Grand Prix of Houston - Race!!!!

***** 2nd and 5th in GT2!
Johannes brings the No. 45 into second and Darren brings the No. 44 into fifth at the Houston Grand Prix. It is the fourth consecutive podium for the Flying Lizard Squad of the four races so far this season and once again the team has the top finishing Porsche in GT2. Congratulations to Johannes, Joerg, Darren, Seth and the entire team for another great race. It was once again the No. 62 Ferrari's day with the fourth win in a row this season for the Risi team.

We'll be back again in May for our next race at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City.

Jennifer, Shane and the entire Lizard team

*****

8 minutes left to go - Johannes remains in P 2, 7 seconds behind the No. 62 Risi Ferrari. The No. 44 is now in P 5, after the No. 18 stopped on course. Darren is one lap behind the next closest car - the No. 71 Tafel Porsche.

8:09 pm - No yellow has been caled, although the No. 18 Porsche remains on the track but well out of the way of traffic. It appears that the officials made the decision not to call the yellow because we are so close to the end of the race.

8:05 pm - A Porsche stopped on track - the No. 18 he is walking away from the car, but is still on track. WE expect a yellow shortly.

13 minutes left to go - Positions are: P 1 No. 62; P 2 No. 45; P 3 No. 31; P 4 No 71; P 5 No. 18; P 6 No. 44.

8:01 pm - Johannes was able to get by the No. 31 Petersen White Lightning Ferrari, which had been one lap down from the No. 45. Johannes had felt that the No. 31 was holding him up in his chase of the No. 62 Ferrari. Darren Law in the No. 44 remains in P 6. 15 minutes left to go.

7:50 pm - The No. 62 was able to move by the No. 45 and retook the lead. Positions are: P 1 No. 62; P 2 No. 45; P 3 No. 31; P 4 No. 71; P 5 No. 18; P 6. No 18.

7:48 - The No. 62 has passed the No. 18 and is now right behind the No. 45. We expect him to move aggressively to attempt to retake the position that he lost during the last pit stop, at which time Johannes was able to take the lead.

7:44 pm - Positions: P 1 No. 45; P 2 No. 62; P 3 No. 31; P 4 No. 18; P 5 No. 71; P 6 No. 44.

7:37 pm - The No. 45 pits for driver change to Johannes, tires and fuel. The No. 44 crew prepared for Darren to pit just in case he pits. Darren is unsure if he should pit under yellow because he cannot hear the crew. The crew has brought out a sign board but Darren can't see it and can't tell if he needs to pit. Joerg is in and Johannes is out. The No. 45 is now in P 1, having beaten the No. 62 out of the pits. No. 62 and No. 45 are the only two GT2 cars on the lead lap.

Luckily, Darren stayed out and the No. 44 has moved up to P 6.


7:34 pm - No. 73 is in the wall with what looks like a collapsed rear suspension. It's the first yellow of the race. The No. 45 crew notifies Johannes that he needs to get ready. the No. 44 crew, who cannot hear Darren and don't know if he can hear them, tells him to stay out.

7:33 - One of the Tafel Porsches if off course but appears to be able to rejoin.

7:30 pm -It looks like the No. 44 has been hit by the No. 1 Audi but both cars have continued. Since the crew has no communication with Darren, they are unable to find out if there was any damage. They are relying on Darren to bring the car in if there is a problem and they are ready with new tires just in case.

7:26 pm - Darren is unable to hear the crew, although the crew can hear him. The crew moves to implement a manual sign board, in case they need to communicate with him. Luckily the plan was for Darren to finish out the race, he doesn't need to refuel, and he is aware of that so he should be able to continue without communication. Positions are: P 1 No. 62; P 2 No45; P 3 No 31; P 4 No 71; P 5 No 18; P 6 No 73; P 7 No. 44.


7:23 pm - The No. 44 pits, gets a quick splash of fuel, a windscreen tearoff, and Darren is in the car.

7:20 pm - Seth Neiman in the No. 44 prepares to pit for driver change to Darren Law, tires and fuel. In the No. 45, Joerg continues in P2. The No. 62, in P 1 is running on average 1-3 seconds faster than the rest of the field, and 1 second faster than Joerg, and has extended his lead to 37 seconds over Joerg. So far, we've had 1 retirement, the No. 21 Panoz.

7:15 pm - No. 61 Ferrari impacts the tire wall but is able to restart although it has significant damage and will pit for repairs.

7:02 pm - Joerg remains in P2, but is now 27 seconds behind the No. 62 Ferrari. He is followed by Wolf Henzler in the No. 71 Tafel Porsche, and the No. 31 Petersen White Lightning Ferrari. Seth in the No. 44 remains in P 7.

6:52 pm - Positions: P 1 No. 62; P 2 No. 45; P 3 No. 71; P 4 No. 18; P 5 No. 31; P 6 No. 73; P 7 No. 44.

6:49 pm - No. 61 Ferrari is back from behind the wall after repairs and the No. 21 Panoz is in pit lane being pushed by its crew - obviously something wrong there although we aren't yet sure what is going on.

6:45 pm - With the GT2 field reshuffling after the pit stops, positions are: P 1 62; P 2 No 45; P 3 No. 18; P 4 No. 71; P 5 No. 21. P 6 No. 31.

6:36 pm CT - Seth is out in the No. 44. The No .62 also pitted at the same time as the No. 44. The No. 45 pits shortly after for driver change to Joerg, tires and fuel. We should see the entire GT2 field pit over the next few minutes and the field will reshuffle. At time of pit, the Lizards were in P 2 and P 3. The No. 45 Porsche is out very quickly and the crew reports that their pit stop was 7 seconds faster.

6:35 pm - No. 44 pits and Darren is out and Seth is in.

Reminder - we are live with team radio communications and commentary from Shane and Jennifer on Radio Free Lizard at www.lizardms.com/radio.htm

6:30 pm - The No. 45 crew is readying for its pit stop and driver change to Joerg, tires and fuel. Chief strategist Thomas Blam gives the crew the 10 minute warning - 10 minutes to pit., assuming no yellows. So far in the race there have been no yellows - very unusual for a street race of this type. the No. 44 strategist Eric Ingraham also notifies the No. 44 crew that they will be pitting shortly for driver change to Seth Neiman, tires and fuel.


6:21 pm - Positions are: P 1 No. 62; P 2 No. 45; P 3 No. 44; P 4 No. 18; P 5 No. 21; P 6 No. 71.

6:13 pm - No. 21 Audi has contacted he tire barrier and is having trouble reversing out to restart. The crews are getting ready for a possible yellow if he is not able to restart. Both crews stand down as the Audi restarts and rejoins the race.

6:00 pm - 2 hours and fifteen minutes left in the race. Johannes is still in P 2 and Darren in P 3, both behind the No. 62 Risi Ferrari . Robin Liddell in the No. 71 Porsche continues to stay close behind Darren. JOhannes is currently 14 seconds behind the No. 62 Ferrari, which is far outpacing the field.

5:43 pm - The No. 61 Krohn Racing Ferrari impacted one of the tire walls, and pitted for the crew to check the car. It appears that the Ferrari did not turn of its engine in the pits during refueling, which is required by IMSA regulations, which could result in a penalty.

5:37 pm - Darren Law in the No. 44 has moved past the No. 31 Ferrari, moving into P3. Johannes is in P 2, behind the No. 62 Risi Ferrari. It appears that both Tafel Porsches have also moved past the No. 31 Ferrari, with the No. 71 in P 4.

5:35 pm - Johannes has passed the No. 31 Petersen White Lightning Ferrari to move into P2. Darren still in P 4.

5:25 pm - The cars have started their engines and are readying for their two formation laps prior to race start. Johannes van Overbeek will start third on the grid in the No. 45 and Darren Law just behind him fourth on the grid in the No. 44.





5:00 pm CT - We are just 30 minutes from race start and both Lizard Porsches are in the pits getting ready for race start. Radio Free Lizard is live with Shane, Jennifer, and our guest marketeer Bruce Carrade who is with us for this race.

Please join us online at www.lizardms.com/radio.htm

Race start at 5:30 pm CT.

GP of Houston - Morning Warmup - April 21

12:00 pm - with the morning warmup coming to a close, Darren Law has brought in the third fastest lap time in GT2 just sixth tenths of a second behind P1 , the No. 71. No. 62 still has the fastest lap time of the session. Darren just spun on track, but luckily was able to avoid traffic and restarted. With the checkered flag, the team will head back to the garages for final work on the cars prior to the race this evening, which starts at 5:30 pm Central Time.
See you then! Jennifer and Shane.

11:45 am - The No. 62 Risi Ferrari continues to lead the GT2 pack with this morning's fastest times. Close behind is the No. 71 Porsche with Wolf Henzler and the No. 45 with Johannes van Overbeek. Crew chief Tommy Sadler called Johannes into the pits for a driver change to Joerg Bergmeister. In the No. 44 it looks like Seth Neiman will stay out through the entire session.

11:30 am - Raceday! Good morning from Houston. It's morning warmup - the team's final chance prior to the race to make adjustments for their race setup. Race starts today at 5:30 pm CT. The Lizards will broadcast their radio transmissions live during this morning's warmup and this evening's race. To listen go to www.lizardms.com.

GP of Houston - Qualifying

6:35 - Johannes is P 3 and Darren P 4 in the GT2 grid, just behind the No. 62 and the No. 31 Ferraris, which are in P 1 and P 2 respectively. The Lizard squad will be the top starting Porsches in GT2 in tomorrow's race, which starts at 5:30 pm CT.

6:23 pm CT - Darren Law and Johannes van Overbeek are on sticker tires heading out for the 20 minute GT2 qualifying session.

Houston - Afternoon Practice

6:06 pm CT - With 4 minutes remaining in the session, Johannes is pipped by Dirk Mueller in the No. 31 Petersen Ferrari for P1 in the practice session. Mueller's 1:10:035 is .339 of a second quicker than Johannes' fast lap. Darren Law, driving the No. 44 car, is 4th quickest in practice, meaning that the top four read Ferrari-Porsche-Ferrari-Porsche. The Lizard cars are the fastest Porsches in the session.

5:58 pm CT - Johannes gets his sticker tires up to temperature and quickly reels off a 1:10.374, good for P1 with 12 minutes left in the practice session. He reports that the car is very responsive to driver input, but "pretty bumpy". The crew brings him in to make a damper change and check tire pressures, and send him back out on course.

5:55 pm CT - As the session progresses, both the No. 44 and 45 car pit repeatedly for setup changes and sticker tires. Joerg reports that an early change to the rollbar gives the car improved traction, but the ride quality is compromised.

5:15 pm CT - This afternoon's practice at Houston began a few minutes late to finish cleaning up some problems from the earlier session. Joerg is in the No. 45 and Seth in the No. 44. The crews have spent most of the day since this morning's session working on the cars - making more setup changes in preparation for this afternoon's practice. This will be the final practice session before the race tomorrow, which starts at 5:30 pm CT (there will be a short morning warmup).

Joerg is currently running second in the GT2 field right now - 3 tenths of a second behind Mika Salo in the No. 62 Risi Ferrari.

Houston - Friday Morning Warmup

12:35 pm CT - The morning's pratice session is over -a good session for the Lizards. Darren Law had the second fastest lap time of the GT2 field - with a 1:11:132. The No. 45 is running in the middle of the pack as the engineers work to implement the setup changes from what they learned at Long Beach last weekend. The No. 44 has a new engine for this race - the crew replaced it on Thursday of this week.

12:08 pm CT - 20 minutes left in this morning's session. Seth Neiman and Joerg Bergmeister have taken over for Darren and Johannes, respectively.

11:35 am CT - Good morning from Houston. The Lizards are getting ready to head out for the first practice session of the weekend. Johannes van Overbeek is in the No. 45 and Darren is in the No. 44. The weather is reasonably pleasant here in Houston - slightly overcast, relatively low humidity and a light breeze. The team has a one hour practice session this morning and a one hour session this afternoon - twice the practice time that they had at last weekend's Long Beach race.

Race! Long Beach Grand Prix

Lizards are second and ninth in GT2 at the Long Beach Grand Prix. Patrick Long and Darren Law brought the No. 44 into its first podium finish of the 2007 ALMS season, and Joerg Bergmeister and Johannes van Overbeek finished ninth. It was a challenging race for the No. 45 Porsche, which sustained radiator damage after Joerg collided with a protype on course earlier in the race.

Congratulations to the team for another podium finish. We are signing off now and look forward to seeing you all at Houston.

** Jennifer and Shane


5:40 pm - With just a few minutes left in the race, Patrick is too far behind the No. 62 Ferrari to catch him, although Patrick is running 3 seconds faster per lap.

5:35 pm - 12 minutes left in the race. Patrick in P 2; Joerg in P 9.

5:34 - patrick passes the No. 61 Ferrari and moves into P 2. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari is in P 1. Joerg continues in P 9.

5:32 pm - Patrick continues to fight to close the gap with the No. 61 Ferrari and is less than 1 second behind.

5:29 pm - With just 20 minutes left in the ra e, No. 62 Risi Ferrari is in P1; No 61 Ferrari is in P 2; No 44 is in P 3; No. 21 is P 4; No 71 is p5. No. 45 is still P 9. Patrick is 5 seconds behind the No. 61 Ferrari, and is running 1 second faster per lap.

5:16 pm - The No. 71 Tafel Porsche put some pressure on Pat Long in the No. 44, but was unable to pass him prior to pit in, and then pitted for tires, fuel and driver change. With this pit stop, the No. 62 Risi Ferrari moves into the lead, followed by the No. 61 Ferrari, then No. 21 Panoz and the No. 44 Porsche with Patrick Long at the wheel. The No. 45 Porsche with Joerg Bergmeister behind the wheel is in P 9.

5:14 pm - Joerg has served his penalty and is out again, now in P 9 after the lengthy pit stop to repair the radiator. Darren pits for driver change to Patrick, tires and fuel.The No. 71 Tafel Porsche, still in the lead, has yet to pit. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari, now in P 3, has already pitted, so it will take the lead once both the No. 44 and the No. 71 pit.

5:10 pm - the No. 45 repairs are complete and Joerg leaves the pits but needs to return for a stop and go penalty assessed by the stewards for "avoidable contact." The No. 44 is getting ready for their pit stop which should happen in a few minutes.

5:07 pm - No. 44 strategist Eric Ingraham alerts the No. 44 crew to get ready for their pit stop and Patrick Long gets ready to take over from Darren Law.

5:04 pm - No 8 Mazda has stopped on course at pit in. the No. 45 is still in the pits as the crew sorks frantically on the radiator repairs. Positions: P 1 No. 71; P 2 No. 44; P 3 No. 31; P 4 No 62; P 5 No. 61; P 6 No. 21;

5:02 pm - Joerg made contact with the back end of the Audi after it spun on track - breaking a front radiator. He pits for repairs.

4:54 - No. 71 Tafel car passes Darren for P 1. No. 44 now in P2.

4:51 pm - The No. 44 with Darren Law at the wheel is still in the lead, with the No. 71 Porsche in hot pursuit in P 2. Joerg is in P 5, closely followed by the No. 62 Ferrari, which has also already pitted.

4:40 pm - Postions are: P 1 No. 44; P 2 No 71; P 3 No 22; P 4 No. 31; P 5 No 73; P 6 No. 45. The No. 44 has not yet pitted for its driver change and fuel.

4:39 pm - No. 9 Acura spun on course but is off and running again. So far, no full course yellow.

4:37 pm - Thomas Blam makes the decision for the No. 45 to pit for driver change to Joerg and a short fuel. The course is still yellow. The Porsche is in and out quickly in a clean pit stop. Barring any problems, they should be able to complete the race with no additional pit stops.

4:32 pm - GT2 top 3 positions are: P 1 No 52; P 2 No 44; P 3 No 45. - staying constant since race start just after 4 pm.

4:30 pm - Good afternoon everyone - apologies for the delay in getting our blog and radio going - we are having a few connection problems here this afternoon. We are live now - you can listen in at www.lizardms.com.

We are under yellow right now - just 22 minutes into the 1 hour and 40 minute race, the first yellow of the race to clear out the Rahal Porsche which impacted the wall in turn 8.

Darren Law is in the No. 44 and Johannes is in the No. 45.

The crew is considering strategies right now -they will need to do one pit stop during the race for fuel and driver change, but this yellow was just a bit too early for the cars to do a single pit stop now under yellow. If they pit now, they could still need to pit again for fuel later in the race.

radio and blog delayed

the radio transmission and blogging will start as soon as we can work out a glitch with the broadcast machine. stay tuned.

Long Beach Raceday - Morning Warmup

8:20 am - The checkered is out and crew chief Tommy Sadler calls Johannes in. That's it for practice before this afternoon's race, which begins at 4 pm PT.

8:10 am - Darren made contact with the Mazda prototype and pits to let the crew inspect the damage. It looks like there's damage to the front bumper but hopefully it's limited to that. Darren also reports that one of the Ferraris is "off in the flowers". The report in from the crew is that it did not damage the radiator so the crew will replace the bumper and use the recon lap prior to the race to ensure that all is well. Darren is out of the car and the crew is readying the car to go back into the garage. Johannes continues in the No. 45.

The Lizards will start 2nd and 3rd on the grid in GT2 today, with Johannes starting in the No. 45 and Darren in the No. 44. This race will be shorter than the standard ALMS race - just 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Reminder - we are broadcasting our radio transmissions during today's track sessions. To listen in go to www.lizardms.com.

8:00 am PT - Good morning from Long Beach. It looks like it will be another beautiful day here in Southern California. The Lizards are getting ready for the final practice before this afternoon's race. The cars are lined up in pit out waiting for the green flag for the 20 minute session. Darren Law is in the No. 44 Porsche and Johannes is in the No. 45 Porsche.

Long Beach - Qualifying

4:11 pm - With just a few minutes left in the session, the Lizards qualify 2nd in the No. 44 and 3rd in the No. 45. Patrick Long brought the number 44 into its best qualifying position since Lonnie Pechnik qualified on the pole at Mosport in 2004.

4:09 pm - The crew brings Patrick in after determining there's no more in this session for the No. 44- he's still in P2. Stefan Pfeiffer makes the call on the No. 45 that Joerg should try for one more lap but that the tire pressures are beginning to come up and it's time to come in.

4:08 pm - Patrick in P2; Salo in P1, three tenths ahead. Joerg is in P3, three one hundreths of a second ahead of Patrick.

4:03 pm - Patrick is now P 1 with a 1:21:209- one tenth of a second faster than Mika Salo in the No. 62 Ferrari.

4:02 pm - Both Lizard Porsches are out for the qualifying session. It's only the second time that the guys have been on the street circuit after a brief practice session this morning.
Patrick Long is in the No. 44 and Joerg Bergmeister is in the No. 45.

Long Beach - Morning Warmup

9:15 am - Good morning from Long Beach. It's a beautiful day here and we are on track for our mroning practice. We have very little track time here prior to Saturday's race so the crews are focused on getting the cars on track and setup as quickly as they can. So far, the cars were out on time and all drivers are cycling through.