Flying Lizard Motorsports Press Release
Flying Lizard Motorsports completed a heartbreaking 2-hour race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca today, leading essentially the entire race with the Venezuela / eSilicon No. 45 Audi R8 LMS driven by Nelson Canache Jr. and Spencer Pumpelly, and running as high as 4th place in the PR Newswire / UBM Tech / eSilicon No. 35 Audi R8 LMS of Seth Neiman and Dion von Moltke.
Thanks to Spencer's pole position in yesterday's qualifying session, Nelson started the race from 1st in the GT Daytona class with Seth starting from the 5th position on the grid. Their opening stints lasted just over 40 minutes into the race, until the yellow flag came out for a stopped car on track. The team immediately brought both cars in for what should have been their only stop of the race, changing tires, filling the fuel tanks, and changing drivers. With one hour and fifteen minutes remaining the race returned to green, but with the fuel stint length of their Audis just shorter than that, both cars switched into fuel conservation mode in hopes of making it to the end without stopping. During the run to the finish Dion was able to set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:27.509, just 4 tenths of a second off of his qualifying time. Unfortunately the 35 car stumbled going up the hill to the Corkscrew with only one lap to go, requiring a quick splash of fuel prior to the run to the finish, dropping it back one position. The 45 car came within a ½ lap of the race win, running out of fuel as it came to the top of the racetrack and coasting down, only to stop just past Turn 11, in view of the finish line, leaving the team's gamble for the win just short with the No. 45 finishing in 6th position.
The team will return home for a few weeks of prep followed by its next trip to the Raceway at Belle Isle Park in Detroit, Michigan, for a race on the street circuit there on May 31st.
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 [2014 Bob Chapman, Autosport Image]
