Detroit - Race - No. 44 2nd in GT2 !!!
6:00 pm - No. 44 is second in GT2! Congratulations to Patrick Long, Darren Law and the entire No. 44 crew for a great race.
The No. 45 was retired due to an accident and resulting car fire. Johannes van Overbeek, who was in the car at the time, is fine.
Thank you everyone for joining us. The race will be broadcast tonight, Saturday, starting at 9:30 pm ET on SpeedTV.
****
5:58 pm - 2 minutes left to go. Patrick P2.
5:51 pm - 9 minutes to go in the race. Patrick is losing some ground to the No. 62 Ferrari and is now 4 seconds behind, but still a solid second.
5:43 pm - The No. 31 Ferrari just received a penalty for contact with the No. 73, which will put him one lap down. So it is the No. 62 in the lead and No. 44 right on his tail - .3 seconds behind. Both cars are runing the same pace - Patrick has just set the fastest lap times for the GT2 Porsches so far in the race.
5:37 pm - Green flag. Positions: P1 No. 62; P2. No 44; P 3 No. 31; P 4. No. 61; P 4 No. 73. Patrick is just 2.5 seconds back from No. 62. No. 31 is four seconds behind Patrick. No. 61 is one lap down still although on track he is immediately behind the No. 31.
The No. 31 Ferrari appears to have just punted the No. 73 Tafel car off track.
5:31 pm - No 18 Rahal Porsche is stopped on track - they will not be able to continue. Double yellow, pits are closed. This could be good for the No. 44 because it may be able to get the lap back on the No. 62 - putting the car back on the same lap. Yes - confirmed - Patrick is now on the lead lap with the No. 6 (as should be the No. 31 Ferrari). The No. 61 Ferrari, now one lap down on the No. 31, may also be able to move up a lap - this could mean a battle to the finish in GT2. I'll report positions again once the course goes green which should be shortly.
5:25 pm - Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 44; P3 No. 31; P4 No. 61. P5 No. 73; P6 No. 54; P 7 No. 18. The No. 62 is one lap up on the No. 44. The No. 31 is just 2 seconds behind Patrick in the No. 44. The next closest car is the No. 61 Ferrari, which is 1 lap down on the No. 31.
Patrick is running the fastest pace of the top GT3 3 cars. The No. 61 (in fourth place) is running the fastest GT2 pace overall.
5:14 pm - At the end of his stint, Darren, in second place in the No. 44, pitted but was immediately sent back out to ensure he stayed in position under the yellow. He was assessed a stop and go penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit. He then pitted again for tires, fuel and driver change to Patrick. Patrick went out, then pitted again to serve the penalty. Even with the three pit stops, the No. 44 remains in second position.
Another yellow flag after the No. 6 Penske prototype collided with an Acura prototype, causing the wing of the No. 6 Penske to fly off into traffic.
5:05 pm - Things are settled down a bit. Johannes is back in pit lane and the No. 45 car has been returned to our paddock. I will report further details when I know them. The car, obviously, has been retired from the race.
4:47 pm - the No. 45 has had a fire on track. Johannes is out of the car and appears to be fine and is out of the car but the car appears to be totaled. We will report more when we know more. Course is double yellow.
4:40 pm - No. 45 and the No. 71 collided on track as the No. 45 moved to pass. Appears to be significant damage although he was able to continue. He will need a new rear wing, and of more concern to the crew is that the engine temperature is rising and Johannes sees/smells oil. No. 45 has not pitted yet - the crew needs a bit of time to determine their strategy for repair and have Johannes circling under yellow.
TV coverage shows body damage to the rear and a damaged/broken rear wing.
Darren pitted and he stopped in the pits and and restarted. He was assessed a penalty of a stop and go under green. I'm not sure what happened. I will report more when I have some more info.
4:35 pm - No. 61 pits for tires, fuel and probably driver change. Positions remain the same but No. 45, No. 44 and No. 31 now all running nose to tail and just about to hit traffic. Gap between the No. 62 in the lead and the No. 45 in P2 is now 20 seconds.
4:30 pm - Although the drivers (and their tires) are nearing the end of their stints, times continue to drop - Lizard engineer Stefan Pfeiffer explains that the track is just now "starting to come in" - we should see some fast times after field driver changes and new tires.
4:23 pm - Top 4 GT2 positions remain the same: P1 No. 62; P2 No 45; P3 No 44; P4 No 31. The No. 31 Ferrari has closed the gap on Darren, who lost some time when he went offline and is now just 1 second back.
4:19 pm - TV replay showed Darren being nudged offline by a prototype and narrowly missing the wall. He continued without incident.
Reminder - team radio live at: http://www.lizardms.com/radio.htm
4:15 pm ET - One hour into the race. Johannes in the No. 45 is still in P2 behind the No. 62 Ferrari. Johannes is now 10 seconds back from the No. 62. Darren in the No. 44 is 8 seconds behind Johannes. The No. 31 Ferari is now 15 seconds behind Darren.
The top 4 GT2 cars have all pitted once for tires and fuel, all four drivers are still on their first stints.
4:01 pm ET - The No. 62 Ferrari continues on a faster pace than the Porsches - .5 to 1 second per lap. Johannes needs to be patient and wait for him to either make a mistake, hit traffic,or for the course to go yellow. Darren lost a bit of time on the outlap and is now 8 seconds behind Johannes. The top four GT2 cars are on the same lap, the others are one or more laps back. The No. 31 Ferrari is 6 seconds back from Darren.
Positions: P1 No. 62; P2. No 45; P3 No. 44, P4 No 31.
3:57 pm ET - Fast, clean pit stops for both Lizard Porsches. The No. 62 was out of the pits first and the positions remain the same. Our short pit stops helped Johannes and Darren close the gap on the No. 62 - we came into the pits well behind the No. 62 but were out right on his tail. P1 No. 62; P2 No. 45, P3 No. 44; P 4. No. 31; P 5. No 61.
3:54 pm ET - Both Lizard Porsches are pitting for tires and fuel. It is the first pit stop for both. Both drivers will remain in the cars. The No. 62 Ferrari, the GT2 leader, is also pitting. If he has any problems in the pits, we could have the opportunity to take the lead if we can get out first. The No. 31 Ferrari also pitted.
Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 45; P3 No. 44; P4 No 31; P5 No 61; P6 No 73; P7 No. 71; P 8 No. 54; P9 No 11; P10 No. 22; P11 No. 18.
3:47 pm - Pits are open but course is still yellow. The No. 45 will most likely stay out but the No. 44 will probably pit for tires and fuel. The No. 7 Penske Porsche pitted. After the wave by, the top four GT2 cars are now a lap up on the rest of the GT2 field - starting with the No. 61 in P5. So the first four GT2 cars are on one lap, the rest are one or more laps back.
3:42 - The No. 61 attempted to repass the No. 31 and ended up in the tire wall and the No. 31 also went off line. Both were able to continue but Johannes and Darren were able to move past both the No. 61 and the No. 31 into P 2 and P 3. In a separate incident, the No. 71 Tafel Porsche looks like it had tire damage and is limping back into pit lane. We have a full course yellow but pits are still closed.
3:39 pm ET - Johannes passed Darren to move into P4. Darren is now in P5. The 06 prototype is stopped on course but offline and we expect a yellow flag if he cannot continue. The No. 31 Ferrari has moved past the No. 61 Ferrari in a clean pass, putting the No. 31 Ferrari in P2. Positions are: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 31; P3. No 61; P4 No. 45; P5. No 44; P6. No 73; P 7. No 71; P8 No. 54;
3:36 pm - No. 54 reports they were hit by a prototype and sustained suspension damage.
3:35 pm ET - Race contral assessed a penalty on the NO. 6 Penkse Prototype for hitting teh No. 62 Ferrari earlier in the race.
**** Reminder - you can listen to our team radio live at
http://www.lizardms.com/radio.htm
3:30 pm - Darren reports that the No. 44 is staring to get a little loose. Johannes is still close behind Darren.
3:28 pm - one of the Penske prototypes contacted the No. 62 Ferrari on course and then spun on course. Both cars were able to continue.
3:25 pm - Darren and Johannes are running nose to tail in P 4 and P 5. In the No. 62 Ferrari, Mika Salo has extended his lead significantly over the GT2 field. In P 2 is the No. 61 Risi Ferrari with Eric Helary at the wheel, and the No. 31 Ferrari with Mueller. Darren is 2 seconds behind the No. 31 Ferrari. The No. 18 Porsche went behind the wall for further repairs.
3:24 - The No. 18 Rahal Porsche is in the pits for an extended stop, working on the right left rear, and to serve a penalty for a visor up during refueling. The No. 22 Panoz has also pitted unexpectedly.
3:20 pm ET - Positions: P1 No. 62; P2 No. 61; P 3 No. 31; P4 No. 44; P5 No. 45; P6 NO. 22; P7 No. 71; P8 No. 11; P9 No. 54; P10 No. 73; P11 No. 18.
3:15 pm ET - Green flag - it was a fairly clean start except for some light contact among the prototype field. Darren reports that the No. 73 Tafel Porsche turned into him on left front after the No. 73 spun on track. Darren was able to continue. He is currently in P 5 and Joerg is in P 5.
3:10 pm ET - Engines are started and the cars are rolling out behind the pace car for two pace laps.
3:05 pm ET - The grid is clear of fans and the National Anthem is underway. We'll start pace laps shortly.
2:25 pm ET - The cars are now on the grid awaiting their recon lap. Looks like we'll have an on time start at 3:15 pm ET. The No. 44 is starting fourth and the No. 45 is starting sixth on the grid. We've had a bit of fallout in the GT2 field - the No. 53 Panoz which blew a motor in yesterday's session has withdrawn. Also, the No. 71 Tafel Porsche, which sustained major damage in morning practice yesterday, will start from pit lane.
Darren will start in the No. 44 and Johannes will start in the No. 45.
****
Team radio transmissions are now working - you can listen in at
http://www.lizardms.com/radio.htm
*****
