American Le Mans Series

Flying Lizard Heads for Lime Rock

© Flying Lizard - Bob Chapman

The Flying Lizard Motorsports squad lands in Lime Rock, Connecticut this week for round four of the American Le Mans Series season, the New England Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park on July 1. The team has just returned to the U.S. after three weeks in France, where they placed fourth in GT2 at the 2006 24 Heures du Mans.
The Lizard driver lineup at Lime Rock will be Johannes van Overbeek and Wolf Henzler in the No. 45 Porsche and Lonnie Pechnik and Seth Neiman in the No. 44 Porsche. With three ALMS podium finishes in a row, including their first win of the season at Mid-Ohio in May, the Lizards are currently leading in the ALMS GT2 team championship and Johannes is leading in the ALMS GT2 driver championship.
At 1.54 miles, Lime Rock is the shortest course on the ALMS circuit and consists of primarily right-handed turns. "Lime Rock is always a tough race for every class, especially for GT2," said Johannes. "The number of right-handed turns requires an asymmetrical setup, which usually means that the car doesn’t handle as well in the left-handed turns. The circuit is fast but narrow and it’s extremely hard to pass. Put 24 cars on the track, with nearly half of them in our class, all competing for position and it can be tough; it definitely keeps you on your toes."

Lizard Chief Strategist Thomas Blam added, "From a strategy perspective, this is one of the most critical to have an error-free race. Because of the short lap times, it’s easy to lose a lap: one off-track trip or an extra-long stop in the pits and you’ve lost an advantage you won’t be able to get back."

With only a few days of prep time between Le Mans and Lime Rock, the team has been working quickly to get organized for the race. "We flew from France to the West Coast for two days to do laundry and sleep, then headed back East," said Lizard crew chief Tommy Sadler. "We shipped the No. 44 Porsche (which we raced at Le Mans as the No. 80) and all of our gear back from France where it met up with our transporters and the No. 45 Porsche at a temporary shop in New York. We’ve spent the last few days preparing both cars for the race and unpacking and repacking all of our equipment."