Lizards’ Long Turns Perfect Lap in GT Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, But Fifth on Grid at ALMS Monterey; Bleekemolen Continues Pole Run in Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in GTC for Saturday Race
When Patrick Long (USA) turned his fastest qualifying lap in the #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, he was pretty happy as the car felt balanced and handled well. But when the crew told him his time, he found out that he was fifth on the grid behind two BMWs, a Corvette and a Ferrari.
“We made a setup change before the qualifying session, and the results were very good. My lap was perfect, and we have a great car for the six-hour race tomorrow. The fact that others could go faster when we made no mistakes speaks to regulations that are outside of our control,” said Long, who, along with Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) are seeking their second podium and first win of the season. The pair have won the American Le Mans Series GT driver’s championship the past two years, with Bergmeister earning a co-championship in 2008 as well.
The ModSpace American Le Mans Monterey presented by Patron will give the field of 36 cars the green flag tomorrow, Saturday, September 17, at 4:15 EDT (1:15 PM Pacific), and the race will last for six hours. ESPN3 will have the entire race live online, while live scoring will be on www.americanlemans.com. The ESPN2 broadcast of the event will be a two-hour program on Sunday, September 18, at 1:00 PM EDT.



“We want to show the public that a hybrid can be fast and fun to drive as well as efficient,” said Lietz. Other Porsche GT qualifiers included the #48 Paul Miller Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Bryce Miller (USA) and Sascha Maassen (Germany) – tenth; and the #44 Flying Lizard entry of Seth Neiman (USA) and Marco Holzer (Germany) – 12th.
In the ALMS GT Challenge class for matched Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racers, Jeroen Bleekemolen (The Netherlands) earned his ninth pole in 14 races (over two years) in the #54 Black Swan Racing Porsche he will share tomorrow with car owner Tim Pappas (USA).
“We were struggling in the first few practice sessions, but the team kept working on the setup and we had a great car for qualifying,” said Bleekemolen, who can help Pappas maintain his points lead in GTC even though Jeroen cannot win the title because he missed several races. It was a Black Swan Racing sweep of the GTC front row as Damien Faulkner (Ireland) qualified the Green Hornet/Black Swan Racing Porsche in the second position in the car he will share with Peter LeSaffre (USA). Third was #66 TRG Porsche of Peter Ludwig/Spencer Pumpelly/Duncan Ende (all USA).
Source: Porsche Motorsports