Flying Lizard Motorsports - Porsche Endurance Racing

Tue. Feb 23 - Morning & Afternoon Sessions

*** That's it for the ALMS Winter Test - we'll be back with you for Sebring race week *** Jennifer

4:45 pm - Looks like the No. 45 made it back out for  the last few minutes of the session. Joerg Bergmeister is in the car. Darren Law has taken back over for Seth in the No. 44 and will finish out the session in that Porsche. All went well over the last two days - we had minimal problems and were able to make a lot of progress on setup and on testing some new components. It should give us a good foundation for Sebring race week. We'll be back with you the week of Sebring for the first practice session on Wednesday March 17.

4:15 - Just  45 minutes left in the ALMS Winter Test. Darren Law finished working on the suspension setup changes with Chief Engineer Craig Watkins, and Seth Neiman will now finish out the rest of the session. The No. 45 is back behind the wall again for more changes. I expect them to be back out for the end of the session. Red flag - not sure of the reason.

3:10- The No. 45 is in the pits and now will go back to the garage for  the crew to do make some adjustments to some of the new components. The No. 44 is in the pits for another suspension change.

3:00 - Darren is bringing the No. 44 for a shock adjustment.  They are working on bumps right now (optimizing the car's handling) and making incremental suspension adjustments based on Darrren's feedback.

2:47 - Car off driver's left turn 5. Red flag. We've had numerous red flags so far this afternoon so haven't had much running time for the No. 44.

2:30 pm ET - We are 90 minutes into the afternoon session. The No. 45 is just coming out of the garage with a new gearbox and some other new components to try out for this afternoon. Joerg is in the car.  The No. 44 is also out on track - Darren Law is out in that Porsche.

11:35  am ET - The No. 45 is heading back to the garage for a gearbox change before this afternoon's session. The No. 44 is also done for the session. We'll be back at 1.

11:30 am ET  - Just over 30 minutes left in this morning's test. The No. 45 is back from the garage and is back on track. They currently have the third fastest time of 2:03.021. Joerg is in the car. The No. 44 is still in pit lane but looks like they are done for the morning. We'll take a break at lunch and then be back at 1 pm ET. Here's another photo from yesterday:

10:35 am ET - All good so far. Both cars have been cycling through more setup changes and drivers this morning.  The No. 44 had a wheel rubbing this morning, which delayed them a bit on the session. Darren had a fast time this morning of 2:02.929, the second fastest time of the session (the No. 62 is fastest this morning). They are in the pits now, and Seth Neiman will go out again to finish out the morning session, which ends at noon. The No. 45 is back in the garage for some setup changes - they'll be back out shortly.

8:50 am ET - Good morning from Day 2 of the ALMS Winter Test at Sebring. It's cooler today with low clouds and some mist but thankfully, no rain yet. Both Lizard Porsches are on track - Darren Law in the No. 44 and Patrick Long in the No. 45.

Here's a shot from Monday - we were able to get the track to ourselves for an hour after the session for some car to car photography.

Mon. Feb. 22 - Morning Session

11:00 - The No. 44 is heading back to the transporter for some work - it will be back on track again after lunch. The No. 45 is staying out for now, although I think they will also head back shortly.

10:42 - Red flag to recover No. 6 in Turn 6.

10:35 am - Green flag.  Seth is out again in the No. 44, Joerg in the No. 45.

10:30 am - 90 minutes left in the morning session. Joerg is now in the No. 45 and is in the pits giving engineer Stefan Pfeiffer feedback on the car - overall, he feels the car is soft - easy but not fast.  the No. 45 is currently P2 in the session with a  2:03.373 . No. 62 Risi is P1 with a 2:02.286. Red flag to remove a car from the tire wall.

9:55 am ET - Seth is still in the No. 44 and Patrick in the No. 45. Joerg is getting ready to get back into the car.

9:40 am ET - Red flag. Nearing 2 hours into the session. Don't know yet the cause. We don't have TV feed at the test, and timing and scoring is not live in the pits right now so we are limited in the information we have. Timing is available online here - IMSA Timing

 9:30 am ET - All going well so far. Seth Neiman is now in the No. 44, and Patrick and Joerg have been trading off in the No. 45. Darren started out in the No. 44. Darren was not happy with the handling of the car, so after Seth runs a stint, they will work on their next changes with Chief Engineer Craig Watkins. The No. 45 is in the pits - they are beginning their incremental setup changes - shocks at the moment. The rain is holding off for now but it is now completely clouded over and the temperature is dropping.

8:30 am ET - Good morning from Sebring. It's a cool and breezy day here in Florida - rain predicted later but for now it's dry. This is day 1 of the two day ALMS Winter Test. The No. 44 and No. 45 are both out on track. There are two four hour test sessions today and two tomorrow. Darren Law is in the No. 44 right now and Patrick Long in the No. 45. The engineers are using this first few hours on install laps, shakedown and then will begin their setup changes later in the day. We tested here in late January so have a bit of a head start on some of the others.

There's a full paddock here at the test - a mix of GT cars, challenge cars (now called GTC) and  some LMPC and LMP cars. Both new Extreme Speed Ferraris are here, as are the Rahal BMWs, Risi, Robertson Racing and others.