Detroit - Friday Morning Warmup

10:07 am ET - A red flag for the No. 71 Tafel Porsche impacted the concrete wall, which ripped the rear wheel and suspension off of the car. Driver is fine but session is ended. So - we were trying to get the No. 45 out for one lap but won't be able to now. Not a great morning. Report on the No. 44 - Patrick is fine, and the car should be back on track by this afternoon. See you in a few hours for the 3:20 pm ET afternoon session.

9:58 am - We now have radio contact with Patrick and although we can't hear him very well it sounds like he spun in turn 5 and impacted the wall with the right rear and may have suspension damage. He appears to be fine. He is parked near Turn 6. The crew is heading out to the car now to assess the damage and get the car back to the transporter. Not a great morning for the Lizards but we have a full day to make repairs needed.

9:57 am - The No. 45 may make it back out on track for an install check.

9:54 am - The No. 44 appears to have been involved in an incident but we don't have any info at the moment and don't have communication with Patrick. We hear from race control that he is parked safely and must be out of the car. I'll report back once I hvae more info.

9:39 am - Joerg was hit by the No. 73 Porsche - it was a hard hit in the right rear. Joerg is able to continue but there is significant damage in the rear of the No. 45. The No. 73 also has significant damage to the front. The crew will take the No. 45 back to the garage and attempt to get it back on track in the session. It's a shame because they had not progressed as far as they wanted to in setup in this session.

9:37 am - Looks like Joerg spun but was able to continue with no damage. Still a

9:32 am - The Mazda prototype with Ben Devlin at the wheel has spun in turn 1 and lightly impacted the tire wall. He was able to minimize the spin so thta the cars behind him could avoid the incident. He has continued.

9:27 am ET - Green flag. Patrick and Joerg are both out for their first spin on the track. Joerg currently has the 3rd fastest time in GT2. The No. 44 is sixth. Patrick pitted on his outlap to allow timing and scoring to adjust the beacon.

9:22 am ET - A second red flag in the session to remove some debris from the track and both cars pit. Patrick Long is now in the No. 44 taking over for Darren and Joerg for Johannes. Both engineers are making aggressive setup changes to accommodate this track.

Darren's take on the track; "as expected, it was very dusty and slick to begin with because there was no rubber down. But the thing that surprised me most were the bumps - it's so bumpy it's unreal! They are very extreme and difficult to handle- we're going to have to do some significant shock and spring work to adjust to this track."

9:07 am ET - Darren pits for some initial feedback to the engineers. His main comment about the track is the bumps. The cars are skittering across the bumps and he says it's extremely tough to manage. In Turn 3 and Turn 8 he sais that the car is "skipping all over the road there. The No 4 Corvette and one of the prototypes collided on course with the Corvette impacting the wall. Both cars are pitting with bodywork damage. This is indicative of how difficult this course will be - one incident could result in multiple cars being collected. Race control is also reporting an incident on pit lane in which one of the Porsches ran into the back of the No. 54 car. This is a newly constructed pit lane and is proving a bit complicated for teams to maneuver.

9:00- No. 11 Viper is in the tire wall in turn 8. He continued but with some bodywork damage. One of the Lizards was just behind when the No. 11 spun but was luckily able to avoid the incident.

8:58 am ET - The No. 37 prototype made light contact with the tire wall but appears to be continuing. The drivers consider this course a high consequence track - there is little to no run off so a mistake can be very costly.
Johannes pits for a setup change. After a few laps, Darren has the second fastest time in GT2 and Johannes is fifth. There is a very wide spread in lap times in the GT2 field right now - it should narrow as the drivers become more familiar with the track.

8:45 am ET - Good morning from Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. It's a gorgeous fall day here on the river. The ALMS teams are out for their first look at the track in this morning's warmup. The drivers expected the track to be very green and so they are cycling through drivers this morning - just getting used to the track - before they attempt any setup changes. Darren Law and Patrick Long are in the No. 44 this weekend and Johannes and Joerg are in the No. 45. Darren and Johannes have both driven here before but Joerg and Patrick have not.

We have a large GT2 field at this race - 12 cars - with the No. 54 Transport Porsche back after a break at Mosport and the No. 11 Viper also joining the GT2 field for this race.

This morning's 1.5 hour practice session is the first of two practice sessions today.