of times since that first race in 1950, one characteristic that never has could be summed up in one word, 'bumpy'. Being an old training base for bomber pilots back in World War II, the concrete runways used to make up a portion of the circuit have been bumpy ever since the first race. Part of the character of Sebring, the bumps are as much Sebring as the Dunlop Curve or the Mulsanne Straight are Le Mans.

Corvette Racing's switch to GT2 toward the end of the 2009 season meant there would be no GT1 category in the American Le Mans Series for 2010. However, that meant Flying Lizard had to deal with Corvette Racing, as well as, Risi Competizione, Rahal Letterman Racing BMW and Jaguar. And instead of having to watch out for the slightly faster GT1 cars, all of the GT category teams had to watch out for the slightly slower GTC (Challenge) class.

Throughout all of the practice sessions, neither of the Flying Lizard Porsches were among the top-three in the GT category. Instead, the Ferrari 430s of Risi Competizione and the BMWs of Rahal Letterman Racing were among the fastest.

The GT and GTC field rolled out for the start of qualifying at 1:50 in the afternoon of the 19th. Wolf Henzler in the number 17 Falken Tire Porsche would be fast immediately. Jorg Bergmeister would also be fast during the qualifying session. However, after only eight minutes, of the twenty scheduled, Dirk Mueller would turn the fastest lap in the BMW M3. His time around the 3.7 mile circuit would be two minutes and seven-tenths of a second. This would give the number 90 BMW the pole in GT.

In spite of not being amongst the top-three all throughout practice, Bergmeister would show why he was one of a few factory Porsche drivers. He would end up pushing hard in the number 45 Flying Lizard Porsche and, as a result, would end up starting the race (provisionally) 2nd in GT. His best time was two minutes, one and one-tenth seconds. This would end up being only five-hundredths of a second faster than Henzler who would start 3rd in the Falken Tire Porsche. Seth Neiman would end up struggling during qualifying. He would only manage to complete a lap in two minutes, seven and eight-tenths seconds. This would cause the number 44 Porsche to start the race well down in 30th place overall and 13th in class.

Nothing is for sure until the cars pass scrutineering. BMW would find this out. In spite of setting the fastest lap in qualifying, the number 90 car would not pass a stall test later on and was moved to the back of the grid. This handed the pole to Bergmeister, though the team struggled to amongst the fastest throughout practice. The misfortunes for BMW would also allow the number 44 Flying Lizard Porsche to start 29th, instead of 30th.

The field wound around Sunset Curve and headed onto the front straight for the start of the race. The thirty-four cars would dive into the left-hand first turn. Wolf Henzler would manage to get around Bergmeister and would lead the 1st lap of the race. Bergmeister would have the number 62 Risi Ferrari filling up his mirrors.

The top three would run nose-to-tail throughout the first half hour of the race. Bergmeister would sit in 2nd until he had decided he had had enough. Thirty minutes into the race, Bergmeister would get back around Henzler for the lead. Jorg would hold onto the lead throughout the remainder of the first hour of the race.

The yellow would come out one hour into the race. Jorg would pit from his 1st place position. The number 44 Flying Lizard Porsche had also managed to come forward and was running 22nd overall when it was brought into the pits.

After the first pitstop, the number 45 had slipped to 3rd and would remain in the top five throughout the first four hours of the race. By the fifth hour, the number 45 was still running in 3rd, while the number 44 Porsche had managed to make its way all the way up to 17th overall and 9th in GT.

Eight and a half hours into the race, the number 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari was in the lead followed by the number 92 and 90 BMWs. The number 45 Flying Lizard Porsche, driven at that time by Marc Lieb, was running 5th in class and 12th overall. The number 44 Porsche had managed to make its way up to 6th in class and 13th overall.

From the eight and a half hour mark, all the way up to one half hour remaining, the two Flying Lizard Porsches ran together right around the top-five. There seemed to be nothing either team could do to battle the Ferrari for Risi and the two BMWs.

One minute left in the race, things got a little exciting. Dirk Mueller was running in 2nd place coming into turn seventeen. He would end up sliding off the course and into the tires. This opened the door for his BMW sister-car, number 92, to come through to take 2nd place. Unfortunately for Flying Lizard, Lieb wasn't anywhere near close enough to take advantage and finish 3rd.

Jaime Melo, in the number 62 Risi Ferrari, would end up taking the victory. Melo had a lap in hand over the two BMWs that would complete the podium. Marc Lieb would bring the number 45 Porsche across the line in 4th, two laps down. The number 44 Porsche, driven by Neiman, Law and Richard Lietz, would end up finishing the race 5th in class, six laps down.

In spite of running well early on, the number 45 Porsche just could not battle with the Ferrari and the BMW over the course of the entire twelve hours. Still, the number 45 car would leave Sebring with 20 points toward both the team and drivers GT championship. The number 44 would also leave Sebring with a very good result after struggling. The car of Neiman, Law and Lietz would leave Sebring with 18 points.

Upon the conclusion of the 12 hour event, Flying Lizard packed up and headed all the way back west to its home base in Sonoma, California. Although it was a long trip back across the United States the team would at least be quite a bit closer for the second round of the American Le Mans Series in the middle of April.

As the calendar turned to April, Flying Lizard Motorsports packed up its cars and headed the 400 miles southeast to Long Beach, California for the second round of the American Le Mans Series.

The second round took place on the hallowed streets of Long Beach. Ever since its first race in 1975, Long Beach has played host to a number of major racing series. Formula One would come and fly along Shoreline Drive from 1976 to 1983. CART and Champ Car would use the same venue from 1984 up through 2008. The IndyCar Series would make its first appearance in 2009. The American Le Mans Series had been coming to Long Beach since 2007.

North American's longest running major street race, the 1.96 mile street circuit has become a historic venue. The circuit, which has always included the run along Shoreline Drive and the hairpin final turn, has seen many wonderful historic moments over the course of its history and never ceases to surprise.

The race along the streets of Long Beach would be different than the average ALMS event. Instead of a normal two hour and forty-five minute race, the race would be even shorter. Fitting the definition of a sprint race in every sense, the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach would only last 100 minutes.

The circuit promised to make the field tight. Not only was the circuit itself tight in a number of areas, but because of the slow nature of many of the corners the GT cars would be able to keep up with some of the prototypes, especially the Le Mans Prototype Challenge cars.

Throughout practice, the GT cars would manage to lap within a second of the LMPC cars. This made qualifying very important. For if a GT car could get an LMPC between itself and another competitor the competitor would undoubtedly be held up. Patrick Long took this to heart and would be fast right away during practice. However, the competition also had the same in mind. Both of the Corvettes and the Risi Ferraris were fast. The first ten minutes of the session was a furious time. Each team wanted to set the fastest time possible without using the tires too much.

Jaime Melo would prove to be the fastest in a short amount of time. Just as he had back across the country at Sebring, Melo would grab the pole for Risi Competizione. The Falken Tire Porsche, driven by Wolf Henzler, proved fast once again and would start 2nd after completing a lap in one minute, twenty and one-tenth seconds. Henzler would beat out Johnny O'Connell in the number 3 Corvette by a little over a tenth of a second.

In the case of the Flying Lizard Porsches, which had been one of the fastest right from the start in practice, Patrick Long would take the number 45 Porsche and would end up in 4th place in GT when he turned in a lap time of one minute, twenty and four-tenths seconds. This time would end up a little over a tenth slower than O'Connell's time in the Corvette. Long would end up being frustrated and upset with himself concerning the effort. He believed he could have done better but failed to manage the traffic during the qualifying session. The result was a 4th place starting position.

Darren Law would handle the qualifying duties in the number 44 Porsche. He would turn in a best lap time that was almost a second slower that Long in the sister-car. Therefore, the number 44 Porsche of Law and Neiman would start 10th in GT.

Under absolutely beautiful skies, and with temperatures in the low 70s, the 100 minute race got underway. The GT field was bunched up throughout the 1st lap. Wolf Henzler would manage to get by with the Falken Tire Porsche for the lead in the class. Johnny O'Connell held 3rd position right in front of Jorg Bergmeister. Darren Law had lost a position to the Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari.

The GT field ran pretty much unchanged throughout the first half hour, even despite a couple of yellow flags. Henzler was under incredible pressure from Jaime Melo. The number 4 Corvette would manage to get by into 4th position.

Forty-six minutes into the race, Darren Law came to a stop in the number 44 Porsche at turn ten. The car would end up being towed to the pits. Thankfully for Law, the yellow flag would come out for debris on the track. Although the number 44 had slipped down to 32nd overall, and last in GT, the yellow would give the time some time to try and sort out the troubles. What was unfortunate about the situation was the fact the number 45 was planning on coming in for its pitstop.

Bergmeister would come in and switch out with Long. They would also receive four new tires and fuel. The stop went very well for the number 45 car as the team was able to provide them with a 3rd place position in the GT class. The team had moved them up one position during the stop.

While the team managed to move the number 45 forward in the running, they were doing all they could just to keep the number 44 still running. They would work hard, but with only fifteen minutes remaining in the race, the car would be officially retired.

From the time the team serviced the number 45 Porsche for the final time, Patrick Long would be embroiled in a battle at the head of the GT all throughout the rest of the race. Thirty minutes remaining in the race, Long was screaming down the curved front straight behind the two BMWs of Rahal Letterman Racing. In spite of running 3rd, Long had an advantage over the BMWs in that he had fresh new tires, whereas they did not. This allowed Long to attack right from the moment the race went back to green.

Only three minutes after going back to green, and twenty-seven minutes before the end of the race, Patrick Long and the number 92 BMW were surrounded by the leaders of the LMP class coming down the backstretch. Long would cause Adrian Fernandez to have to quickly react as he would step out to pass Joey Hand down on the inside. In spite of getting by Hand, the faster prototype traffic would held Tommy Milner, in the number 90 BMW, to escape and open up a little bit of a lead.

Twenty minutes remaining in the race, Long was all over the rear end of the number 90 BMW. Traffic would separate him from Milner a little. However, the same traffic would bring Milner back Long.

Fourteen minutes remaining in the race, the top two in GT, Milner in the BMW and Long in the Flying Lizard Porsche, were in the midst of another LMPC car. Long managed to get a good run coming onto the back-straight and would out-break Milner going into the right-hander and would make the pass. Milner was trying to defend but would take it in too deep into the corner and really had to get out of the power in order to avoid more trouble. This allowed Long to come forward into the lead.

The next time around, Long would be a little late braking into the sharp hairpin. Milner would end up tapping him in the right-rear trying to make him loose so that he could come back to the lead. Long; however, would hold onto the car and the lead. Long would get back to hitting his marks and, with the help of traffic, would begin to draw away from the rest of the field.

All of the attention turned to the prototype battle once Long had the lead. However, the race in GT wasn't over, except as far as Long was concerned. Long would end up taking the victory, making amends for what he thought to be a terrible qualifying effort.

The battle in GT was behind Long. About ten minutes remaining in the race, the number 3 Corvette, driven by Jan Magnussen, was on an absolute tear. Magnussen would get by the Risi Competizione Ferrari for 3rd. Then, with only three minutes remaining in the race, Jan would get by Milner for 2nd. Tommy Milner would end up holding on to finish the race 3rd for Rahal Letterman Racing.

The win for Flying Lizard Porsche was truly a team effort. Highlighting the job his crew did for him Patrick would say, 'We have some new crewmembers and they hit all their marks, thanks to them tonight. They need to celebrate.' He would add, 'I was joking with Jorg that as the cars were dropping in front of me I knew I had to go so I didn't slide the seat forward because I didn't have enough time to get ready that the crew was moving so fast. So I got out and luckily we were under yellow so I could get my seat into position.'

Long would certain find a comfortable position as he would help the team repeat as winners in GT at Long Beach. More importantly, the team managed to recover from a rather lack-luster result at Sebring. What was interesting was the fact the season was starting out the same as it had in 2009 when the team had won the championship. They had finished 4th at Sebring, just as they had in 2009. And, they won at Long Beach, the same as the season before as well. Could 2010 be another repeat for Flying Lizard Motorsports? The next race certainly would be a test. Should the team come away with a good result, the team's chances would certainly be looking good.

The third round of the American Le Mans Series would take place also in the state of California. The series headed north to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the American Le Mans Series Monterey on the 22nd of May.

For those teams, like Flying Lizard Motorsports, Monterey would be the final tune-up before the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Instead of the relatively flat Circuit de la Sarthe in which the 24 hour race takes part, the American Le Mans Series would prepare to take part on the up and down Mazda Raceway.

The race would offer another couple of twists to all of the teams. For one thing, the race was moved from the last event of the season to the third. Therefore, instead of taking place in October, as it had become customary, the race took part in May. Secondly, the time of the race changed. Not so much when it would start, but how long it would go. In the past, the race lasted four hours. But in 2010, the race would be extended to six hours. This meant it would be the first time the race stretched into the darkness at Laguna Seca.

This would be the twelfth-straight year the American Le Mans Series had been to Laguna Seca. Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long would return to Laguna as the defending champions in the GT category. The two drivers had even scored a victory at the track back in 2005 driving for Peterson/White Lightning Racing in a Porsche 911 GT3.

Coming into the event, Flying Lizard Motorsports was in a tie for the lead in the GT category with Risi Competizione. BMW Rahal Letterman Racing was only one point behind in the standings. So the championship, like the racing, was tight.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is one of the more iconic circuits of today. The 2.23 mile circuit has been featured in numerous videogames and racing simulations and boasts a corner instantaneously recognizable by its name, the 'Corkscrew'. The track rises and falls all throughout. The dramatic drop down through the Corkscrew 175 feet down to the start/finish line is one of the most dramatic sites in all of motor racing.

The 2010 edition would feature the largest field, for any series, at Monterey in a decade. Thirty-five cars would fill the grid for the race that would extend into the darkness.

Throughout practice, the number 45 Flying Lizard Porsche of Bergmeister and Long would be amongst the three-fastest, if not the fastest. The number 44 Porsche just could not match the pace of the factory Porsche drivers.

At 3:30 in the afternoon GT/GTC qualifying began. In spite of being one of the fastest throughout practice, neither of the Flying Lizard Porsches could match the pace of the Ferrari 430s and the Corvette C6-R.

Both Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen would turn quick laps in the Corvettes. So too would Johannes van Overbeek in the Extreme Speed Motorsports 430. However, neither of them would end up being as fast as Jaime Melo in the number 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 430. Jaime would circulate Laguna Seca in one minute and twenty-two seconds and would win the pole in GT. Extreme's van Overbeek would end up three-tenths slower and would start 2nd in class. Oliver Gavin would start 3rd in the number 4 Corvette after setting a time only four-hundredths of a second slower than van Overbeek.

In spite of being one of the faster cars throughout practice, the number 45 Flying Lizard Porsche would only be able to start the race from 8th in class and 20th overall. It wasn't as though Bergmeister was slow either. The competition in GT was so tight in qualifying that the top-eight would be separated by less than a second. Bergmeister's best time would only end up being seven-tenths of a second slower than Melo's time on pole.

The tight competition would make it hard for the number 44 Porsche to gain a really good starting position. Seth Neiman would qualify the car and would end up with a time five and a half seconds slower than Melo. Therefore, the Neiman would end up putting the car on the grid in 13th place, all the way down in 31st overall.

The start of the race was cold but sunny. The start of the 1st lap of the race was hectic. The GT field was bunched right up coming through turn four. Mergmeister would be in the thick of the field trying to move his way forward methodically. He would end up being able to move up to 7th and was looking to move even further forward after the 1st lap.

Bergmeister would get stuck following the two BMWs until the first round of pitstops, which was a little over an hour into the race. Just eleven minutes into the race, Seth Neiman made contact with a GTC Porsche driven by Bill Sweedler. Neiman was able to continue but the number 23 GTC Porsche had stalled at turn six. This contact, and a subsequent pitstop, would cause the number 44 Porsche to slip down to 32nd overall.

A little over an hour into the race, many of the GT teams would make their first stop of the race. Bergmeister would hand the number 45 Flying Lizard Porsche over to Patrick Long. The pitstop, and Long's driving out on course, would enable the car to come up to 3rd one hour and thirty-five minutes into the race.

Halfway through the race, the number 44 Porsche, at the time driven by Timo Bernhard, had managed to make its way up to 22nd overall and 12th in class. The number 45 Porsche; however, had managed to make its way to 2nd in class and was running 5th overall.

Four hours into the race, Bergmeister was running in 6th position. A battle was being waged a little further up the road between the number 3 Corvette and the number 62 Risi Ferrari. There would be contact that would allow the number 01 to get by both for 2nd in GT. The Risi Ferrari would suffer from some damage to the nose of the car. The subsequent pitstop to fix the damage would allow Bergmeister to move up to 4th.

One hour and forty minutes from the end of the race, Bergmeister handed the car to Long for the last time. Coming out of the pits, the car was sitting inside the top-three in GT and inside the top-ten overall. This would set the stage for one of the more exciting finishes on the season.

Just twenty minutes after having made a stop to change drivers, Darren Law would bring the number 44 Porsche back to pit road. As the car pulled into the pits, a large amount of fluid was found leaking at the front of the car. A radiator failure was suspected to be the cause of the leaking fluid. The car had managed to come all the way from starting the race 31st to end up running as high as 17th overall and 10th in class. The troubles would drop the car all the way back down to 27th overall. However, the team would not give up. They would keep the car running.

Over the course of the next hour, Long would remain in the top three and would even take the lead for brief moments. Then, with only fifteen minutes remaining, a short yellow flag was shown. This bunched the field right up; Long was following the number 90 BMW at the time.

Coming into the final corner in preparation to go back to green flag racing, the field was all-tightly packed together. At the very last minute, Long would dive down to the inside of Joey Hand in the number 90 BMW going into the final corner. He would push hard and would end up out-dragging Hand to the first set of corners and would end up taking over the lead in GT.

In spite of not running inside the top-three until the last third of the race, the Flying Lizard Porsche number 45 was peaking at the right time. Once in the lead, Long began to stretch the advantage. With only four minutes remaining in the race, Long's advantage was a second and a half over Hand in the number 90 BMW. However, the race wasn't over.

On what was the white flag lap, Hand was actually catching back up to Long. Then, heading up the hill to dive down through the Corkscrew, Long would miss judge the corner and would get loose going in. Now, Hand was right on Long's rear bumper. There was time for Hand to perhaps pull off the same maneuver Long had turned on him about fifteen minutes prior.

On the way into turn ten, which feeds into the final turn, turn eleven, Long would again run a little wide. Hand was right there on his rear. Coming into the final turn, Long would hold position and would have the advantage in the drag race to the line. Long would hold on, barely, to take the win in GT. Long would win by a margin of just three-tenths of a second over Hand in the number 90 BMW. Oliver Gavin would finish 3rd in the number 4 Corvette. The Flying Lizard crew would persevere. As a result, the number 44 Porsche would also make it to the end of the race. They would finish in 24th overall and 11th in class.

As a result of the victory, Flying Lizard Motorsports was able to gain a five point advantage over BMW Rahal Letterman Racing, and, a ten point margin over Risi Competizione. The perseverance to keep the number 44 car running, and of course the victory by the number 45 car, would all be important confidence builders as the team prepared to take on the best in the world at the world's toughest test in just one month.

Once the team ceased celebrating the victory at Laguna Seca, the Flying Lizard Motorsport team had the daunting task of packing up its cars and equipment in order to make the 6,000 mile journey to France for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the 12th and 13th of June.

Flying Lizard Motorsports would arrive at the end of May in preparation for one of the most famous motor races in all the world and all of history. The Circuit de la Sarthe is part beast and myth. Even the most seasoned veteran of the 24 hour race respects the 8.46 mile circuit and knows full-well the dangers involved in streaking down its long straights for two trips around the clock.

Part of the mystique of Le Mans is its ability to throw just about everything imaginable at a driver and team over the course of the race. The circuit itself features slow corners, fast sweeping corners and incredibly long straights that feature higher top-speeds than any other circuit in either the Le Mans or American Le Mans Series. On the top of the circuit, add traffic of all kinds and fatigue, and the result is never ending drama that only provides rest when it is all over.

Flying Lizard one bring one car to the race. It would be one of eighteen in the GT2 category. While Patrick Long would join Patrick Pilet and Raymond Narac at IMSA Performance Matmut, Jorg Bergmeister would partner with Seth Neiman and Darren Law in the single, number 80, Porsche for Flying Lizard Motorsports.

Unlike in the American Le Mans Series with the GTC class, the GT2 class would be the slowest of all the classes at Le Mans. And it would be toward the back-end of the grid in which Flying Lizard would be found throughout practice and qualifying.

During qualifying, it would seem the Risi Competizione Ferrari would set the pace and be in good shape to take the pole. However, after the first qualifying round, the time set by the number 82 Ferrari would be disallowed when the car failed the post-qualifying inspection.

This opened the door for Corvette Racing who were finding they had not lost a whole lot of speed from when they were at the circuit the year before competing in the GT1 category. Using their extra speed down the straights, the number 64 Corvette would end up being the fastest around the circuit during either of the qualifying sessions. The car would lap the circuit in three minutes, fifty-nine and four-tenths seconds. This time would beat out the number 63 sister-car by only three-tenths of a second. Therefore, Corvette Racing would end up starting 1st and 2nd in GT2. The third fastest in GT2 would end up being the number 95 AF Corse Ferrari. Its best time around the circuit would be only be about five-hundredths of a second slower than the number 63 Corvette.

By comparison, the best lap time the Flying Lizard Porsche would be able to turn around the circuit would be four minutes, two and six-tenths seconds. As a result, the number 80 Flying Lizard Porsche would start the race from the 23rd row in the 46th position overall. In GT2, the car would end up starting 11th.

Looking to settle into a comfortable pace that would put the team in a good position for the final run to the end on Sunday, the start of the race at 3pm was a special, but not as dramatic affair as what it was at the head of the overall race. The number 80 Porsche quickly began lapping at a comfortable pace. Le Mans had not been good to the team throughout its history of coming to the event. Therefore, the team was not trying to fight incredibly hard, but was looking to make it through the long night and be in a good position at the end. Unfortunately, it would end up that the team would have just liked to make it into the night.

Each of the drivers made it through their first stints behind the wheel without too much difficulty. At the end of the 1st hour, the team was running 34th overall and 7th in class. Things continued well as the race clicked-off the second hour. The team was running 40th overall and 10th in class. They had fallen down slightly, but were still looking quite good given the fact they were not pushing as hard as some of the other GT2 cars.

Even at the end of the third hour, the team was still running well. Bergmeister, Neiman and Law had managed to keep the Porsche running right near the top forty. In fact, at the end of the third hour, the team was running 42nd overall and 11th in class. Things were still looking quite good for the team. That is, until…

Past the four hour mark, the team was running still in 11th place in class, but 39th overall. However, halfway through the fourth hour of the race, the car would be involved in an incident that would end up puncturing the radiator. The car would make it back to the pits. The crew would go to work replacing the radiator, repairing the front undertray and some other body damage. The car would be repaired and sent back out on track. Unfortunately, after it was sent back out on track, the car would return to the pits with more serious issues. The crew would inspect the car and would find it had issues that could not be fixed there in the garage. That was it, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was over after only a little over four hours.

'Le Mans once again bites us very hard', Team Principal Seth Neiman would remark. 'It's not easy to accept being out of the race this early, but that's racing.'

Although Flying Lizard was out of the race, there were still many hours of racing still to go for the other teams. Throughout two-thirds of the race the only team to watch was Corvette Racing. Despite an early, but very good, battle with Risi Competizione, Corvette Racing literally dominated GT2 all through the night and most of the early morning hours. But then, with only hours remaining, the leading Corvette would get pushed wide by a Peugeot 908 LMP1 car going through the Porsche Curves. The car would end up sliding off the track and would contact the Armco barriers very heavily. The car would make it back to the pits for repairs but would lose the lead in the process.

Team Felbermayr Proton would end up being handed the lead, of which they would gladly take. The Felbermayr Proton Porsche would hold on to take the prestigious victory by two laps over Hankook Team Farnbacher. BMS Scuderia Italia SpA would end up finishing the race 3rd, eleven laps down.

After the disappointing treatment by Le Mans once again, Flying Lizard Motorsports would return back to the United States and would prepare for the rest of the season in the American Le Mans Series. It would be important for the team to make all the necessary preparations as the season would swing into a high gear once it restarted after the break for Le Mans.

Practically one month after Le Mans, the American Le Mans Series prepared to get back underway. The series would head almost the whole way back across the country for the fourth round of the series. The fourth round would be the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix, which would take place at the Miller Motorsports Park near Tooele, Utah.

Flying Lizard, in spite of the failure at Le Mans, would arrive at Miller Motorsports Park with the lead in the ALMS GT championship and were following the exact same results they had earned the season before when they went on to win the championship. The team finished 4th at Sebring. They then won at Long Beach and the third round of the series. The question was, 'Could they keep following the same pattern and take the championship again?' The Utah Grand Prix would help to answer the first part of that question.

Miller Motorsports park is located just over the mountains from Salt Lake City and was created, initially, to be somewhat of a personal playground for Larry Miller. The project then grew into an idea for an all-out motorsports park that would host a number of different types of racing. The circuit itself was opened in 2006 and features a number of different circuit arrangement possibilities. The full course, in which the American Le Mans Series competes, is 4.48 miles in length and is the longest road course in North America. Designed by Alan Wilson, the circuit, which is located in a dry, desert region over 4,000 feet in elevation boasts of very creative design, and even more creative names for its corners.

The end of the Le Mans 24 hour race meant the whole of the Flying Lizard Motorsports team would be back in back in action. Patrick Long was back with Jorg Bergmeister in the number 45 Porsche, while Neiman and Law were back at the wheel of the number 44 car.

In spite of the length and the number of corners, the times in practice and qualifying were quite close together. Gianmaria Bruni would end up setting the fastest time in qualifying in the number 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 430. Before the tires began to fade, Bruni would turn in a lap of one minute, forty-seven and six-tenths seconds. This time, as it were, would only be six-hundredths of a second faster than Johannes van Overbeek in the 01 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari 430. Toni Vilander, in the number 61 Risi Ferrari, would end up starting 3rd in GT after being just two-tenths of a second slower than van Overbeek.

Jorg Bergmeister would be at the reins of the Flying Lizard number 45 during qualifying. He would turn in a fast lap as well. However, he would end up losing the 3rd place starting position in GT by just two-hundredths of a second. Seth Neiman was handed the responsibility of qualifying the number 44 sister-car. Neiman would struggle during qualifying. His best effort would be six seconds slower than Bruni on pole. As a result, the number 44 Porsche would start the race 12th in class.

Both, the number 45 and the number 44 Porsche, would receive a gift before the start of the race. The number 61 Risi Ferrari would end up actually starting the race from the back of the grid due to problem with the car. This meant Long and Bergmeister actually started the race 3rd in GT, while Law and Neiman would not start dead-last in the class.

On the 1st lap of the race, the number 45 would lose out while the number 44 would gain. The number 92 BMW of Rahal Letterman Racing would manage to get by for 3rd. Meanwhile, the number 44 Flying Lizard Porsche would manage to sit in 9th after the 1st lap of the race.

A yellow flag flew only about thirteen minutes into the race. Some, like the number 45 Flying Lizard Porsche, would take the opportunity to make a pitstop. The number 44 car would not. As a result, the number 44 was running 2nd in class, while the number 45 was down in 6th in class and 22nd overall.

Both cars would look impressive throughout the first forty minutes of the race. The number 92 BMW was in the lead followed by the number 62 Risi Ferrari. However, the number 44 Flying Lizard Porsche continued to run in 3rd while it was closely trailed by its number 45 sister-car in 4th. Order would be restored on the 20th lap as the number 45 would manage to get around the 44.

However, almost as soon as the number 45 Flying Lizard Porsche took over 3rd position in class it had a problem. While trying to move further forward, Bergmeister would suffer from his right-rear tire going down. He would come back into the pits to have the problem sorted. It would be found the right-rear tire had a puncture. Although the tires were changed and the problem was fixed, the issue dropped the car from 3rd down to 9th in class. The left Bergmeister and Long with a lot of hard work to do to try and make up what was lost. The championship was looking to be shaken up.

In spite of the troubles, Bergmeister and Long would work hard. And, by the time one hour remained in the race, Long was sitting in 4th position behind the number 62 Risi Ferrari, the number 92 BMW and the number 3 Corvette. The number 44 Porsche; unfortunately, was beginning to slip down the running order. By the time there was only an hour remaining the team of Neiman and Law was down to 20th overall and 10th in class.

About twenty minutes remained in the race. The number 3 Corvette would end up being handed a stop and go penalty. Once the car came in to serve the penalty, the number 45 Flying Lizard Porsche would move up to 3rd overall. However, the car would end up suffering yet another puncture that would cause them to have to stop and change tires. This would cause them to fall back to 5th place. The number 44 Porsche, after running up near the front earlier on the race, would continue to run toward the tail-end as the end of the race neared. With just one minute remaining, the car was running 20th overall and 11th in class.

Out front, the number 62 Risi Ferrari was suffering from no ills. Gianmaria Bruni and Jaime Melo would end up cruising to the victory. In 2nd place would be the number 92 BMW for Rahal Letterman Racing. In 3rd place, one lap down, would be the number 3 Corvette driven by Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connell.

In spite of the couple of punctures suffered late in the race, Bergmeister and Long would not give up the fight. Long would keep his head and his foot on the gas after the late troubles and would bring the car home in 5th position. The number 44 Flying Lizard Porsche would also make it home. It would finish the race 20th overall and 11th in class.

Although the Flying Lizard Motorsports team would persevere, the facts would be very clear. The team would leave Utah having lost not only the race, but also, the lead in the GT championship. It seemed abundantly clear the older 911 Porsche couldn't match the pace of the Ferraris and the BMWs. At the end of the race, BMW Rahal Letterman Racing was at the head of the standings in GT with 76 points. Risi Competizione would be 2nd, just one point behind. And, Flying Lizard Motorsports would be 3rd with 73 points.

Looking to get back on track after the frustration encountered in Utah, Flying Lizard Motorsports, and the American Le Mans Series, would head east for the fifth round of the championship.
The series would travel almost the entire length of the country to arrive in Connecticut for the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix held at Lime Rock Park.

Totally on the opposite side of the country from Flying Lizard's headquarters in Sonoma, California, Lime Rock Park is one of the fathers of American road racing. Considered the 'Road Racing Center of the East', the circuit is a naturally-flowing circuit that boasts of no grandstands or bleacher seating. It has the feel of being at an event held in a park.

1.53 miles in length, the circuit is short and quite fast. Even in spite of chicanes put in at the 'Uphill' portion, a lap around the circuit in a prototype, in the dry, takes less than a minute to complete. Truly historic, the circuit became listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

The course would seem more suited to hosting a boat race when the American Le Mans Series would arrive. Heavy, and consistent, rains would batter the region making practice, and even, qualifying wet affairs. While the track would dry out at times, the grass immediately to either side of the track was like marshlands. In spite of the weather, Flying Lizard Motorsports was looking forward to Lime Rock. The team was not merely looking forward to the circuit because it would be an opportunity to get their season back on track, but it couldn't have been a better circuit in which for the team to try and get things righted.

Jorg Bergmeister has been the absolute master of the circuit over the course of the previous four years. He and Patrick Long won together in 2006 with Petersen/White Lightning, but they also won at the circuit the previous year (2009) as well. In fact, Bergmeister has actually won four-straight in GT2 at Lime Rock. This was offering the team a lot of confidence coming into the race.

In spite of all of the experience and success, the team would rarely be amongst the top three in GT during practice. Then, as the GT cars rolled out for the twenty minute qualifying session things would change. What was a very steady and rather hard rain lessened to a good degree. But also, Patrick Long would take Flying Lizard to the front.

Throughout the first couple of laps of qualifying it seemed the Corvettes would be battling for the first couple of positions of the starting grid in GT. However, six minutes into the session, Long would turn the fastest lap of them all. His best would be one minute, three and nine-tenths seconds. His time would be followed by a rain that was coming down harder than it had before. This practically protected the pole for Long.

The pole would be the third pole in the American Le Mans Series for Long. Incidentally, two of the three would end up coming at Lime Rock. Wolf Henzler would end up starting the race 2nd with a lap time almost half of a second slower than Long's. Jaime Melo would round-out of the top three with a lap time that was just a little over a hundredth slower than Henzler. Seth Neiman would qualify the second Flying Lizard Porsche. His best time around the circuit would end up being about four seconds slower than his teammate's. This placed the number 44 down in 22nd overall and 12th in GT.

Speaking of Lime Rock in the rain Long would comment, 'It's still Lime Rock. It's fast, it's dangerous. Racing is very, very challenging, especially across all of the classes. The race tomorrow should be really, really spectacular. I really like the fact that it's really technical… The rain is one of those things that is the same for everybody. I feel like Michelin puts us in a class of our own when it comes to rain tires. Jorg has been really working hard on the set-up and gave me a really good car…' Long and Bergmeister would have to go through two hours and forty-five minutes of racing to find out just how good the car really is.

The cars and drivers would prepare to start the race under incredibly oppressive hot and humid conditions. The air temperature was near to 100 degrees and more rain looked as if it would move over the track.

However, the race would get underway a little after two in the afternoon on the 24th of July. Long would lead GT through the 1st lap of the race. He would enjoy having an LMPC car between himself and the number 17 Falken Tire Porsche.

In the case of the number 44 Porsche, Seth Neiman would end up being passed by the number 54 Black Swam GTC Porsche over the course of the 1st lap of the race. He would; therefore, be locked in a battle with Pappas in order to regain the position.

Over the course of the first 12 laps, Long would lead the field in GT. He would be followed by Jaime Melo in the number 62 Risi Ferrari and the number 17 Falken Tire Porsche driven by Wolf Henzler. During the first few laps, Long would cause some trouble for the rest of the field. Amidst LMPC cars, Long would get a little loose and would tap one of the LMPC cars, causing it to run through the marshlands just to the side of the track.

A yellow would come out about twelve minutes into the race. Long and Melo would come into the pits. Long would take on only fuel, but would lose the lead to Pierre Kaffer in the number 61 Risi Ferrari. On the following lap, most all of the other GT cars would come into the pits for at least fuel. A couple of others, including the number 44 Porsche, would not come in. The number 44 was still mired down with some of the GTC traffic and would take the opportunity not to stop in order to try and get around the GTC cars.

As soon as the race went back to green, it went back to yellow. On the second lap of green flag conditions, Melo would go off course and into the tires at turn one. One LMP prototype would go off at turn three. And, another couple of cars would go off at the exit of turn one, all on the same lap. This would bring out yet another yellow. This one would last a little longer than the previous one.

All of these troubles would help Long move up to 2nd in class behind the number 61 Risi Ferrari. Neiman was also able to move forward, but was still trailing one of the GTC cars. The number 62 Risi Ferrari suffered some damage in the right rear. This would require the car to be taken behind the wall. This would help to shake up the championship fight should Flying Lizard keep their cars out of trouble. Of course, there was still BMW, which was the leader in the standings coming into the event.

Long would remain in the 2nd position over the course of the next ten minutes when another yellow flag would be shown to the field. The once strong Corvettes seemed to be unraveling before everyone's eyes. O'Connell would receive a penalty for blocking. Once O'Connell emerged back on the track, he would get together with a GTC Porsche. The Corvette would suffer some damage and would stop out on the course. At the same time, one of the prototypes would slow on the course. This brought out the yellow and prepared the teams for another round of pitstops.

The yellow occurred right at the moment driver exchanges could be made. Each driver has to drive at least forty-five minutes over the course of a race. This yellow occurred right at that time. It was perfect timing for teams to make their driver changes. Sure enough, a few of the teams would come down and make their stops. Long would turn the car over to Bergmeister, while Neiman would turn the car over to Law.

When the race went back to green, Bergmeister found himself right behind the two BMWs in 3rd position. Law was finally in front of all of the GTC traffic in 16th overall and 9th in class.

Just about an hour before the end of the race, the two BMWs made their pitstops. This handed the lead to Bergmeister; a position in which he has become very familiar with at Lime Rock Park. However, he too needed to make one last stop. The team would work furiously to change the tires and to add fuel. Patrick Long would take over for the final hour. The team's work would be fast. Long would rejoin the circuit in 2nd place in GT, behind the number 61 Risi Ferrari.

Long would remain in 2nd throughout the next ten, or so, minutes until the number 61 car would also roll into the pits for its last stop of the day. With that, Long had the lead with forty-minutes remaining. In an effort to provide himself the largest gap possible, Long would set the fastest lap for the car in consecutive laps. At the same time, Darren Law was up to 13th position overall and 7th in class.

Twenty minutes remaining in the race, Long had the BMW of Bill Auberlen breathing right down his neck as he led by only a little over one second. Behind Auberlen was the second BMW. Long continued to hit his marks and maintained the advantage.

The best Long could do was to stretch the margin to two seconds. However, Auberlen would manage to reel Long back in somewhat. It would continue to go like this lap-after-lap.

Five minutes remaining in the race, Long had opened the margin back up to two seconds. But the race was still far from over.

Auberlen would bear down hard. However, he would find an unbreakable Patrick Long. Long would hold on to take the victory for Flying Lizard Motorsports! Overall, Long and Bergmeister would finish just off the podium. They would finish 5th overall.

'I felt like I was swimming with sharks and I had a bloody foot,' Long would exclaim. Speaking of the tight racing in GT, Long would explain, 'With the 62 out and with them being our main rival, we could have set back and let this just be a points day. But then we would have gotten run over. This points battle will go right down to the last race. So if it's not the Ferrari battling, the BMWs and the Corvette will be right there.'

'It's not even my favorite track,' Bergmeister would state, 'but what you really need here is a lot of patience. And you need a really good car and the track suits the Porsche I think…We had to play a lot with strategy today in order to win and Thomas (Blam) (the team's Chief Strategist) did a great job with that today.'

Behind Long and Bergmesiter's number 45 Porsche, the number 92 BMW would finish 2nd. Following the number 92 BMW home would be the number 90 BMW. Darren Law and Seth Neiman would drive a very good race, on a very hot day, and would finish 12th overall and 7th in class.

The victory was just what the team needed to bring them back into the championship hunt. The third win on the season would help them to claw back some points. Upon leaving Lime Rock, Flying Lizard had 93 points. The 93 points would end up providing the team a point advantage over BMW Rahal Letterman Racing. Risi Competizione would leave in 3rd position with 85 points.

Two weeks after the victory at Lime Rock Park, Flying Lizard Motorsports, and the American Le Mans Series, arrived at Mid-Ohio for the sixth round of the series championship.

Mid-Ohio has been another of those tracks that has seen Flying Lizard Motorsports dominate in the GT category. Since 2005, the team had scored three victories, including two in a row in 2006 and 2007. Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long won the race together in 2009. They also had won the event together back in 2006. In fact, In fact, Bergmeister had three races at Mid-Ohio coming into the 2010 edition of the race.

While things with the number 45 car would remain unchanged coming into the race, the same could not be said of the number 44 car. Darren Law would be absent from the race. Therefore, Neiman would bring in Patrick Pilet to co-drive with himself. Pilet had co-driven with Long at the 24 Hours of Le Mans just a couple of months prior with IMSA Performance Matmut.

Considered a fan and racer favorite, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car course, as its name suggests, it located in central Ohio, near Lexington. The circuit opened in 1962 as a 2.4 mile road course. Then, in the early 1990s, a straightaway was paved connecting the two ends of the chicane. This shortened the course to 2.25 miles but it provided the circuit with a better passing option for the competitors. The long back straight has always been a favorite with drivers as it allows the cars to reach speeds in excess of 180 mph before braking hard to climb, and then, fall around turn five. Mid-Ohio features a number of blind corners as the road falls away from the drivers before reaching the apex of the corners. With a capacity for over 75,000 people, there has been a clear reason why the venue has played host to the American Le Mans Series since 2001.

Flying Lizard had used all of its 'magic' to earn another win at Lime Rock Park. With similar success at Mid-Ohio, the team was hopeful they could enlarge their lead by the time they packed to leave. However, BMW Rahal Letterman Racing would provide Flying Lizard a good deal of competition as their headquarters were based only about an hour or so down the road in Hilliard, Ohio.

In qualifying, the Flying Lizard Porsches would struggle. Those consistently fastest within the GT field would be the Corvettes and the Ferrari 430s of Risi Competizione. The fastest of the them all would end up being Toni Vilander. He would lap the circuit in one minute, nineteen and six-tenths seconds. This would end up being seven-hundredths of a second faster than Vilander's Risi Teammate Gianmaria Bruni in the number 62 Ferrari. Qualifying a little less than three-tenths of a second slower than Bruni would be Oliver Gavin in the number 4 Corvette.

As far as the Flying Lizard squad was concerned, the best starter would be the number 45 car. Patrick Long turned in a lap almost one second slower than Vilander. In spite of only being a second slower, the best Long would manage to do was to have the car start 8th in class and 19th overall. Neiman would qualify the number 44 Porsche. He would end up just a little more than four seconds slower than Long, and therefore, would put the car 24th on the grid overall and 13th in class.

The start of the race was greeted with beautiful weather and a dry track. The race would officially begin with a balked run. The field would circulate one more time under yellow conditions, in spite of the clock having started.

During the 1st green lap, Long would manage to get by the number 92 BMW for 7th in GT. However, Long would hand the position back the very next lap. The GT field would remain unchanged throughout the first forty-five minutes of the race. Long would run in 8th position, while the number 44 was sitting at the tail-end of the GT field in 13th.

Forty-seven minutes into the race the yellow flag flew for a stopped LMPC car. Long would bring the number 45 into the pits. The crew would work hard and fast. Long would quickly hand over the wheel to Bergmeister. The stop was quick. As a result, the car would rejoin the race having moved from 8th in GT to 6th. It garnered two spots it hadn't been able to get out on the track. The same pitwork would also lift the number 44 out of the last position in GT. And with Pilet on board, it would have be expected the number 44 would only move even further forward in the running order.

A little over an hour into the race, teams began to have trouble. One of the Corvettes ran into trouble with a radiator problem. The car would subsequently retire from the race. Then, one hour and twenty minutes into the race, Jaime Melo reported to his team the car was having fuel pressure problems. Bergmeister, in contrast, was doing well, but just didn't have the pace to move forward. He was in 5th place in GT. Pilet had managed to bring the number 44 Porsche up to 10th in class.

One hour away from the end, the number 4 Corvette, driven by Oliver Gavin, was in the lead, but just barely. He was closely followed by Jaime Melo in the number 62 Risi Ferrari. Because of the problems suffered by others, and his sheer steady driving, Bergmeister was running 3rd. Patrick Pilet had managed to bring the number 44 car even further forward. He was running 9th in class when the yellow flag flew yet again with only about fifty-five minutes remaining.

All of the GT runners came in during the yellow or just before. This would go to set the stage for the final forty-five minutes. As the race went back to green, Bergmeister was running 4th in class and had the number 4 Corvette right behind. About six minutes later, Gavin would get by Bergmeister for 4th.

Bergmeister wasn't done fighting just yet. He would push hard and would manage to get by the number 90 BMW for 4th. However, he quickly came under fire from an incredibly fast Giancarlo Fisichella in the number 61 Risi Ferrari. However, he would end touching with another GT competitor. Fisichella would end up spinning and came to a stop backward on the track. This brought out the yellow yet again with only about twenty minutes remaining in the race. The resulting trouble would enable Pilet, who had managed to make it up to 8th in class before the incident, to take over 7th.

About fifteen minutes remained when the race went back green. Bergmeister sat in 4th behind the number 92 BMW. He, in turn, was followed really closely by the number 90 BMW. The number 62 Risi Ferrari, despite its earlier fuel pressure problems, was out front with the number 4 Corvette breathing down its neck.

Throughout the remaining ten minutes of the race each of the GT competitors matched the moves of each other perfectly. Nobody made a mistake, nor could anyone make it by. Such was the closeness of the field.

Half of a second separated the LMP category at the finish. The same margin would separate 1st and 2nd in GT. In spite of having a hard-charging Oliver Gavin breathing down his neck, Jaime Melo would hold on to win in the number 62 Risi Ferrari. The number 92 BMW of Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner would end up finishing 3rd.

In spite of not being one of the fastest cars throughout the weekend, Bergmeister and Long would end up finishing a rather good 4th. Unfortunately, the team's major competition all finished better than they had.

Patrick Pilet would sub supremely well for Law. He would take over and help bring the number 44 Porsche up to a 7th place result. This was one of the best results for the number 44 car throughout the whole of the season to that point.

Although the team would hold on to leave Mid-Ohio with some points toward the GT championship, it would; however, leave without the lead in the standings. Risi Competizione and BMW Rahal Letterman Racing would leave tied with 105 points. Flying Lizard would fall backward with 103.

Only three races remained on the season. It would be important for the team's chances that they scored the maximum points possible. The next race, and the next opportunity for the team to try and maximize points would come just a little further west and north.

Elkhart Lake, in Wisconsin, has had a longer history in racing than many people are aware. During the early 1950s, the town of Elkhart Lake hosted SCCA races that started right in the middle of downtown. There were a couple of different circuits that were used. In 1950, a circuit measuring 3.3 miles was used. But then, in 1951 and 1952, a different course, measuring 6.5 miles long, would be used. Elkhart Lake was one of a number of part-time circuits that popped up throughout the United States, and the world, after World War II. However, the race in Elkhart Lake would come to an end after a tragedy at a similar circuit in Watkins Glen, New York.

Like Watkins Glen, racing would not disappear from the area when the public road course would come to an end. Instead, a private road course would open in 1955. The result would be a 4.04 mile monster that has remained unchanged throughout the years and was only just passed for being the longest road course in North America.

A favorite venue for drivers, Road America allows speeds to touch near 200 mph down its long start/finish straight. But this isn't the only point where the cars get to stretch their legs. At two other points on the track cars are able to see just how fast they can go in a relatively straight line. Anything but flat, the circuit rises and falls multiple times over the course of a lap, but nowhere as dramatically as the steep climb heading up to the start/finish line.

The American Le Mans Series had started coming to Road America back in 2002. It has hosted the series ever since and has seen many incredible battles over its 4 mile circuit. In 2010, it was the seventh round of the championship.

Unfortunately for Flying Lizard Motorsports, Road America has remained a rather elusive entity. Both Long and Bergmeister know the circuit well and have been quite successful. In fact, the two won at the track two straight years in 2005 and 2006, but not with Flying Lizard Motorsports. Road America has remained one of those circuits in which Flying Lizard has performed well, but have never earned a victory at.

In the 2009 edition of the race, it was all BMW Rahal Letterman Racing. They proved fastest in qualifying and throughout the race. In 2010, it would be much of the same. The BMWs would be fast, but not as fast as the Corvettes. Road America allowed the superior speed of the Corvette to really strut its stuff.

Seven minutes into qualifying, the two Corvettes would turn the fastest lap around the circuit. Jan Magnussen would be quickest with a lap of two minutes, six and eight-tenths seconds. However, he would be followed by Oliver Gavin who would eclipse Magnussen's time by three-tenths of a second. Pierre Kaffer, in the number 61 Risi Ferrari would end up starting 3rd in GT.

Bergmeister would use all of his experience and talent to turn in a lap time that kept him in touch with some of the other faster GT cars. His lap time would end up only being about nine-tenths of a second slower than the pole winning time. This enabled the number 45 Porsche to start 5th in GT and 15th overall. Seth Neiman, in contrast, just could not put together a fast lap around the circuit. His best lap time would be two minutes and twenty seconds. This would slot the number 44 in 30th position overall, last amongst those that actually set a time in qualifying.

The American Le Mans Series powered by eStar would get underway on the 22nd of August. Bergmeister would hold position in 5th place over the course of the 1st lap. However, things would go downhill from there; even including the number 44 car.

The number 44 would get shuffled back to 32nd overall on the 1st lap and would have to fight to move forward from there. On the 2nd lap, Bergmeister would get backed up to 6th as the 01 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari would get by. Jorg would then give up 6th on the next lap to the number 92 BMW.

As a yellow flag flew thirty minutes into the race, the number 44 Porsche had managed to make its way all the way up to 4th in class due to a number of other competitors making pitstops, which included the number 45. The number 45 would head back to green flag racing all the way down in 9th in GT.

One hour into the race, the more natural order of things was restored. The number 45 Porsche, with Bergmeister at the wheel, would be back up to 5th in class, while the number 44 was shuffled back to 11th.

An hour and ten minutes into the race, things were going to get hectic as another yellow would come out around the circuit. Bergmeister would bring the Porsche into the pits. The crew would change the tires and add fuel while Long stepped into the cockpit. The stop would be fast enough that Long would end up rejoining the track in 3rd position. Just before the green was shown to the field, Neiman would come in for his stop. He would then turn the car over to Darren Law for the remainder of the race. They would rejoin in 10th.

Almost as soon as the race went back to green it went back to yellow because of a car that spun on the front straight and stalled. This opened the door for teams to come back in to get topped off with fuel in order to make the final run to the checkered. Long would be one of those that would come in. The pit crew was incredibly fast. Long would get back out on the track with the lead in GT. Law would even manage to head to the restart in the 5th position. Both positions; however, would be short-lived.

After two laps in the lead, the number 90 BMW would manage to get by Long and take over the point. Long would; however, stay in 2nd. Law was holding on strong in 7th.

Fifteen minutes remaining in the race, Long was trying everything he could to keep in touch with the BMW. Although the top ten in GT were separated by less than thirty-three seconds, Patrick just could not hall in Dirk Mueller in the number 90 BMW.

Using his superior power, Mueller would drive home to the victory by more than two and a half seconds over Long. Oliver Gavin would end up another two seconds behind Long in 3rd place with the number 4 Corvette. Darren Law would drive hard to bring the number 44 Porsche home in 9th.

Once again, the Flying Lizard team did the best they could. They executed their strategy as perfectly as possible. However, it wasn't enough. The most unfortunate thing about the race result would be the fact that one of the main contenders, which the team already trailed coming into the race, would score the maximum points and would only lengthen the points margin despite the team's best efforts. The team now trailed BMW by 6 points in the Team championship standings. The one bit of good news was the fact the team had pulled in front of Risi Competizione by 8 points.

Only two races remained. The next opportunity the team would have to salvage its championship aspirations would come north of border on the 29th of August.

Mosport International Raceway was only the second purpose-built road course in all of Canada when the project broke ground in 1960. When the course opened in 1961 it would come to play host to many of the world's best racing series and drivers motor racing history has known. The circuit would host Can-Am, motocycle racing, World Sportscars, even Formula One throughout the years.

One of the well-known names to come to the track would be Stirling Moss. He would come the first year the track would be open. He would come to like the circuit with the exception of its one hairpin turn. He would suggest making a change. The result would become known as Moss Corner.

Located near Bowmanville, Ontario, the 2.54 mile circuit finds its home in a wonderfully picturesque setting. Undulating with the beautiful terrain, the circuit it fast. It features some very technically challenging corners, like Moss Corner, and a gently winding straightaway known as the Andretti Straight. And as the ALMS arrived for the race in 2010, the track would be in the midst of celebrating its 50th year of racing.

Flying Lizard Motorsports needed every round that remained to be as good as possible. They would have to push the aged Porsche 911 GT3 RSR hard. Throughout practice, Bergmeister and Long would do just that as Bergmeister would manage to top the sheets in one of the practice sessions.

Then in qualifying, Bergmeister was again fast straightaway. Only four minutes into the session he would turn the fastest lap with a time of one minute, seventeen and four-tenths seconds. This would just be eclipsed by Gianmaria Bruni two minutes later when he would record a time that would end up being three-tenths faster. In spite of being beaten by Bruni, Bergmeister had managed to put the number 45 on the grid in 2nd in GT. Tommy Milner, in the number 92 BMW, would start 3rd. His time was only three-hundredths of a second slower than Bergmeister's. Seth Neiman would again qualify the number 44 car. His best time would be a little over four seconds slower than Bergmeister's time and would slot the car 22nd overall on the grid and 12th in class.

The race would start with Bergmeister starting from the pole after the number 62 Risi Ferrari would start from the back of the grid. Throughout the first fifty-seven minutes of the race, Patrick Long would hold off the number 4 Corvette. The Risi Ferrari, number 62, would end up coming all the way from the tail end of the field to be running 3rd by the end of the first hour. The number 44 would run in the 10th position in class.

Long would bring the Porsche into the pits for a scheduled stop. Bergmeister would take over behind the wheel. Only about ten minutes after Bergmeister rejoined the race, there was a massive accident between the number 40 Ford GT and the number 90 BMW. The BMW would end up spinning off course and would hit the curb hard, tearing off the front of the car.

As the race went back to green after the accident between the number 40 and the 90 cars, Bergmeister was in 2nd place behind the other BMW, number 92. Darren Law found himself in the 8th position. Over the next thirty minutes, Bergmeister stalked the number 92 BMW. However; Bergmeister was; himself, stalked by Bruni in the Risi Ferrari.

Bergmeister would take over the lead an hour and fifty-two minutes into the race when the number 92 had to pit. This set up an intense battle between Bergmeister and Bruni for the lead that had been going on while the two were in 2nd and 3rd, but only increased once a victory came into the realm of possibility. Lap-after-lap, Bergmeister would have to use every bit of his talent to hold off the charging Bruni.

Just shy of the two hour mark there would be another savage accident; this time between an LMP car and a GTC Porsche. The Porsche would be sent hard into the Armco barrier destroying many yards. The race would be brought under yellow and would remain so for the next twenty minutes as crews tried to repair the barrier. During the yellow, teams had to prepare to go back to racing. Therefore, many teams, like Flying Lizard, made one last stop. The team would have to be incredibly fast. The crew would add fuel and change tires very quickly. However, Bergmeister would end up in a controlled drag race down to the end of pitlane. Bergmeister would end up beating Bruni out and retained the lead. This would be very important as, after twenty minutes, it was decided to bring the race to a stop with only thirty minutes remaining.

After a lengthy red flag period it was made known that the barrier could not be repaired in a short amount of time. Therefore, it was decided the field would circulate one more time under yellow/white flag conditions. This was not necessary but decided upon to benefit the racing fans that were waiting and hoping.

One last trip around the circuit under yellow was all that remained before Bergmeister and Long would claim an important victory. Bruni would finish in 2nd. Tommy Milner, in the number 92 BMW, would finish the race 3rd. Law would bring the second Flying Lizard Porsche home in 9th position.

The victory tightened the team championship fight right up. Flying Lizard would end up coming back to leave Mosport with a single point advantage over BMW Rahal Letterman Racing. Risi Competizione was also back in the picture slightly as they would only be 12 points down to Flying Lizard. It would all come down to the last race of the season.

The ninth, and final, round of the ALMS season was Petit Le Mans held on October 2nd. This race would take place over a month after Mosport and would be important for a number of reasons.

Not only was the GT battle separated by a single point coming into the race, but the 1,000 mile or 10 hour event was also one of just two events that paid-out an automatic invitation to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans for the victor in each of the classes allowed in the race. Only Le Mans itself is the other that offers an automatic invitation to the victor. On top of it all, the race was also named as the second round of the newly formed Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series. Therefore, the field; particularly the prototype field, would feature a number of foreign entries like Peugeot Sport and Audi. What it all meant was Petit Le Mans would feature its largest ever starting field of 45 cars.

A possible 30 points would be up for grabs for the victor in each class. This was exactly what the Flying Lizard team wanted, and yet, didn't. They had the lead and wanted to extend it. But with more points at play, there was a greater chance the team could lose the team title.

Rain had been falling throughout the week before practice and qualifying even started. Even during practice the rain would reappear and then fade. The previous year's race ended up being stopped well short of full distance because of torrential rains, but despite the rain early on, there was little threat of that episode reoccurring.

Flying Lizard Motorsports had won the event back in 2007. Patrick Long had even scored multiple wins at the event in different classes. While Bergmeister was winning GT2 in the Flying Lizard Porsche in 2007, Long was on his way to victory in LMP2 with Penske Racing in a Porsche RS Spyder. The previous year, Bergmeister and Long would go on to win in GT2 together for Petersen/White Lightning Racing. In spite of their success at the event, over the past two years it has been all Risi Competizione. Flying Lizard didn't necessarily need to stop the trend, just make sure it was in a better position at the end.

Flying Lizard would come to the race with a strong team of drivers in its number 45 car. Marc Lieb would join Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long for the 1,000 mile event. In the number 44 car, Marco Holzer would co-drive with Seth Neiman and Darren Law. This would make the number 44 car a potent challenger as well.

Like the round before, Road Atlanta, which serves as the host circuit for Petit Le Mans, is fast. The short start/finish straight sweeps around, and through, to the esses. The esses then leads to the long back stretch. The speeds amongst the LMP cars down the back stretch were expected to touch close to 200 mph! The speeds would be helped by the fact the straight falls downhill before rising out of a depression for the chicane that leads back to the front straight. A flying lap around the circuit in an LMP car takes just over a minute to complete.

It would end up that there would be five classes of cars out on the track at the same time. Each lap around the fast circuit would be filled with traffic and danger. Coupled with the on track danger, the grass surrounding the circuit was extremely wet and slippery. Just making it through the race would end of being a victory. But that wouldn't be good enough for Flying Lizard if they expected to win the teams' championship title.

It was obvious throughout practice the circuit seemed to favor the Ferrari 430. Then, in qualifying this would be backed up as Jaime Melo would turn in the fastest time amongst the GT competitors. His best lap would be one minute, nineteen and eight-tenths of a second. He would be the only one to break one minute and twenty seconds. Melo's teammate, Gianmaria Bruni, would end up setting the second-fastest time. The next two spots on the starting grid in GT would go to Ferrari 430s driven by Extreme Speed Motorsports.

It would get even worse for the Flying Lizard team. After the number 90 BMW, the two Corvettes would prove to be the 6th and 7th place qualifiers. The best Patrick Long could do was to put the car on the grid in 8th place in GT. This was tough considering his time was less than a second behind that of Melo's. Seth Neiman would once again be about four seconds slower than his sister-car, and therefore, would start the race from 31st on the grid overall and 14th in class.

At 11:30 in the morning the race began. Right from the start, the two Risi Ferraris led the way. The number 45 Porsche remained in 8th position, while the number 44 was trying to make its way forward after dropping one position to 14th in GT.

One hour into the race, Long had managed to work his way up to 4th behind the number 61 Risi Ferrari and the two Corvettes. Darren Law started the race in the number 44 Porsche 911 and had managed to also work his way forward by the end of the first hour. The number 44 car was in the 9th position and looking strong.

Throughout the first four hours of the race, the number 45 car remained inside the top-five and even ran momentarily in the lead. At the four hour mark, the car was in 4th behind the number 3 Corvette, the 01 of Extreme Speed Motorsports and the number 61 Risi Ferrari. If the team had only Risi in front of them over the course of the race, they would be in good position to make it three teams' championships in a row.

Five hours and twenty-five minutes into the race, the yellow flags flew throughout the course. However, for Flying Lizard, things were looking anything but cautious. Patrick Long would come in to hand the car over to Jorg Bergmeister. Long had pulled out of 3rd position to make the stop. The crew would again make a quick stop and would enable Bergmeister to come out in 2nd in class while many of the other competitors were still in the pits.

As soon as the race went back to green, trouble struck the number 45 Porsche. Within six laps, Bergmeister would get shoved back to 5th position in the running order. Unfortunately, one of the BMWs would end up getting ahead.

A little over two hours away from the finish, Bergmeister was back behind the wheel of the number 45 Porsche and was running in the 5th position behind the number 62 Risi Ferrar, the two Corvettes and the 01 of Extreme Speed Motorsports. The good news was that the first of the BMWs was right behind Bergmeister. Darren Law had the number 44 running 10th.

One hour remaining in the race, the number 62 Risi Ferrari continued to run in the lead, chased by the number 4 Corvette. The second Corvette was chasing the 01 Ferrari in the 3rd position. Unfortunately for Patrick Long, who was at the wheel at the time, the number 92 BMW had managed to get by about an hour earlier and was countering every move Long was making trying to pull the position back.

Half hour before the end of the race, things were looking worse for the Flying Lizard team. While stuck in 6th place, the number 92 had managed to get by the number 3 Corvette for 4th. About the only hope the team seemed to have left was that perhaps the number 92 could suffer a mechanical problem before the end of the race.

Unfortunately, on the last lap of the race, it would be the wrong competitor that had a problem. Coming to the end of the long back straight, the number 62 Ferrari suddenly slowed. This handed the lead, and the victory, to the number 4 Corvette. The 01 Ferrari of Extreme Speed Motorsports would end up finishing 2nd as a result of the troubles. Because the Risi Ferrari still had a lap in hand over the number 92 BMW, and 45 of Flying Lizard, it would end up finishing the race 3rd in GT.

The number 92 BMW would not suffer any such problem and would end up cruising home to a 4th place finish. This result effectively leapt Flying Lizard in the teams' championship standings, despite the fact the number 45 would finish 5th. The number 44 car finishing inside the top ten would do little to lighten the mood.

The championship standings would show that BMW had won the teams' championship by a single point. Risi Competizione had finished in 3rd in the teams' title chase. Although Flying Lizard had lost the teams' championship title, Bergmeister and Long would again claim the drivers' championship title. They would end up with a 17 point margin over Gianmaria Bruni in 2nd.

Intent on taking all of the titles back, Flying Lizard Motor sports would make a couple of important announcements in the off season. The pairing of Bergmeister and Long would again be back in 2011. 'The continuity of three years in a row with the same team in the same series is something I really value,' stated Long. Darren Law would also pair-up again with Seth Neiman in the second Flying Lizard Porsche.

Heading into the American Le Mans Series season opener at the 12 Hours of Sebring, Flying Lizard Motorsports announced its third drivers for both the number 45 and 44 cars. The team would add a couple of drivers that knew Porsches rather well. They would add Marc Lieb and Marco Holzer to their lineup, both are Porsche works drivers like Bergmeister and Long. Lieb will drive with Bergmeister and Long while Holzer will co-drive with Neiman and Law.

In addition to retaining continuity in the driver lineup, the same driver lineup would help Flying Lizard embark on a new track. In early January, Flying Lizard Motorsports successfully tested its new Porsche-powered Riley chassis for the Daytona Prototype category in the Grand Am Series. In fact, Bergmeister and Long would help the team get up to speed in the new series quite well as Bergmeister would grab the pole for the 24 hour race with a new track record.

Having two drivers like Bergmeister and Long will, more than likely, help maintain Flying Lizard's level of potency in GT. However, look for the team to get stronger in whatever series it decides to take part. That is Seth Neiman's way.

Sources:
'ALMS: Flying Lizard Drivers Unchanged for 2011', (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20101222/ALMS/101229950). Autoweekracing.com: The up-to-the-moment journal of motorsports. http://www.autoweek.com/article/20101222/ALMS/101229950. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

'Flying Lizard No. 80 Retired from 24 Heures du Mans in Hour 4', (http://www.lizardms.com/news/releases/2010/jun-12.html). Flying Lizard Motorsports. http://www.lizardms.com/news/releases/2010/jun-12.html. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

'Lizards Complete Successful Test of the No. 45 Porsche-powered Riley Daytona Prototype', (http://www.lizardms.com/news/releases/2011/jan-09.html). Flying Lizard Motorsports. http://www.lizardms.com/news/releases/2011/jan-09.html. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

'Bermeister Puts the No. 45 DP on the Overall Pole for Rolex 24 at Daytona; Sets New Track Record', (http://www.lizardms.com/news/releases/2011/jan-27.html). Flying Lizard Motorsports. http://www.lizardms.com/news/releases/2011/jan-27.html. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

'Porsche Works Drivers Added to the Flying Lizard Sebring Roster', (http://993c4s.com/porsche-motorsports/american-le-mans-series/porsche-works-drivers-flying-lizard-sebring-2011/). PorschePurist.com: The Cars, Products and Lifestyle. http://993c4s.com/porsche-motorsports/american-le-mans-series/porsche-works-drivers-flying-lizard-sebring-2011/. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

'Results: Race Lap Charts', (http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=results#lapchart). American Le Mans Series. http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=results#lapchart. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

'2010 Season Results by Race', (http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=results|sr|2010). American Le Mans Series. http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=results|sr|2010. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

Wikipedia contributors, '2010 American Le Mans Series season', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 April 2011, 16:17 UTC, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2010_American_Le_Mans_Series_season&oldid=423191193 accessed 10 May 2011

'Live Timing: 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans', (http://www.lemans.org/en/courses/24h-chrono-en-direct-2010.html). Le Mans.org. http://www.lemans.org/en/courses/24h-chrono-en-direct-2010.html. Retrieved 10 May 2011.

Wikipedia contributors, '2010 24 Hours of Le Mans', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 April 2011, 23:10 UTC, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2010_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans&oldid=424112503 accessed 10 May 2011

Wikipedia contributors, 'Flying Lizard Motorsports', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 3 October 2010, 18:35 UTC, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flying_Lizard_Motorsports&oldid=388511734 accessed 10 May 2011

Wikipedia contributors, 'Road America 500', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 November 2010, 23:25 UTC, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Road_America_500&oldid=395073723 accessed 10 May 2011

Wikipedia contributors, 'Mosport International Raceway', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29 January 2011, 22:43 UTC, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mosport_International_Raceway&oldid=410844143 accessed 10 May 2011

By Jeremy McMullen

ATLANTA - July 13 - Using the full resources of the Porsche engineering staff at its Weissach motorsports facility, and combining the racing technology developed over 50 years of motorsports competition, Porsche has announced the introduction of the new 2007 911 GT3 RSR (type 997) for the American Le Mans Series and other world GT racing venues. The latest version of the most successful racing sports car in history is based on the street production model 911 GT3 RS (model year 2007) which will be launched in late 2006.

Featuring the body of the 911 GT3 RS, which is based on the 911 Carrera 4, the 911 GT3 RSR has wider rear fenders and rear track to improve performance capabilities over its predecessor. The car has also been developed to fit into the 1,225 kg class, which allows for two inch-wider rear wheels (14 inches), and part of the added weight has been used to lower the center of gravity. The new 911 GT3 RSR will also improve aerodynamic efficiency by seven percent and body stiffness has been increased by 10%.

The new car is built in accordance with the 2006 ACO LMGT2 Regulations and the 2006 FIA Article 257 (Technical Regulations for Series Grand Touring Cars).

More than 250 of GT3-R family of 911 race cars have been sold around the world since the introduction of the 911 GT3 R in 1999, and the car has won hundreds of professional races and championships including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and 53 class wins in the American Le Mans Series. In ALMS, the Porsche teams using the GT3 R/RS/RSR have won the championship six of the series' seven-year existence.

Employing a 3.8-litre, flat six-cylinder boxer engine, the 911 GT3 RSR delivers 485 hp at 8,400 revs per minute (with two 30.0 mm restrictors). Maximum torque is now 435 Nm at 7,250 rpm.

The 911 GT3 RSR also has many notable changes from its predecessor. The sequential six- speed dog-type transmission gearbox has been redesigned to reduce the drive shaft angle which increases efficiency and improves durability. The brake master-cylinders, clutch master cylinder and pedals have been pre-mounted to a sub-frame, which is then bolted onto the floor to gain stiffness and a lower center of gravity. The re-designed electrical system optimizes serviceability by placing all relevant elements in the immediate vicinity of the driver.

The racing suspension, with McPherson struts in the front and the Porsche multi-link axle at the rear, feature new kinematics and closely corresponds to the configuration of the street- legal 911 GT3 RS. The new ZF-Sachs shock absorbers build up less friction and offer excellent response. The adjustable double coil springs, roll bars and shock absorbers ensure precise tuning to suit each circuit.

The 911 GT3 RSR features a brake system with six-piston fixed brake calipers measuring 380 mm in the front, four-piston fixed calipers measuring 355 mm in the rear.

Over the 2006/07 winter, 35 units of the new racing sportscar will initially be built.

Source - Porsche

Based on the current 911 GT3 RS, a particularly light and sporty derivative of the 911 GT3, the new GT3 RSR is designed to comply with the A.C.O (Automobile Club de lOuest), the FIA-GT and IMSA (International Motorsports Association) as well as VLN (Veedol Langstrecke Nuerburgring) regulations. Porsche decided to build the new GT3 RSR after analysing the A.C.O. and FIA regulations in a specification which allows a minimum weight of 1,225 kilograms (predecessor: 1,125 kgs) and permits the tyre width to be increased by two inches to now 14 inches. 35 kilograms of the required additional weight may be placed as ballast in the vehicle, contributing to a lower centre of gravity.

For the normally-aspirated Porsche engine this specification allows a capacity of 3.8-litres with two 30.3 millimetre air restrictors (predecessor: 3.6-litres, two restrictors with 29 mm diameter). The increase in displacement was achieved through the enlargement of the bore to 102.7 millimetres with the unchanged stroke of 76.4 mm. With the mandatory air restrictors, the unit delivers 359 kW/485 hp at 8,500 revs per minute. Maximum torque increased to 435 Nm. Top engine speed is reached at 9,000 rpm. Thanks to the increase in capacity and the corresponding reprogramming of the electronics the top performance as well as the response and driveability have further improved. The efficiency of the mid-front radiator was increased while the radiators flanking the centre unit on each side are the same as in the high performance Carrera GT.

The latest GT3 RSR features the proven sequential six-speed gearbox with ignition cut of its forerunner.

The bodyshell of the GT3 RSR with the welded-in safety cage is ten percent stiffer than its predecessor. Distinctive wheel arches widen the body by 50 millimetres on each side. The track is enlarged correspondingly; wheels and tyres of the maximum allowable dimension can be fitted.

The relocation of the supplementary oil tank (option), the power steering and the battery to the front improve the weight distribution. The front and rear lids, the front mudguards, the wider rear, the doors as well as the front and rear panelling and wing consist of carbon-fibre composite material. The rear and side windows are manufactured from light polycarbonate.

The newly-developed aerodynamic package improves the aerodynamic efficiency compared to the forerunner (type 996 GT3 RSR) by around seven percent. Airflow to and from the radiators, the brakes and the engine were further optimised. In compliance with the FIA and A.C.O. regulations the new GT3 RSR features a flat underbody.

The suspension with Porsche-optimised struts at the front and the Porsche multi-link axle at the rear corresponds to the configuration of the standard car. The modified kinematics are set-up for the wider tyre footprint and for the lowest possible camber change in rebound and compression. The new ZFSachs shock absorbers feature the Through-Rod-System with considerably lower chamber pressure and hence less friction than conventional dampers. As a result they offer a significantly improved response characteristic. The position of the rear axle was optimised. The axle features a new anti-rollbar, an adjustable upper link and an optimised lower link.

The brake system features six-piston aluminium callipers and 35 millimetre thick brake discs measuring 380 mm in diameter at the front and 30 millimetre four-piston aluminium callipers with 355 mm diameter discs at the rear.

Over the 2006/07 winter, 35 units of the new racing sportscar will initially be built.

Source - Porsche

Number 22 Alegra Motorsports / Fiorano Racing Porsche GT3. This vehicle started 11th at the 2007 Rolex 24 At Daytona and finished in 39th place. It was driven by Scooter Gabel, Jean-Francois Domoulin, Carlos de Quesada & Marc Basseng.

The Flying Lizard No. 46 and No. 45 Porsches were nose to tail when they took the checkered flag to finish second and third, respectively, in GT2 at Saturday's Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. The No. 44 Porsche had a mechanical failure halfway through the race and was retired.

The first part of the race was fairly uneventful for the Lizards. It was a welcome change from the previous weekend's crash-filled race at Lime Rock Park (see the Lime Rock race report linkto full report). The No. 45 started third on the grid with Wolf Henzler behind the wheel. Patrick Pilet in the No. 46 started fifth and Seth Neiman in the No. 44 started seventh in the 14-car GT2 field. The race started under yellow. (Most ALMS races have a double-file race start in which the cars form two lines on the pace lap in the order of their grid positions. If the field is not properly lined up by race start time, the race may start under yellow to ensure a safe, accurate start.) Over the next 20 minutes, the cars in the GT2 field began to spread out, except the lead GT2 pack which stayed bunched together, led by the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari which started on the pole, the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche in second, the No. 45 in third, the No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari in fourth, and the No. 46 in fifth.

The cars in the front GT2 pack maintained their positions until the 20-minute mark, when the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche passed the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari to take the lead. In the No. 45, Henzler, still in third, radioed in that the clutch was not functioning consistently and he was able to use it only intermittently, which made managing the turns more challenging. (With the Porsche six-speed sequential transmission, upshifts are performed without the use of the clutch but downshifts require clutching.)

The GT2 pack continued together in the same order until the first yellow of the race at the 50-minute mark. During the yellow most of the GT2 field pitted for tires, fuel, and driver changes. All three Lizard Porsches pitted late in the yellow. By the time the Lizards came into their pit stalls, most of the GT2 field had already pitted, including the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche, which had a lengthy pit stop, and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari.

The No. 45 and the No. 71 did not pit until late in the yellow and were P1 and P2 before their pit stops, and both on the same lap. (At the wave-by during the first yellow, the front four GT2 cars - No. 87, No. 62, No. 71 & No. 45 had gained a lap on the rest of the GT2 field, including the No. 46, because of their position to the overall leader.) The No. 46, which had pitted just before the No. 45, headed back on track quickly with Johannes van Overbeek at the wheel. Unfortunately, by the time of its pit stop, the No. 45 had completely lost its clutch. As a result, after getting tires and fuel, Joerg Bergmeister had trouble re-starting, and the car lost precious time as the crew bled the clutch, and Joerg worked to jump start the car. Finally, the No. 45 started, but had fallen back to fifth, just behind Johannes in the No. 46 who was now in fourth.

The No. 45 finally left its pit stall, but the No. 44, which had pitted at the same time, was stuck in its stall and going nowhere fast. During his stint, Seth Neiman had also experienced clutch issues. After he pitted and Lonnie Pechnik got behind the wheel, Pechnik had trouble starting and then was unable to engage drive. The crew took the No. 44 behind the wall, but were not able to repair it, and the No. 44 was retired for mechanical failure. It was another major disappointment for the No. 44 crew, who had worked hard since Lime Rock to repair the car when it sustained significant damage after being collected by the No. 16 Dyson prototype early in that race.

After the field reshuffled from the first pit stops, just past the 1-hour mark, the No. 46 was now fourth in GT2 and the No. 45 in fifth. The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari was in the lead, with a one lap lead over the next closest GT2 car, which was now the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche. The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari was in third. The course was still under yellow. Johannes radioed in that the connection to his water bottle had broken and he had no water. With the extreme heat on race day, this could have affected his performance, so the crew took advantage of the yellow to bring Johannes in to fix the water bottle and add fuel.

When the green flag finally fell again, 90-minutes into the 2 hour and 45 minute race, the No. 71 had taken the lead, the No. 87 was in second, the No. 62 in third, Joerg in the No. 45 was in fourth and Johannes in the No. 46 was in fifth. Just six minutes later, a second yellow flag fell that would last more than 30 minutes with multiple incidents both on track and in pit lane. Because the pits were closed for much of the second yellow, race control waived the maximum driving time limit for drivers because they were not able to get access to the pits for their driver change. (This was not an issue for the Lizard Porsches, which had all had their driver changes earlier during the first yellow.)

At the end of the second yellow, the No. 45 pitted for tires and fuel. The No. 71, No. 87, and No. 62 all also pitted, but the No. 46 stayed out because Johannes had already pitted under the earlier yellow. This allowed the No. 46 to move up the field to second place. During their pit stops, the No. 71 and No. 87 did not take tires, just fuel. After the field reestablished, the No. 71 was in the lead with Johannes now in second, the No. 62 in third, the No. 87 in fourth, the No. 21 in fifth, and Joerg in the No. 45 was in sixth. Joerg was able to quickly pass the No. 21 to move to fifth. The No. 62 was assessed a stop and go penalty and Joerg moved to fourth, just behind the No. 87.

Out of the top four GT2 cars, only the No. 45 now had fresh tires. Joerg was able to put pressure on the No. 87 and passed him with thirty minutes to go in the race to move into third. The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari had maintained its lap lead on the No. 46 in second. On fresh tires, but battling traffic, with no clutch and with the No. 87 holding tight to his bumper, Joerg tried to reel in Johannes in the No. 46. But Johannes held his fast pace until the end, crossing the finish line just ahead of Joerg to take second place. The No. 71 Tafel Racing Ferrari took the win in GT2.

It is the fourth double podium for the Lizards this year in six races. The Lizards hold their lead in both the ALMS team and drivers' (Bergmeister and Henzler) championships. The team is 15 points ahead of Tafel Racing. Bergmeister and Henzler are just 4 points ahead of Dominik Farnbacher and Dirk Mueller of Tafel Racing in second, and 23 points ahead of Johannes van Overbeek and Patrick Pilet in third.

Quotes
Tommy Sadler, Flying Lizard crew chief and co-technical director, said, 'It was unfortunate that the No. 44 had an issue that we unable to resolve in the pits and was very frustrating to have to retire the car. In the No. 45, we first saw the problems on the recon lap. We knew we had a problem but we couldn't repair it on the grid and were forced to race with what we had. It was disappointing that we were unable to stay on the lead lap and race for the win. The crews and drivers did an excellent job dealing with the problems and in the end we achieved a double podium. I'm looking forward to Road America and a strong performance by our team.'

Johannes van Overbeek, driver of the No. 46 Porsche, commented, 'The series continues to get tougher and more competitive with each race. Mid-Ohio was no exception: the GT2 field and the traffic were very tough. We struggled with the No. 46 car setup most of the weekend and just couldn't get to the sweet spot. But we prevailed in the end: the car was consistent thanks to our Chief Engineer Craig Watkins, and we were able to move back up to second because of the right strategy call by our strategist Eric Ingraham and Patrick's strong start. Mid-Ohio marks the halfway point in the season. Although we didn't have the win here, we are very pleased with the result. I hope this marks the end of the No. 46's bad luck and we can carry the momentum through the rest of the season.'

Up next for the Lizards is Road America, August 9, in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin.

About Flying Lizard Motorsports
2008 is the fifth consecutive ALMS season for the Sonoma, California-based GT2 team. Since its first year of competition in 2004, the team has finished in the top three in the ALMS GT2 team and drivers' championships, but has not yet won the GT2 title. In 2007, the team was second in the ALMS GT2 team championship and drivers Johannes van Overbeek and Joerg Bergmeister finished second in the ALMS GT2 drivers' championship.

Flying Lizard is sponsored by ShoreTel, a leading provider of enterprise IP telephony solutions, and eSilicon, a semiconductor company, both based in Sunnyvale, California. Team partners include Porsche and Michelin.

Source - Flying Lizard Motorsports

No. 80 Porsche 6th in GT2, Team Receives Prix ESCRA for Technical Excellence

The Flying Lizard No. 80 Porsche crossed the finish line on Sunday to take sixth in GT2 at the team's fourth consecutive 24 Heures du Mans. It was a tough, long race for the American team in a very competitive GT2 field of three Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs, seven Ferrari F430 GTs, and two Spkyer C8s.

The race started well for the Sonoma-based GT2 team: driver Joerg Bergmeiser started third on the GT2 grid (the No. 80 had qualified fourth, but the No. 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche, who was on the pole, was moved to the back due to an pre-race infraction). Bergmeister had a clean race start, and quickly moved up to first position, with the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari close behind him and the No. 76 Porsche, which had also rapidly moved through the GT2 field, in third.

Bergmeister held the lead until the first pit stop, 45 minutes into the race, when the No. 80 took fuel and tires and made a driver change to Johannes van Overbeek. The No. 82 Risi Ferrari chose to double stint tires, and exited the pits ahead of van Overbeek to take the lead. Shortly after the stop, van Overbeek was able to pass the No. 82 to retake the lead. The No. 82 Risi Ferrari was now second, the No. 76 Porsche third, and the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche fourth.

An hour and 40 minutes into the race, Seth Neiman took the wheel for his stint. Just ten minutes later, still in the lead, the No. 80 was collected by the No. 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche and both cars flew deep into the gravel. The No. 76 was unable to continue and retired from the race. The No. 80 sustained significant damage, including a broken wheels, broken front radiators, and damaged rear suspension. Yet even with the damage, when the marhsalls pulled the No. 80 out of the gravel, Neiman was able to restart and the car limped slowly back to the pits.

The crew brought the car immediately into the garage and began repairs. More than one hour later, the crew had completely rebuilt the car: replacing nearly every piece of bodywork, incuding the undertray, two front radiators, and both sides of the rear suspension. Just over three hours into the race, the No. 80 headed back out with Joerg Bergmeister behind the wheel. The car had dropped from the lead to tenth, now 20 laps down on the GT2 leader. Over the next 2 hours, Bergmeister hustled to try and make up some of the lost time. Near the end of his double stint, he set the fastest GT2 lap of the race of 3:59:887-- a significant achievement given the damage that the car had sustained earlier in the race.

Five hours into the race, Bergmeister turned the wheel over to Neiman for his second stint. With the GT2 field beginning to thin, the No. 80 was now in ninth, but still significantly behind the leader. The No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche had moved into the lead, and the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari was close behind in second. Halfway through his stint, disaster struck again for the Lizards when Neiman hit oil on track at Arnage, sending him spinning into the tire wall. Luckily, he was able to get quickly back to the pits where the crew again began repairs. After replacement of the two front radiators, substantial bodywork, and the front undertray, Neiman headed out again, but quickly pitted again to have the crew realign the car. After the realignment (and another hour and 20 minutes out of the race), van Overbeek headed out for his second stint of the race.

At 10:00 pm CET, just seven hours into the 24-hour race, the beleaguered No. 80 was now nearly 40 laps down on the GT2 leader and the crew, having rebuilt the car twice in less than four hours, was exhausted. As night fell, over the next two hours, in a double stint, van Overbeek clocked consistently fast times and had an incident-free stint. The No. 82 Risi Ferrari had retaken the lead, with the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche in second. Attrition continued in the GT2 field: the No. 77 Felbermayr had a lengthy repair in the garage, pushing them down in the field, and the No. 78 AF Corse Ferrari flew into the gravel, where it remained for the rest of the race.

At 11:45 pm, van Overbeek turned the wheel over to Bergmeister. By this time, four GT2 cars had officially retired: the No. 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche, the No. 94 Speedy Racing Spyker, the No. 85 Spyker, and the No 83 Krohn Racing Ferrari. Temperatures began to drop, and even in the dark, Bergmeister stayed focused and was running more than 10 seconds faster than most of the GT2 for his entire stint. But with such a long circuit (more than 8 miles) it would prove nearly impossible to make up the time to close the gap to the next closest car. At 1:20 am, Neiman took over for his third stint, then handed the car back to van Overbeek.

By 3 am, at the halfway point, the Flying Lizard No. 80 Porsche was seventh in GT2 and five of the 12 starting GT2 cars had been retired. The No. 82 Risi Competizione was in the lead, with the No. 96 Virgo Motorsport Ferrari in second and the No. 97 BMS Scuderia Ferrari in third. The No. 80 was 22 laps down from the next closest car (the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche, which had fallen to sixth after the lengthy repair), and 38 laps down on the No. 82 Risi Ferrari, which was still in the lead. Nearly two hours later, van Overbeek turned the wheel over again to Bergmeister. At the start of Bergmeister's stint, it began to rain heavily, forcing most teams, including the Lizards to move to full wet tires. Exhausted from his fast pace at night in the rain, Bergmeister did not double stint, and van Overbeek took over again just after dawn, driving for another hour then turning the wheel back to Bergmeister.

The rain continued through the early morning - even on wet tires in the rain, Bergmeister continued his fast pace, turning lap times 10 seconds faster than the rest of the GT2 field. But the 20-lap distance between the No. 80 and the next closest car, the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche and the 37 laps from the GT2 leader, the No. 82 Risi Competizione was too great to make any inroad at this point. The Lizards could only wait and see what would happen in the field. Neiman took over again, then back to van Overbeek. It was still raining and the Lizards were in seventh position, although with the No. 96 Virgo Motorsports Ferrari, which had been in second, now out of the running (motor), if the No. 80 crossed the finish line and the rest of the field remained unchanged, they would move up to sixth. (Under ACO regulations, a car must cross the finish line to finish and must have covered 70 percent of the distance set by the overall race leader.)

Over the next few hours, with intermittently heavy rain, the No. 80 drivers cycled through their stints, working with the crew to find the right tires for the rapidly changing conditions. By 1 pm, with two hours left to go in the race, the No. 80 was in seventh. The No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari maintained the lead, with the No. 97 BMS Scuderia Ferrari in second, the No. 90 Farnbacher Racing Ferrari in third, the No. 96 Virgo Motorsport Ferrari (which was no longer running) in fourth, the No. 99 JMB Racing Ferrari in fifth and the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche in sixth. GT2 positions had not changed effectively in over 12 hours! Neiman took over for the final race hour, driving in heavy rain on full wet tires.

Source - Flying Lizard Motorsports

Three cars to carry the fight to Ferrari -- a 'Lounge of Lizards'

Flying Lizard Motorsports announced today the team's plans for the 2008 American Le Mans Series racing season. The California-based racing team will field three Porsche 2008 911 GT3 RSRs in the GT2 class: the No. 44, No. 45, and No. 46 Flying Lizard Porsches.

In the No. 45 and No. 46 Porsches, drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Johannes van Overbeek (U.S.A) will return in 2008 and will be joined by Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Patrick Pilet (France). Henzler competed with the Lizards in the 2006 season with van Overbeek, finishing second in the GT2 drivers' championship. Pilet, winner of the 2007 French Carrera Cup, is new to the American Le Mans Series: 2008 will be his inaugural season in the U.S. Darren Law, Seth Neiman, and Lonnie Pechnik will all return in 2008 to share driving duties in the No. 44 Porsche. For driver bios click here. Full driver pairings and additional drivers for Sebring will be announced later this month.

2008 will be Flying Lizard's fifth consecutive ALMS season. Since its first year of competition in 2004, the team has finished in the top three in the ALMS GT2 team and drivers' championships, but has not yet won the GT2 title. In 2007, in the No. 45, van Overbeek and Bergmeister challenged the No. 62 Risi Ferrari to a memorable, season-long contest. Three race wins, including the flagship 1000-mile Petit Le Mans, were not enough to clinch the title from Ferrari, and the No. 45 and the team were second in the 2007 championships.

Team principal Seth Neiman is looking forward to the team's fifth season, 'For 2008 we made a thoughtful decision to expand our program and our commitment to Porsche and the series. We're focused on launching the most competitive program possible: three new cars and the most experienced Porsche driver lineup in our history. Last year, Ferrari proved to be a formidable competitor, and everything points to this being the case again this season. GT2 is shaping up to be an exciting field again in 08: it's definitely going to be an eventful year!'

Paul Ritchie, head of Porsche Motorsports North America, commented, 'Porsche is very pleased to have a team of Flying Lizard's experience and commitment taking the lead in our GT2 program this year. Porsche has made several significant changes to the 911 GT3 RSRs for this year and we are excited to see them debut at Sebring.'

In addition, the team has accepted its automatic invitation to the 24 Heures du Mans in Le Mans France in June, 2008 and plans to compete in what will be its fourth race there. Flying Lizard received the invitation for its class win at the Petit Le Mans in October, 2007. The team will announce more details on Le Mans plans later in the year.

About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Founded in 2003, the Sonoma, Calif-based team has completed four seasons in the American Le Mans Series, fielding two Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs: the No. 44 and the No. 45 in the GT2 production-based class. In 2007, the team was second in the ALMS GT2 team championship and drivers Johannes van Overbeek and Joerg Bergmeister finished second in the ALMS GT2 drivers' championship.

Source - Flying Lizard Racing