Flying Lizard Motorsports
 | |
| Founded | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Team principal(s) | Seth Neiman |
| Current series | United SportsCar Championship |
| Former series | American Le Mans Series Rolex Sports Car Series |
| Teams' Championships | 3 (2008, 2009, 2013) |
| Drivers' Championships | 3 (2008, 2009, 2010) |
The Flying Lizard Motorsports group is a motorsport team from Sonoma, California, formed by Seth Neiman in early 2003. The team has competed in the full American Le Mans Series season as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona since 2004. The Lizards have also been Porsche Motorsport North America's development partner from 2007 to 2012. The team helped develop the first- and second-generation 997 GT3 RSR as well as bring it to victory several times in its six-year run in the series.
American Le Mans Series
2004-06 (Beginnings)
The 2004 American Le Mans Series season saw Flying Lizard Motorsports and drivers Darren Law and Johannes van Overbeek finish 2nd in the GT2 team and drivers championship.[1][2]
In 2005, the team finished 3rd in the ALMS GT2 Team Championship with drivers Johannes van Overbeek and Jon Fogarty finishing 5th in the GT2 drivers championship.[3][4]
In 2006, the team finished 3rd in the GT2 team championship and driver Johannes van Overbeek finished 2nd in the drivers championship while his teammate, Wolf Henzler finished 4th.[5][6]
2007-12 (Factory Team)
For the 2007 season, the team took delivery of two brand new 997 Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs. Team also became Porsche Motorsport North America's development partner and received factory support from Porsche.[citation needed] Drivers Johannes van Overbeek and Jörg Bergmeister and the new addition of Marc Lieb shared duties of driving the #45 car, while Darren Law, Seth Neiman, and Lonnie Pechnik shared the #44 car. After the #45 car won three times in 2007, including the prestigious Petit Le Mans,[7] the team would finish second in the team standings to the Risi Competizione team.[8] Drivers Jörg Bermeister and Johannes van Overbeek would also finish second in the series driver standings.[9]
For the 2008 season, the Flying Lizard team continued on in its fifth consecutive season in the GT2 class of the American Le Mans series. For this season, the team expanded into a three car operation with three Porsche 2008 911 GT3 RSRs. In the #45 car, previous season driver Jorg Bergmeister was joined by Wolf Henzler for the full season of competition with third driver Marc Lieb. Johannes van Overbeek and the new addition of Patrick Pilet piloted the team's #46 entry full-time with guest driver Richard Lietz. In the #44 entry, Darren Law and Seth Neiman with guest driver Alex Davison piloted the car. The #45 car of Bergmeister and Henzler was in tight contention with the Tafel Racing squad of Dominik Farnbacher and Dirk Müller, and at the end of the season emerged the overall points winners, giving Flying Lizard Motorsports their first ever GT2 class championship.[10]
For 2009, Flying Lizard Motorsports back moved to a two car squad with the returning GT2 class champion #45 car being piloted by Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long for the majority of the races with Marc Lieb as the reserve third driver for longer races. The #44 car will be piloted by Seth Neiman and Darren Law for the majority of the races with Johannes van Overbeek as the reserve driver. After coming in 4th at the season opener at Sebring[11] with a heavily damaged car, the #45 team took the class win in the following 5 races. At the following two races at Road America and Mosport they faced much tougher competition with a greatly improved Rahal Letterman Racing BMW team and a new Corvette Racing team. The #45 managed 3rd at Mosport and 4th at Road America but came back to claim first place in GT2 at the season finale in Monterey, California. Winning 6 out of 10 races, the #45 car won the GT2 team championship giving the team its second consecutive championship win.[12] Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long also won the GT2 drivers championship.[13]
For 2010, Flying Lizard Motorsports continued running two cars. The two-time GT2 championship winning #45 car, driven by Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long with Marc Lieb as the reserve third driver, competed alongside its sister car, the #44, driven by Seth Neiman and Darren Law with Richard Lietz as the reserve third driver. The Lizards faced fierce competition from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Risi Competizione. After finishing 4th at the 12 hours of Sebring,[14] the #45 car went on to take first place in its class at Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Lime Rock Park and Mosport. The Lizards placed second in the Team Championship[15] and first in the Drivers Championship[16] thanks to Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long. This gave Flying Lizard Motorsports and Bergmeister three consecutive Driver Championship titles.
For the 2011 season the team utilized the brand new second-generation 997 GT3 RSR. Both the #44 and #45 car were piloted by the same team as the year before, with the exception of Marco Holzer replacing Richard Lietz as reserve third driver in the #45 car. After finishing second in GT2 Championship the year before, Rahal Letterman Racing came back to fight even harder against the Flying Lizard Motorsports group. The #45 car managed a 2nd in class at Lime Rock,[17] 1st in class at Laguna Seca[18] and a 2nd in class finish at Petit Le Mans.[19] The team managed a 3rd place finish in the GT Season Championship[20] while Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long finished 4th in the GT Drivers' Championship.[21]
In 2012 the team took deliver of two brand new second-gereration GT3 RSRs. This years car has a front and rear track that has been widened by 1.9 inches[22] allowing for much wider tires giving more grip. The Flying Lizard Motorsports team struggled to find speed and consistency with the new car. The #45 car managed a win at Lime Rock Park after a fierce battle with Corvette Racing and Extreme Speed Motorsports. The team also managed a win at Mosport but was disqualified after failing a stall test at the end of the race.[23] The team finished 4th in the GT championship[24] with Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long finishing 5th in the Drivers Championship points.[25]
2013 (Transition to GTC)
With the development of the 997 GT3 RSR ending, the team's relationship with Porsche Motorsport North America was discontinued. On November 15, 2012, Flying Lizard Motorsports announced that they would transition to competing in the GT Challenge category.[26] The team fielded a two car team for what would be the final season of the American Le Mans Series before it merged with the Rolex Sports Car Series to form the Tudor United SportsCar Championship in 2014. With the team winning four races of the ten round season, including a victory at the season finale, Petit Le Mans, drivers of the #45 car, Spencer Pumpelly and Nelson Canache Jr, would finish second in the GTC drivers' championship behind the Alex Job Racing's Jeroen Bleekemolen and Cooper Macneil and the team would claim it's third ALMS Teams' Championship and their first in the GTC class. [27][28]
United Sports Car Championship
After competing with Porsches since its inception, the Flying Lizard Motorsports team announced on November 11th, 2013 that it would partner with Audi Sport Customer Racing to campaign a two car Audi R8 LMS effort in the newly formed Tudor United SportsCar Championship GT Daytona Class.[29]
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Class | No | Tyres | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | GT2 | 80 | M | Porsche 996 GT3-RS Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 |
 Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Johannes van Overbeek Lonnie Pechnik Seth Neiman
|
323 | 13th | 3rd |
| 2006 | GT2 | 80 | M | Porsche 996 GT3-RS Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Johannes van Overbeek Patrick Long Seth Neiman
|
309 | 18th | 4th |
| 2007 | GT2 | 80 | M | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 3.8L Flat-6 |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Johannes van Overbeek Seth Neiman Jörg Bergmeister
|
124 | 43rd | DNF |
| 2008 | GT2 | 80 | M | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 3.8L Flat-6 |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Johannes van Overbeek Seth Neiman Jörg Bergmeister
|
289 | 32nd | 6th |
| 2009 | GT2 | 80 | M | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Darren Law Seth Neiman Jörg Bergmeister
|
194 | 45th | 14th |
| 2010 | GT2 | 80 | M | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Darren Law Seth Neiman Jörg Bergmeister
|
61 | 46th | 15th |
| 2011 | LMGTE Pro | 80 | M | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Patrick Long Lucas Luhr Jörg Bergmeister
|
310 | 18th | 6th |
| LMGTE Am | 81 | M | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Darren Law Seth Neiman Spencer Pumpelly
|
211 | 32nd | DNF | |
| 2012 | LMGTE Pro | 80 | M | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Patrick Long Marco Holzer Jörg Bergmeister
|
114 | 39th | DNF |
| LMGTE Am | 79 | M | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
 Patrick Pilet Seth Neiman Spencer Pumpelly
|
313 | 27th | 4th |
24 Hours of Daytona Results
| Year | Class | No | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | GT | 74 | Porsche GT3 Cup | Flying Lizard Motorsports | Johannes van Overbeek Seth Neiman Lonnie Pechnik Peter Cunningham Mike Rockenfeller
|
523 | 3rd | 2nd |
| 2010 | G | 67 | Porsche GT3 Cup | TRG/ Flying Lizards | Jorg Bergmeister Patrick Long Seth Neiman Johannes van Overbeek
|
703 | 9 | 2nd |
| 2011 | DP | 45 | Porsche Riley | Flying Lizard Motorsports | Jorg Bergmeister Patrick Long Seth Neiman Johannes van Overbeek
|
654 | 22 | 13 |
References
- ^ 2004 Team Championship Results, 2004
- ^ 2004 Drivers Championship Results, 2004
- ^ 2005 Team Championship Results, 2005
- ^ 2005 Drivers Championship Results, 2005
- ^ 2006 Team Championship Results, 2006
- ^ 2006 Drivers Championship Results, 2006
- ^ 2007 Petit Le Mans Results, 2007
- ^ 2007 Team Championship Results 2007
- ^ 2007 Drivers Championship Results 2007
- ^ 2008 Team Championship Results 2008
- ^ 2009 Sebring Results 2009
- ^ 2009 Team Championship Results 2009
- ^ 2009 Drivers Championship Results 2009
- ^ 2010 Sebring Results
- ^ 2010 Team Championship Results
- ^ 2010 Drivers Championship Results
- ^ 2011 Lime Rock Results
- ^ 2011 Laguna Seca Results
- ^ 2011 Petit Le Mans Results
- ^ 2011 Team Championship Results
- ^ 2011 Drivers Championship Results
- ^ Porsche 911 GT3 RSR race car ready for 2012, "Autoweek", November 4, 2011
- ^ Flying Lizard Porsche of Long Bergmeister Finishes First at Mosport GT, But Disqualified by IMSA, "American Le Mans Series", July 22, 2012
- ^ 2012 Team Championship Results
- ^ 2012 Drivers Championship Results
- ^ "Flying Lizard Announces ALMS GTC Racing Plan and Customer Program for 2013". Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ^ 2013 ALMS Drivers' Championship Results 2013
- ^ 2013 ALMS Teams' Championship Results 2013
- ^ Flying Lizard Announces 2014 Program 2013
External links
- Flying Lizard Motorsports - Official Team Website
- American Le Mans Series - American Le Mans Series Official Website