Monday, January 6, 2014

TUSC: Flying Lizard Completes Roar Before the Rolex 24 Test in Daytona Beach


Flying Lizard Motorsports Press Release

Flying Lizard Motorsports wrapped up the first test of the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season in successful fashion, running its No. 35 and No. 45 Audi R8 LMS race cars for eight separate sessions over three days, and finishing with the quickest lap time in the 28-car GT Daytona class at a 1:47.981, quicker than the fastest Audi race and qualifying laps from 2013.
The PR Newswire / UBM Tech / eSilicon No. 35 was shared by Seth Neiman, Dion von Moltke, Alessandro Latif, and Filipe Albuquerque, while the Venezuela / eSilicon No. 45 was driven by Nelson Canache Jr., Spencer Pumpelly, and Markus Winkelhock, with Tim Pappas set to join the trio for the Rolex 24 race coming up in three weeks.

The team had the fastest car in class for three of the eight sessions and the quickest Audi in six of the eight sessions, as well as the quickest two Audis in three of the eight sessions.

Quotes from the team:

Steve Conover, Chief Engineer: "With the technical support of Audi we started and have continued to have great setups on the cars. We have worked steadily through this test event to prepare for race conditions and while the absolute pace has been excellent, the speed of the car on used tires has also been very good."

Alessandro Latif, No. 35 Driver: "The test has been very useful for me in terms of understanding the car as well as learning the track. We have also been working towards finding the best race setup and I think we are at a good point now. Our pace seems strong and the tire wear feels very manageable. My co-drivers have been a big help in getting me integrated into the team and up to speed, so I am looking forward to the 24."

Spencer Pumpelly, No. 45 Driver: "Our progress with the R8 LMS has been very good in terms of getting up to speed on how the car works and what makes it fast. Going into a 24-hour race there are so many variables that are outside the control of the team, so it's a good confidence boost knowing that the ones that are within the team's control are well handled. It's been good working with Nelson and Markus and each has shown impressive speed. We'll look forward to adding Tim to the team and coming back here with our sights set on victory."

Flying Lizard Motorsports returns to Daytona International Speedway for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the opening round of the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, from January 23rd to 26th. The race gets the green flag at 2:30pm ET on January 25th.


About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Flying Lizard is based on Sonoma, California, and has competed in the American Le Mans Series for ten consecutive seasons, from 2004 to 2012 in the GT class and in 2013 in GTC. The Lizards have won two ALMS GT team championships (2008 and 2009), one ALMS GTC team championship (2013), and have secured three ALMS GT Drivers' championships (2008, 2009, and 2010).

Flying Lizard has also competed in the 24 Heures du Mans from 2005 through 2012, finishing third in 2005, fourth in 2006, sixth in 2008, sixth in 2011, and fourth in 2012.

Please visit the team website at www.lizardms.com and the team store at www.flyinglizardstore.com.

About Audi of America and the Audi R8 LMS
Audi began a new chapter in 2009 with the introduction of the Audi Sport customer racing program. For the first time it was possible for motorsport customers to acquire a race car designed for customer racing events. Since its inception, the success of the R8 LMS has been significant throughout the GT3 racing format worldwide, including victory in the GT class in the 2013 edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Audi R8 LMS shares more than 50% of its parts with the Audi R8 street car including the naturally aspirated V10 5.2 Liter engine, the Audi Space Frame and a variety of other components

Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. Audi was a top-performing luxury brand in Europe during 2012, and broke all-time company sales records in the U.S. Through 2016, AUDI AG will invest about $17 billion on new products and technologies.

Visit www.audiusa.com or www.audiusanews.com for more information regarding Audi vehicle and business issues.

Photo credit: Flying Lizard Motorsports [2013 Bob Chapman, Autosport Image]