Flying Lizard heads to Long Beach, California for round two of the American Le Mans Series: the ALMS at Long Beach race on Saturday, April 16. Following the team’s sixth and seventh place finishes at the season-opener at Sebring in March (for the No. 45 and No. 44 Lizard Porsches, respectively) Flying Lizard is currently third in the GT team championship. No. 45 drivers Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long are fifth in the GT driver championship and Seth Neiman and Darren Law are sixth in the No. 44.
Long Beach is the first of two street circuits on the ALMS schedule this year (the second is Baltimore, in September). The race will run two hours on the 1.968, 11-turn temporary course along on the shores of Long Beach. Lizard chief strategist Thomas Blam commented, “Flying Lizard has historically done very well at street circuits and Patrick and Joerg have won here the last two years. Long Beach is always very tough race: the pavement is a rough racing surface and there’s no absolutely no run off. This year it’s a large field – 31 entries across six classes – imagine that group all trying to navigate the hairpin turn together. And at two hours, it could be a one-stop race depending on how the yellows fall. Altogether, there is zero margin for error.”
Patrick Long added, “Long Beach is a wild ride. It’s the shortest event of the year and there’s almost no track time prior to the race. In some ways, this really levels the playing field: to do well here you can’t make even the smallest mistake. And the high car count will definitely change the dynamics of the race and make it a very intense two hours.”
Follow the Race
The race gets the green flag Saturday, April 16 at 4:30 pm PT. Follow Flying Lizard live through the race blog and team radio (www.lizardms.com), on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/FlyingLizardMotorsports), and Twitter (FlyingLizard_MS). The race is broadcast live on ESPN3.com and tape delayed on Sunday, April 17 on ESPN2, starting at 2 pm PT (5 pm ET). Viewers outside of the U.S. may also view the race live at www.americanlemans.com. Qualifying will also be broadcast live on ESPN3.com.
Source: Flying Lizard Motorsports
Photo: Porsche
