Flying Lizard Motorsports - Porsche Endurance Racing

Thu Aug. 7 - Mid-Ohio Race

5:57 - Checkered flag. In the No. 45, Joerg will finish P4 in the No. 45 and Patrick Pilet P7. The No. 62 took the win, the No. 4 Corvette second and the No. 92 third.

5:54 - The No. 01 Extreme Ferari slipped by the No. 90 BMW to take fifth.

5:53 - Joerg has caught back up to the No. 92 BMW, but now he is in a BMW sandwich with the No. 92 right behind him. Joerg is P4. Less than 2 minutes left.

5:48 - Joerg lost some time in traffic with a slower GTC car, now has to catch back up again to the No. 92. BMW

5:46 - Joerg moved quickly up to be firhg on the bumper of the No. 92 in P3, but cannot get by. Ahead of them are several slower GTc cars, the the No. 4 Corvette and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari in the lead. 7 minutes. A

5:45 - Green flag. under 10 minutes left.

5:39  - still yellow - 14 minutes remaining. Joerg P4. Physically on track, he has several slower cars between him and the No. 92 BMW which is P3, Joerg will need to move quickly through them on the restart to get close to the No. 92.

5:37 - No. 61 spun on the back straight - also see the No. 02 Ferrari is off after contact. Double yellow. This should be good news for the No. 45- will allow us to close up the gap to the leaders. P1 No. 62; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 45; P 5 No. 90; P5 No. 01. Patrick is P7.

5:33 - The No. 61 Risi Ferrari has moved up just behind Joerg. Joerg was split by traffic and now has to catch back up to the No. 92 BMW. Joerg is P4. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 4; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 45; P5 No. 61; P6 No. 90; P 7 No. 01 - they are all on the same lap and the No. 61 and No. 90 are running a faster pace than Joerg right now.

5:31 - The No. 92 BMW is P3, with the No. 45 just behind him, the No. 01 Extreme Ferrari behind Joerg, the No. 90 BMW behind the No. 01.

5:29 - The No. 4 Corvette and the No. 92 BMW were side by side for several turns as the No. 4 managed to pass to take second. The No. 92 BMW is now P3, with Joerg close on his bumper in P4. Patrick Pilet passed the Falken Porsche to take P8. The No. 92 BMW is getting loose - he's probably fighting tire wear.

5:22 - Joerg attempted a pass of the No. 4 but had to back off. In the No. 01 Ferrari, Johannes van Overbeek has moved to P6 and is just behind Joerg. the No. 90 BMW went off a few minutes ago (he was in 2nd) after aan incident with the No. 40 and is now P6.  This moves Joerg to P4. He is 11 seconds back from the No. 62 which is P1.  On the last pit stop, the No. 62 only took two new tires - he is starting to slow a bit.

Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 45; P 5 No. 01; P 6 No. 90.

5:19 - The No. 4 Corvette is right on the bumper of the No. 90 BMW and putting pressure on.

5:17 - The No. 4 Corvette edged past Joerg on a corner to take 4th. Joerg now fifth. Two cars off but they have continued. Patrick Pilet is now fastest in GT right now and is 12 seconds behind P8.  Just under 40 minutes left in the race. 

5:16 - The No. 62 is putting as much distance between him and the BMWs as he can. the BMWS are slowing but Joerg will have his hands full to pass both of them, with the No. 4 Corvette behind him, with traffic.

5:12 - The No. 62 Ferrari just powered by both BMWs on the inside, pitting the two BMWs against each other to get a gap, make a pass on the inside and take the lead.  P1 No. 62; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 90; P4 No. 45, P5 No. 4 Corvette. In the No. 44, Patrick Pilet is P9, on the lead lap.

5:12 - Green flag. Positions: P1 No. 92; P2 No. 90; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 45.

5:09 - Still yellow. In the No. 44, Patrick Pilet will pit this lap for his last scheduled stop - he is currently P9.

5:05 - Pits are open - Joerg is in the pits. The No. 62 and the No. 4 Corvette both pitted at the same time, Joerg beat the No. 4 Corvette out of the pits, but the No.62 made it out before Joerg. I'm not sure who is in the lead right now - will report in a minute. OK - both BMWs pitted earlier, before the yellow, so they got lucky an dare now running P1 and P2. I'm not sure if they can run to the end on fuel, but I believe so. Positions: P1 No. 92; P2 No. 90; P3 No. 62; P4 No. 45; P 5 No. 4; P 6 No. 01. The No. 62, No. 4 and No. 45 are all good on fuel until the end of the race.

5:03 pm - . Joerg will pit this lap for tires and fuel. Joerg is P3. Patrick Pilet will also pit for tires and fuel. Both drivers will stay in the car and doublestint.

4:59 - Double yellow.

4:58 - LMPC car is off in the gravel  - I expect this will go yellow and we will all pit.

4:53 - Positions: P1 No. 4 Corvette; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 45; P 4 No. 61; P5 No. 92. 1 hour left to go - we have one scheduled pit stop left.  Patrick Pilet is P9. Joerg is 12 seconds back from the GT leader.

4:52 - No. 92 BMW spun and went off but continued. He was in P3 a tthe time (I believe). This puts Joerg into P3.  

4:51 - The No. 90 BMW is in the pits for tires, fuel.

4:46 - The No. 45 and the No. 61 were side by side with the No. 61 pushing hard to the side. The No. 90 BMW went off track just after that - so that takes s ome pressure off of Joerg - he has the No. 61 behind him but now the No. 90 is no longer just in front of him. Joerg now P4.  the No. 90 continued but now P6. Positions: P1 No. 4; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 92; P4 No. 45; P4 No. 61; P 6 No. 90; P 7 No. 01. Joerg has closed the gap to the leader to 10 seconds.

4: 44 - The No. 62  Risi Ferrari got by the No. 92 BMW in a pass on the curbs on the inside to take second.  Joerg still P5 - he is 9 seconds back from the GT leader, the No. 4 Corvette. Joerg is still running with his GT subpack - the No. 90 BMW, then the 45, then the No. 61 Risi Ferrari- all nose to tail.

4:40- Lead GT positions are unchanged. P1 No. 4; P2 No. 92; P3 No. 62; P 4 No. 90; P5 No. 45; P 6 No. 61; P 7 No. 01. There's still one fuel stop left for the GT field. the No.  4 Corvette in the lead has built a nice gap to the No. 92 in P2.

4:37 - The No. 4 Corvette just edged by the No. 92 BMW to take the lead. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari is in P3.

4:34 - No. 92 BMW in the lead, the No. 4 Corvette in P2 and the No. 62 Ferrari in P3 are running nose to tail. There's a gap to the second GT group which is the No. 90 BMW in P4, the No. 45 in P5, and the No. 61 Ferrari in P6.

4:29 - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari has also passed the No. 90 BMW to take third. No. 90 now fourth, Joerg fifth. Joerg's pace right now is faster than the No. 90 and needs to get by him. Joerg has the No. 61 Risi Ferrari right on his bumper.

4:27 - Patrick Pilet in the No. 44 reports smoke from the rear of the Falken Porsche. Patrick Pilet is now P10.

4:24 - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari passed Joerg to take fourth. Joerg now fifth.

4:22 - The No. 3 Corvette is in the pits unexpectedly. This moves Joerg to P4. Positions: P1 No. 92; P2 No. 4; P 3 No. 90; P4 No. 45; P 5 No. 62; P 6 No. 61; P 7 No. 01. 90 minutes left to go.

4:19 - No. 62, which was P2, was slow on course - he lost several positions - he's now behind Joerg in P6, moving Joerg to P 5. Wasn't clear what the problem was  he's continuing but not at his usual pace. Joerg has now caught the lead GT pack and is just behind the No. 90 BMW.

4:14 - GT lead cars 1 through five are running nose to tail, wit hthe No. 62 Risi Ferrari pushing hard on the No. 92 in the lead.  Joerg is in P6, but there's a 3 second gap between him and the No. 90 BMW which is P5.  Patrick Pilet in the No. 44 is now P12.

4:10 - Green flag. Car 3 was issued a stop and go penalty for a  violation during pit stop. They are currently P4. Joerg is now P6.  P1 No. 92; P 2 No. 62; P 3 No. 4; P 4 No. 3; P 5 No. 90; P 6 No. 45; P 7 No. 61.

4:06 - The No. 44 has also pitted for tires, fuel, and driver change to Patrick Pilet.

4:01 - Joerg Bergmeister takes the wheel and the No. 45 is back out with fuel, new tires. I'll report their position in a minute. Looks like the lead GT pack also pitted at the same time -  believe Joerg made it out ahead of the No. 61 Ferrari, so he gained a position there. He is now in P7. Both Risi Ferraris pitted, as did the No. 90 BMW (the No. 92 had also pitted just betore, while it was still green), the Corvettes and the Extreme Ferraris. The No. 40 Ford, which has not yet pitted, is in the lead. The No. 92 BMW is P2; The No. 62 is P3; the No. 4 Corvette is P4; No. 3 Corvettes is P5; No. 90 is P6; No. 45 P7.

4:00- Pits are open and Chief strategist calls Patirck into the pits.

3:58 -Double yellow,  No. 45 will pit under this yellow for tires, fuel and driver change to Joerg. This should allow Patrick to catch the pack and close some of the gap to the leaders. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 61; P 3 No. 4; P 4 No. 90; P 5 No. 3; P 6 No. 01; P 7 No. 45.

3:56 - Two cars off - a prototype and one GTC cars. They are off the course but may go double yellow.. A caution now would work in our favor. No. 92 BMW is in the pits - they were in P8 at the time. Another car is stopped on course- still green. Patrick now P7.

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3:50 - Patrick still P8. Lead GT field now fairly spread out. P1 No. 62; P2 No. 62; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 90; P 5 No. 3; P6 No. 01; P7 No. 92; P8 No. 45. We have about 20 minutes until the scheduled pit stop.

3:35 - Patrick now P8. The No. 01 Extreme Ferrari has moved into P6, with the No. 92 now P7 and Patrick P8.

3:27 - Patrick still stuck behind the No. 92 BMW, which has slowed. He is still P 7. Positions: P1 No. 62, P 2 No. 60; P3 No. 4; P 4 No. 90; P 5 No. 3; P 6 No. 92; P 7 No. 45.  There is now a significant gap between the lead GT cars - the Ferraris, the Corvette and one BMW and the second group - led by the second Corvette.

3:21 - The No. 92 BMW, in sixth, is putting a lot of pressure on the No. 3 Corvette, with the No. 45 just behind the No.92. For some reason the No. 3is off the pace right now and is holding up the line. Once the No. 92 gets by, the No. 45 should be able to also pass.

3:19 - The No. 90 BMW has passed the No. 3 Corvette to take 4th.

3:17  - The lead GT cars are running very close together - both Ferraris, then both Corvettes, then both BMWs, then Patrick. The prototypes are working their way through the pack as they make their first pass through the group. Their is a gap now between the two Corvettes and the No. 3 is holding up the second group - the two BMWs and Patrick, followed by both Extreme Ferraris and the Ford.

3:13 - Patrick Long in the No. 45 moved to P7 on the restart. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 61; P3 No. 4; P4 No. 3; P 5 No. 90.; P6 No. 92. No. 45 is P7.

3:12 - Green flag.

3:10 - Yellow start - not sure what happened but we are under a yellow flag start - cars are rolling after pace laps but no green flag yet. Patrick Long is starting in the No. 45 - he is 8th on the grid. Seth Neiman is in the No. 44 for the start - he is 13th on the grid.

3:00 - Welcome to Mid-Ohio - race will start at 3:10.

Fri. Aug 6 - Mid-Ohio Practice & Qualifying

2:15 - Checkered flag on qualifying - we'll be back with you tomorrow, Saturday for the race, which starts at 3 pm ET.

2:12 - In the No. 02 Extreme Ferrari, Guy Gosmo just improved two positions, pushing Patrick in the No. 45 to P8. In the No. 44, Seth is P13. No. 61 Risi Ferrari is on the pole (Toni Vilander).

2:09- Chief strategist Thomas Blam called Patrick into the pits - he is currently P7 - 1 tenth of a second  behind the No. 92 BMW in P6 nd 1 second behind the No. 61 Risi Ferrari which is on the provisional pole. the No. 44 is P13.  

2:07 - A GTC caris off in Turn 5 - not a factor so hopefully they will not go red.

2:04 pm - Patrick is in the pits for more fuel. We have some cloudcover so that may help us. Patrick is now P7 - he will now head out again to see if he can improve position. We have 10 minutes left in qualifying.

2:01 pm - No. 4 Corvette is P1 right now, No. 90 BMW is P2; No. 3 Corvette is P3; No. 62 Ferrari is P4; No. 45 is P5. 13 minutes left.

1:55 pm - Green flag on qualifying. Patrick Long is out in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44.

** 10% off Flying Lizad online store this weekend - everything in the store! Enter "p.long" without quotes at checkout at the store. *** 

1:45 - Checkered flag on the session. Qualifying begins in 10 minutes. Patrick Long will qualify in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44.

1:36 - Green flag. Just under 10 minutes left in the practice session. Patrick Pilet is now out in the No. 44. 

1:33 - Your blogger is back - had to make a quick run over to the TV compound. In the meantime, we've had two red flags and the No. 44 was involved in an incident involving several cars. Minor damage - but all seems OK. Patrick Long is now in the No. 45, Seth Neiman remains in the No. 44. Still red to remove a GTC Porsche from the gravel.

*** Qualifying will be broadcast live on line at todocast.tv- for details see www.americanlemans.com. Also live radio coverage at www.radiolemans.com. ***

1:00 - Green flag. The No. 45 is now in the pits and Joerg will do the first stint.

12:56 - Red flag - car off in the keyhole.

12:45 - Green flag on the second of today's 2 practice sessions. Seth Neiman will head out in the No. 44. The No. 45 is still back in the paddock but will be down shortly. Joerg will take the wheel first in the No. 45. This is the engineers' final chance to make setup changes before qualifying which will start just after the session.

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11:09 - Checkered flag on the first practice session of the day. The crew will hustle to get both cars back to the paddock quickly - we have a very short time between sessions - the next session will begin at 12:45, then qualifying. The No. 45 was P6 in the session with a 1:21.253. In the No. 44, Patrick Pilet was 7th fastest in the session. The No. 92 BMW was P1 in the session with a 1:20.680.

10:56 - 13 minutes left in the session - Patrick is in the pits and Joerg will take over for his first stint of the day. Patrick Pilet is now in the No. 44.

10:44 - Patrick is back in the pits for more feedback to Stefan Pfeiffer.He is now P4 with a 1:21,253. No. 92 BMW is P1; No. 61 Risi Ferrari is P2; No. 90 BMW is P3. Below: Joerg is getting ready to get in the car, Stefan Pfeiffer is on his left.

10:39 - 30 minutes left in the morning sesion. Patrick Long is P6 in GT in the session with a 1:21.463, just

behind teh No. 62 Risi Ferrari with a 1:21.449.

10:35 - Seth is in the pits for a round of setup changes. Patrick is still in the No. 45.

10:22 - Green flag.

10:17 - Red flag. We don't have TV so can't tell yet exactly what is happening. Patrick is back in the pits for his first feedback to Stefan Pfeiffer. Overall, the car is comfortable - manageable today.

10:09 - Green flag.

10:05 am ET - Good morning from Mid-Ohio - we are just a few minutes away from morning practice session. Patrick Long is in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44. There are two practice sessions today and then qualifying this afternoon starting at 1:55 pm ET. Qualifying and the race will be broadcast live online - details at www.americanlemans.com.

Thu. Aug 5 - Mid-Ohio Practice

*** Checkered flag on the GT portion of the session - we'll be back with you tomorrow, Friday, for morning practice starting at 10:09 am ET. ***

5:25 - Patrick Pilet is back in for one final change - five minutes left.

5:02 - No. 44 driver change from Seth Neiman to Patrick Pilet for his first run of the session. Patrick Long radios in that he will pit - too much understeer, no front grip. 30 minutes left in the session. They will make another rollbar change in the rear and will make a rear wing change. The No. 45 is currently P4.

4:51 - Patrick radios in that he has a read on the car and will pit.  On a typical corner - intiatlly overstreer on the brakes - rear gets a bit light. On the exit a bit of oversteer.   Stefan will make a rear ride height change and a rear bar change.

4:40  - Joerg is back in the pits - Stefan Pfeiffer is making a rollbar change, Patrick Long will go out for a few laps, then pit again for a change.

4:21 - Both Porsches back in the pits for more setup changes. The setup for mid-Ohio is very different than Lime Rock so we need to take full advanrtage of the setup time today. The No 45 will do a spring change on this pit stop, then have Joerg get a read if the change was in a positive direction, then driver change to Patrick for his first stint in the car.  Seth is still in the No.44

4:09 - Joerg is currently P2. This is a 90-minute test session. He back in the pits for the first feedback to engineer Stefan Pfeiffer - reviewing each turn in detail.

4:05 pm - The session is underway. Joerg is starting in the No. 45 and Seth is in the No. 44.

3:55pm ET - Good afternoon from Mid-Ohio. It's hot and humid here today, but thankfully, not quite as hot as Lime Rock was 2 weeks ago. We are just minutes away from the first practice session of the race weekend. Patrick Pilet is joining the No. 44 for Mid-Ohio (Darren has a scheduling conflict) - we're happy to have Patrick back with us.

Joerg and Patrick Long are back in the championship lead after their win at Lime Rock. The rest of the season is going to be a battle royale between the lead GT teams and we expect this weekend is going to be a tough race.