Flying Lizard Motorsports Press Release
March 15, 2014 – Sebring, Florida
A hard fought twelve hours of racing at Sebring International Raceway resulted in 5th place and 8th place finishes for the Flying Lizard Motorsports team, with the Venezuela / Black River Caviar / eSilicon No. 45 Audi R8 LMS, driven by Nelson Canache Jr., Spencer Pumpelly, Alessandro Latif, and Markus Winkelhock, earning an 8th place spot while the sister PR Newswire / UBM Tech / eSilicon No. 35 Audi R8 LMS, driven by Seth Neiman, Dion von Moltke, and Filipe Albuquerque, taking its second straight 5th place finish in the 25-car GT Daytona class field.
The second round of the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar championship saw both Flying Lizard cars start towards the rear of the class pack after the team elected to maximize race week track time by working on setup during the qualifying session. Despite their starting positions, the extra time spent on the cars proved valuable as both cars moved to the front of the GTD pack during the opening hours of the race. For the No. 45, an unlucky series of flat tires and on-track incidents caused the car to lose multiple laps, and while the car was able to get back to within two laps of the leaders, time eventually ran out. The No. 35 spent the final five and a half hours of the race on the lead lap, including leading the race at one point. A late caution period for a stopped car cost the No. 35 three positions but the team was able to recover to 5th place by the checkered flag.
Thomas Blam, Chief Strategist, talked about the race for both cars, adding "Nelson and Alessandro had great stints early in the race, moving us up through the GTD pack, but unfortunately the No. 45 suffered one misfortune after another. The 8th place finish is ultimately a good result in a deep field for the season championship but we had hoped for more. The No. 35 had a good run by comparison, but its bad luck came with the final yellow with 45 minutes remaining, costing us three spots in the running order and a chance to race for the win."
The 3rd round of the 2014 TUDOR championship takes place on the street circuit at Long Beach, however the GT Daytona class doesn't again race until the 4th round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 4th.
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 [Bob Chapam]
