Mid-Ohio Race! - Lizards Win!!!

Lizards win Mid-Ohio! Second win in a row! No. 45 is P 1 and No. 44 is P 4.
Congratulations to Johannes, Joerg, Lonnie, Seth and the entire crew.
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5:57 pm - 11 laps left - 14 minutes. Joerg leads in the No.45. Even with his pit stop, Lonnie is still in P 4 in the No.44.

5:55 pm - No. 61 is back in the pits, giving the No. 45 nearly a 2 lap lead. Joerg is now focused on staying out of trouble and staying clean through the end of the race.

5:52 pm - Lonnie is in the pits for tires and fuel. 18 minutes left in the race.

5:42 pm - P 1 No. 45; P 2 No. 61; P 3 No. 62; P 4 No. 44; P 5. No 54; P 6. No 31. The No. 61 is one lap down. The No. 62 and the No. 61 are on the same lap, with the No. 62 20 seconds behind. Both the No. 61 and the No. 62 are running a similar pace, slightly faster than the No. 45. Joerg is slowing slightly now to conserve the tires, which will need to see him through the end of the race - 21 minutes. The No. 44 crew is getting ready for its last pit stop for tires and fuel. Lonnie will stay in the car and finish the race.

5:38 pm - No. 61 appears to havve run out of gas while in pit lane. Although the crew was able to assist and push the car into their pit stall for their scheduled pit stop, the have lost some additional time on the pit stop - 20-30 seconds. Joerg is in P1 and just did a 1:21.932. Lonnie continues to move up the fiedl - now in P 4.

5:33 pm - 38 minutes left in the race. No. 45 in P2 behind No. 61, but No. 61 still needs to pit again before the end of the race. No. 71 is in the pits and needs to replace a rear upright. No. 62 is 1 lap down on the No. 45. Positions: P1 No. 61; P 2 No. 45; P 3 No 62; P 4 No. 54; P 5 No. 44.

5:27 - Johannes reports he has the bobble and strategist Thomas Blam calls him in for tires, fuel and driver change back to Joerg. He is in the lead now but will go back to P2 behind the No. 61 Ferrari after he rejoins. The No. 61 also needs to pit soon for fuel. Lonnie is doing great in the No. 44, clocking consistenly fast laps. He is in P 5. ONly the No. 61 nd the No. 45 are on the lead lap.
Positions are: No. 61 P 1; No. 45 P 2; No. 62 P 3. No. 54 P 4; P 44 P 5.

5:20 pm - Melo in the No. 62 just did the fastest GT2 lap time of the race with a 1:21.552

5:18 pm - No. 71 pits for driver change from Robin Liddell to Wolf Henzler, tires nad fuel. At the time of pit, they were in P 3 and appear to have held that position.
P 1 No. 45; P 2 No. 61; P 3 No. 71; P 4 No. 62; P 4 No. 54; P 6 No. 44; P 7 No. 31; P 8 No. 13; P 9 No. 18; P 10 No. 21 (retired) P 11. No 73.No. 45 will pit in about 7 minute.

5:10 pm - No. 62 pits for driver change to Melo, tires and fuel. At the time of their pit stop, they had moved back up to P 4. Johannes is in P1, but the No 61 Ferrari in P 2 is gradualy closing the gap - running a slightly faster pace. Both the No. 61 and the No. 45 will need to pit one more time for fuel.

5:00 pm - 1 hour and 35 minutes into the race, the No. 45 is still in the lead. Of the 11 starting GT2 cars, all are still in the race except the No. 21 Panoz which is out with engine failure. Positions are: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 61; P 3 No. 71; P4 No. 62; P5 No. 54; P 6 No. 44; P 7 No. 31; P 8 No. 13; P 9 No. 21 (retired); P 10 No. 18; P 11 No. 73

4:42 pm - The crew does a fast evaluation of the No. 44 and determines all is OK. They were concerned that the muffler clamps might have come loose, but all is good. Lonnie is out quickly in with sticker tires and full fuel and is back in P6.

4:41 pm - The No. 73 Tafel Porsche is back on pit lane and looks like he will be rejoining the race. Johannes continues to lead and Seth is pitting in P 6.

4:40 pm - No. 44 has the bobble and the crew calls Seth in for tires, fuel, and driver change to Lonnie Pechnik.

4:37 pm - Johannes reports a "bad turn in understeer" on the No. 45. The No. 61 Ferrari is 21 seconds behind Johannes - running a slightly faster pace. The No. 71 Porsche in P 3 is slightly slower - during their pit stop, they lost some ground to the No. 45 and the No. 61 - and is now 40 seconds down on Johannes.

4:32 pm - Johannes regains the lead in the No. 45 during the No. 71 pit stop. The No. 61 Ferrari was able to move to P 2 while the No. 71 pitted. Seth is in P 5 in the No. 44.
Positions are: P1 No. 45; P 2 No. 61; P 3 No. 71; P4 No. 54; P 5 No. 44; P 6 No. 62; P 7. No 13; P 8 No. 31; P 9 No. 21; P 10 No. 18. The No. 73 Tafel Porsche has not yet rejoined the race.

4:30 pm - No. 71 is in the pits for driver change to Robin Liddel, tires and fuel.
I'll report positions again once the field resorts after this round of stops. No. 44 has stayed out - Seth reporting that the car is OK and he'll finish out his stint.

4:27 pm - A clean pit stop for the No. 45 and JOhannes is out on schedule.
the No. 44 should be in in a few minutes. Meanwhile Wolf Henzler has moved into P 1 in the No. 71 Tafel Porsche but he will also need to pit shortly for tires, fuel and driver change. If all goes as planned, this should be a 2 stop race for the Porsche field. The Porsches will need stop again for tires and fuel at around hour 2 (5:20 pm ET).

4:25 pm - Joerg radios in that he "got the bobble", is on reserve fuel, and the crew calls him in to pit.

4:23 pm - Joerg is in his pit window and should need to pit in the next few laps for fuel, tires, and driver change to Johannes. He is still in P 1. the No. 44 will pit after the No. 45 and the crew will do any needed repairs.

4:15 pm - Joerg in P 1 in the No. 45; and Wolf in P 2 in the No. 71. P 3 is the No. 61 Ferrari. The No. 31 has returned to pit lane to serve his penalty. The No. 44 is continuing to circulate while the crew attempts to diagnose the problem. Seth is in P 5.

4:12 pm. The No. 31 car has pitted for tires and fuel. In the No. 44, Seth reporting something wrong under the car. The crew has called him in for tires, fuel, and driver change to Lonnie. The No. 62 Ferrari is serving its penalty. The No. 31 has completed his pit stop but must go out for one lap before being able to serve his penalty.

4:05 pm - The No. 62 Ferrari appears to have a problem with smoke from the rear and has pitted - it looks like he was hit by the No. 31 Ferrari in traffic. The No. 31 and the No. 62 then both spun on course after nearly colliding. Both cars have been issued black flags and penalties. The No. 31 has a 5 minute stop and go penalty and the No. 62 a 2 minute stop and go penalty. No. 31 is still on course, the No. 62 pitted, and is back on course but both will have to come in for their penalties.

4:00 pm- One of the Ferraris spun but rejoined. Not clear yet which of the three.
Positions are: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 31; P3 No. 45; P4 No. 71; P5 No. 61; P6 No. 54; P7 No. 44; P8 No. 13.

3:57 pm - The No. 73 Rahal Porsche and No. 21 Panoz are both still out of the race -not clear yet what the issues are for those cars.

3:56 pm - Tomas Enge in the No. 31 Ferrari has clocked the fastest GT2 lap so far in the race of 1:21:975 although he is still behind Mika Salo in the No. 62 Ferrari.

3:55 pm - The No. 21 Panoz has rejoined the race.

3:50 pm - In P 3, Joerg has widened the gap between him and the No. 71 Porsche in P 4. However, both Ferraris now have a strong lead - still running nose to tail with the No. 62 in the lead and the No. 31 Ferrari in P 2. Seth is now in P 7 in the No. 44.

3:46 pm - The No. 18 Rahal car has pitted and was assessed a 20-second penalty for a crew member having visor up during refueling. The No. 21 Panoz has also pitted. the No. 73 Tafel Porsche has also pitted unexpectedly. So things have changed quickly in GT2 with three of the 11 cars making unplanned pit stops in the first 20 minutes of the race.

3:42 - Seth radios in that he was hit by a prototype in the left front. He is continuing. Not sure yet if there is any damage. Bill Rader reports that the grill screen is a bit beat up but there does not appear to be any radiator damage.

3:36 pm - The No. 62 Ferrari and the No. 31 Ferrari are running nose to tail, Joerg is back a few seconds in P 3 and Wofl Henzler is close behind Joerg in P 4 in the Tafel No. 71 Porsche. Ralf Kellners is P 5 in the No. 18 Porsche, and Helary is in P 6 in the No. 61 Ferrari. So far, it's been incident-free in GT2.

3:27 pm - Joerg in P3 after a clean start in GT2. The No. 62 Ferrari with Mika Salo at the wheel, which was on the pole, is in the lead, the No. 31 Ferari with Tomas Enge is in P 2. Seth is in P 9 after the start.

3:25 pm - Green flag! Two prototypes collided on the first lap turn 2 - one of the acuras and an audi. Both have rejoined but appear to have some bodywork damage.

3:20 - cars have started - 2 pace laps to come.

3:18 pm ET - Engines have started and the cars are readying for their pace lap.

2:55 pm ET - We are just 20 minutes away from race start. Cars are on the grid and the grid is open to fans. Thousands of fans are lined up on the front straight taking a last look at their favorite cars and drivers. We have excellent racing conditions today - not too hot, a light breeze, and high clouds.
Joerg Bergmeister is starting in the No. 45 and Seth Neiman in the No. 44. Joerg is third on the grid and Seth is seventh.