Laguna Seca: Flying Lizards preview

Flying Lizard at Laguna Seca for ALMS Season Finale; Lizards Secured GT2 Drivers and Team Championships at Petit Le Mans, Manufacturers' Championship Still Open

October 16, 2008 -- Monterey, Calif. -- Flying Lizard Motorsports, having clinched both the 2008 GT2 drivers and team championships earlier this month at Petit Le Mans, will race for the manufacturers' title at Saturday's season-finale: the four-hour Monterey Sports Car Championships at Laguna Seca. With a second-place finish at Petit Le Mans, Joerg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler in the No. 45 Lizard Porsche won the GT2 drivers' championship. (The duo are thirty-one points ahead of Dominik Farnbacher and Dirk Mueller of Tafel Racing in second place, and only 25 points are possible at Laguna Seca.) Johannes van Overbeek and Patrick Pilet, whose No. 46 Lizard Porsche was retired at hour eight at Petit after an accident, must finish tenth or better (and complete the required minimum number of laps) to secure third in the GT2 drivers' championship. Darren Law, Seth Neiman and Lonnie Pechnik will drive the No. 44 Lizard Porsche in Saturday's race, with Neiman currently in sixth place in the drivers' championship and Law in seventh.

Team manager and strategist of the No. 46 Porsche Eric Ingraham commented on this weekend's race, "We are heading into the final race of the season with the team and the drivers' championships secured, but our goal is to finish as high as possible with all three cars. The manufacturers' championship is still open: Porsche is 15 points ahead of Ferrari and 25 points are possible. We need to do everything possible to help Porsche bring this title home. Johannes and Patrick are in the running for third in the drivers' championship and Seth for fifth: there is a lot at stake still in the race."

Ingraham added, "Laguna Seca is a very challenging track. It's not a high grip circuit, there's a lot of sand on the track, and blind corners to navigate. The race finishes at night, which makes everything just that much harder. Laguna Seca is our home track on the ALMS circuit -- we'll have a lot of friends and fans here which always makes it fun."

-credit: flm