Le Mans Test Day

*** Thank you for joining us. Please check back on race week (starting June 11) for blog updates.
We'll be broadcasting team radio for all on track sessions during raceweek. See www.lizardms.com/radio.html for details *** Jen and the rest of the Lizards

5:52 pm - A red flag at the end of the session may end the session early for the teams. Johannes is in the pits waiting to hear if he can get back in line to take one more lap. No - it looks like they have put out the checker and the test day has come to an end. The Lizards have the third fastest time in GT2, one second behind the No. 76 IMSA Matmut Porsche which had the fastest time (Patrick Long), and five tenths behind the No. 93 Autorlando Porsche. The top three cars in today's sessions were all Porsches.

5:38 - Joerg is out and Johannes is in. Joerg came closer to Patrick's fast time in that last stint, with a 4:02.668. Johannes will now finish out the session - just 20 minutes left.

5:24 pm - Joerg is out again for his last stint. Patrick Long in the IMSA Matmut Porsche now has the fastest time of the session with a 4:01.598. Joerg's earlier time still stands as the second fastest.

4:55 - Red flag and the crew calls Johannes in to the pits.

4:30 - Johannes took another turn at the wheel, pushing for some fast laps. He pits for another change and stays in the car to do a few more laps.

3:30 pm - Seth's back in the car, after Joerg's stint. Joerg set the fastest time of the session just now - a 4:03:400, three tenths ahead of the next fastest car, the No. 93. Autorlando Porsche.

Listen to our team radio at www.lizardms.com/radio.html

2:20 pm CET - We are just about ready to head back out with Joerg in the car. The crew is putting the finishing touches on some suspension changes before the afternoon session.

We are breaking for lunch and we'll be back with you at 2 pm CET.

Joerg commented on his short stint this morning. " I was only able to do three timed laps this morning, but on the third, we were able to make one change. Then the red flag came out, and we put Seth back in the car. We still have a lot of work to do setup wise but I think the one change we made was in the right direction. " On the track changes, he added "It's quicker coming of Tetre Rouge- not a huge difference but a bit smoother. Arnage is a bit quicker on the exit. The concrete change going into the Porsche curves seems to have made it a bit bumpier."

12:32 -Green flag and Seth heads out. He will finish out the session - probably about 6 laps.
12:28 pm - The course is once again red and Joerg pits for driver change to Seth. Seth is sitting in the car on pit lane waiting for green flag. The team will run through the morning session until 1 pm, then take an hour break until this afternoon's session starts at 2 pm.

11:49 am - Joerg pitted for some changes. On reentry, he radios in that the No. 71 car is in the gravel trap.

11:36 am - Joerg is now in the Porsche. The engineers are ready to begin work on race setup and once Joerg is comfortable in the car, they will begin making changes to Joerg's feedback.

11:07 am - Seth radios in that there is a prototype off course in the gravel.

10:58 am - Still red to complete the cleanup from the earlier accident. Another source of info for English speaking fans for the test day is RAdio le Mans. Their primary website appears to be down, but you can listen in here for now:

http://www.t-shops.co.uk/Client/rlm/2006b/listen.html


10:27 am - A red flag but we don't have any detail yet. Seth radios in that it appears to be a prototype that impacted a wall. Significant damage and driver not yet out of the car.

Reminder - we are broadcasting our team radio communications all day today - listen in at www.lizardms.com/radio.html

10:15 am - Johannes brings the car in for a driver change to Seth. Johannes has the fastest GT2 time of the session so far. His take on "The improvements to the track are a step in the right direction - the Tetre Rouge area concrete is new and smooth, the exit of Arnage is wider and
repaved and they repaved from the Dunlop bridge onto the beginning of the Mulsanne straight. It was a good start for us. The car was good right out of the box - we wanted to make sure nothing was going to fall off of it on the first few laps but all went well. The starting setup was pretty good and now it's just tuning and refining and trying to get a good car for the race in 2 weeks."

10:00 am CET - Johannes reports that the dash panel cover in the cockpit is loose and calls in that he needs to pit. The crew decides to tape it down for now.

9:19 am CET - Johannes just left the pits for his first lap. Engineer Stefan Pfeiffer just reviewed this morning's schedule with the crew - Johannes will take one initial lap to do a quick shakedown and radio check at key corners on the track. Strategist Thomas Blam will call Johannes in after one lap, and then the crew will check tire temps. They will either move to softer tires at that point, or keep Johannes on hards for another lap or two. Once they have the right tires on the car and are at the right temp, Johannes will begin to go through his checklist of things to check on the car. They expect Johannes to drive for about one hour, then they will switch to Seth Neiman. If things go according to plan, they will work gradually to the point of starting race setup - with most of that work being done in the afternoon.




At Le Mans, we have the luxury of a permanent garage in which to work. The garages open into pit lane. Unlike the permanent road course tracks in the U.S., there is no pit wall here at Le Mans - just a white line. Our pit stall is just outside of our garage. The advantage of this type of setup is that if there are any problems, we have a complete working area just a few seconds from the pits. To bring the car into the pits, we use a special jack on which we can rotate the car and bring it direclty into the garage. At right are mechanics Albert Watkins and Roger Reis - performing their ritual pre-track dance, I think. Where the grate is is approximately the white line. During a pit stop, only four crew members are allowed "over the wall" to work on the car. And all crew members over the wall must wear full fire suits.





The weather in Le Mans is very pleasant - slightly overcast, mid-70s and a light breeze. Humidity is fairly high and there is a chance of rain tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will remain clear for the day. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous here - sunny, warm and clear.

Good Morning from Le Mans. We are getting ready to go on track at Le Mans for the first time this week. Today is the official test day - the one day we are able to test out the track, the cars and work on our race setup.
We will be broadcasting our radio transmission today - click on the link at www.lizardms.com/radio.html.

Our strategy this morning is to wait a bit before going out on track. We expect the track to be extremely dirty and full of debris. Because the 8-mile track consists of both dedicated track and public roads - it will take some time before the track is clean and at optimal driving conditions.

We expect the No. 80 to head out around 9:45 or so, and it will head out on hard tires. The first few hours today will be used to get the drivers acclimated to the track and to the car. We'll practice driver changes and working through the logistics of adjusting the seat from driver to driver.