Utah Grand Prix - Raceday!
7:52 pm - No. 45 is P 2 and No. 44 P 7. It's the fifth consecutive finish for the Lizards.
7:48 pm - Johannes reports a "bit of a bobble" which means he is running low on fuel on the main cell. The crew notifies him to move to reserve. The crew calls him in to pit - although he could possibly finish, the crew does not want to take the chance, since he should be able to pit for a quick splash and still retain P 2.
7:46 pm - Robin Liddell in the No. 71 Tafel Porsche went off course and pitted. The No. 61 also pitted. But it appears tha the No. 61 took a position, moving into P 3. With the No. 71 pitting, it increased the gap between Johannes and the third position.
7:35 pm - 15 minutes left - the No. 31 reamins in P 1, 27 seconds ahead of Johannes in the No. 45. Lonnie is in P 7 in the No. 44.
7:28 pm - The crew reports that the No. 31 Ferrari has a loose undertray, although it should not affect the car.
7:22 pm - The No. 31 pits for fuel and appears to have had a fast pit stop with no tire change. It looks like they are out again still in P 1 in front of Johannes. The No. 44 went off track and will pit for tires and a quick check by the crew.
7:17 pm - 30 minutes left to go in the race. Johannes remains in P1, and is about 1 lap down on the GT2 leader, the No. 31 Petersen Ferrari. The No. 48 Ferrari is in P 3, but is one lap down on Johannes. Lonnie is in P 7 in the No. 44. The No. 31 will need to stop for fuel and tires. Johannes could make the rest of the race with no additional stops. However, tire management may be an issue and he may pit for fresh tires, depending on what happens in terms of yellows.
6:47 pm - the No. 62 appears to have a broken drive shaft and is off course. This is the end of the car's four-race winning streak. The course will probably not go yellow. This will move Johannes into P 2, behind the No. 31 Ferrari. The No. 31 Ferrari will still need to pit for fuel but the No. 45 could potentially make it to the end of the race with no more stops.
6:42 pm - No. 62 pits for tires and fuel.
6:4o pm - with just over an hour left in the race, Johannes is now in P 3, behind the No. 61 in the lead and the No. 31. In terms of fuel, the No. 45 could make it to the end of the race, but both the No. 62 and the No. 31 did not pit in the last round and will need to pit again before the end of the race.
6:33 pm - Joerg radios in that he needs to come in for tires, driver change to Johannes. It looks like No. 61 is also pitting and the No.71. It was a clean stop for the No. 45. I'll report positions again once things settle back down after the pit stops. The No. 62 Risi Ferrari, which did not pit, is still in the lead. Seth continues in No. 44 in P 8. Both Panoz' have been retired, and the No. 54 continues to be dogged with problems, although it was able to make it back to the pits after running out of gas.
6:23 pm - the No. 54 appears to be out of gas on the front straight.
6:18 pm - the No. 21 Panoz is stopped on track with a broken motor, but so far, the track has stayed green. Joerg continues in P 2, but is not able to keep the pace of the No. 62 Ferrari, which is in P1. The No. 31, which pitted last of the GT2 field, is now in P 5, but should move up through the field back into the lead as the GT2 field begins its second round of pit stops, which should start in the next 10 minutes.
6:15 pm The No. 48 pits, and Joerg moves into p2
6:11 pm - The No. 31 Petersen Ferrari pits for tires, fuel and driver change from Enge to Turner. This is their first pit stop. The No. 62 moves into the lead, the No. 48 is P 2 and the No. 45 P 3. Joerg will have to pit again within the next 15 minutes for tires, fuel, and driver change to Johannes.
6:03 pm - The No. 73 Tafel Porsche appears to be in trouble with a right front tire down. The Porsche is attempting to make it back to the pits. Joerg continues to close positoin on the No. 48 Ferrari.
6:02 pm - Positions are: P 1 No. 31; P 2 No. 62; P 3 No. 48; P 4 No 45. No. 44 is P 10.
5:57 pm - Joerg was able to get by the No. 18 Rahal Porsche and is now in P 4. The No. 44 crew calls Lonnie in to pit for tires, fuel and driver change to Seth. Meanwhile the No. 62 Ferrari has passed the No. 48 Ferrari, which is off the pace of the top GT2 cars. Joerg is closing on the No. 48, but reports that he will need to come in for tires soon.
5:55 pm - Joerg reports that the tires don't have much left in them and the crew readies for the possibility that he may need to pit for new tires.
5:48 pm - The No. 37 Intersport Prototype went of course but was able to continue. The field seems to have settled down a bit. The No. 31 and the No. 48 continue 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the GT2 field, followed by No. 62 with Mika Salo behind the wheel, the No. 18 with Tom Milner and the No. 45 with Joerg. Lonnie is in P 9. The top 5 GT2 leaders are turning laps within three tenths of one another.
5:40 pm - GT2 Positions are: P 1 No. 31; P 2 No. 48; P 3 No. 18; P 4 No. 62; P 5 No. 45. Lonnie is in P 8 in the No. 44.
5:39 pm - Joerg moves by Wolf into P 6 and attempts to move past the No. 21 Panoz. He successfully passes the Panoz and is now in P 5, keeping pace with the No. 62 Ferrari.
5:37 pm - The pack of GT2 leaders (except for the No. 31 and the No. 48 which have moved ahead) is really bunched up. The Panoz appears to be holding up the No. 62 Ferrari slightly as it attempts to find a place to pass .Right behind the No. 62 is the No. 71 Tafel Porsche with Wolf Henzler at the wheel. The No. 45 is right behind Wolf in P 7.
5:29 pm - Lonnie went off course briefly and may have flat spotted a tire. Joerg meanwhile passed the No. 73 Tafel car, which spun and went off course. Joerg now in P8, Lonnie in P 5. All of the top GT2 cars are on the same lap and very close together. Lonnie reports a strong vibration but he thinks it may be from the flat spot. If it gets worse, the No. 44 will pit for tires, fuel and driver change to Seth Neiman.
5:24 pm - the No. 45 pitted - a clean pit stop but they were unable to get the car started immediately. The No. 62 also pitted, but because of the starting delay Joerg was unable to get out in front of them. I will report positions as soon as the cars reshuffle after the restart, which should be soon.
5:21 pm - The No. 45 pits for front tires and a short fuel. They are hoping to beat some of the other GT2 leaders (who are also pitting) out of the pits. 5:18 pm - The No. 45 crew is discussing their pit strategy. Most likely they will take advantage of the yellow to pit for new tires. The No. 44 will stay out.
5:16 pm - The No. 22 Panoz spun on track after losing a right rear tire. The course is now double yellow. Positions are: P 1 No 31; P 2 No 62; P 3 No. 71; P 4 No. 18; P 5 No. 48; P 6 No. 45; P 7 No. 44.
5:14 pm - Joerg is now right on the bumper of the No. 48 Ferrari, looking for a good passing opportunity. Once he is by the N. 48, he will have four more GT2 cars to go.
5:11 pm - Joerg has passed the No. 22 and is now behind Lonnie in the No. 44. The crew has alerted Lonnie that Joerg is behind him as he attempts to move past. Once past Lonnie, Joerg will be in P 6 and Lonnie in P7.
5:09 pm - Joerg has moved up the field to P 8 - psasing the No. 22 Panoz. He is right behind the No. 22 Panoz but has been unable to get by so far.
5:05 pm - Race start - green flag!. Some excitement in the prototype category at the start. Hard to see what happened, but at least one prototype went off in the first lap. It appears that the Audi 2 car overtook the field before the first turn - possibly earlier than is allowed by IMSA rules.
4:48 pm ET - engines are started and the crews are leaving the grid. We should see an on time start at 5:50 pm. Joerg will be starting in the No. 45 and Lonnie in the No. 44. Joerg will have a bit of a challenge moving through the slower GT2 cars to the front of the field. The cars are headed out for their pace lap.
4:38 pm - Looks like the grid is final - the No. 44 will start sixth and the No. 45 ninth in GT2. There will be three GT2 cars behind the No. 45.
4:18 pm MT - We are just 45 minutes from race start and the cars are heading out for a recon lap and their grid positions. Many cars will be starting from the rear of the grid, having elected to start on all fresh tires. The No. 45 crew made the decision earlie today to start on fresh tires and will start from the back. There should be at least 3 other GT2 cars behind them. As soon as I hear details on the final grid, I'll post that. It's still hot and dusty although the wind has died down a bit. Race start should be 5:05 PM MT. We'll start the radio around 4:45 PM.
*** See you all at 5:00 Mountain Time this evening for the race! ***
9:35 am MT - Morning warmup is over and Johannes and Lonnie are back in the pits. Joerg's fastest lap held through the session. Both drivers are reporting a strong push in the corners and oversteer. Track conditions are quite different today than yesterday, so the engineers may make some setup adjustments prior to the race.
9:15 am MT - Joerg pits for driver change to Johannes. Johannes will finish out the short morning warmup. The No. 44 crew also calls Seth in for driver change to Lonnie.
9:11 am MT - Joerg currently has the fastest lap of GT2 with a 2:46.139 - three tenths ahead of Tomas Enge in the No. 31 Petersen White Lightning Ferrari. The times overall are substantially slower than yesterday's afternoon practice session.
9:05 am MT - We are just about to head out - there's a five minute delay on the session. Joergie is in the No. 45 and Seth in the No. 44. It is much cooler today than yesterday, with a very strong breeze from the south west.
8:46 am - Morning Warmup. Good morning from Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. We are getting ready for our final warmup session before this evening's race, which starts at 5:05 pm Mountain Time today.
We'll be broadcasting our team radio today during all on track time at www.lizardms.com. Hope you'll be able to join us! .. Jennifer
