Flying Lizard Motorsports Press Release
July 25, 2014 – Indianapolis, Indiana
The Flying Lizard Motorsports team's stretch of bad luck continued at the Brickyard Grand Prix, as the team's two Audi R8 LMS race cars were hit a total of six times during the two hour and forty five minute TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race, including once even before the race started. Spencer Pumpelly took the start in the No. 35 PR Newswire / UBM Tech / eSilicon car, filling in for injured team owner Seth Neiman. On the first of the two pace laps a competitor ran off track on cold tires and then abruptly rejoined, running into Spencer and causing the No. 35 car to spin. Then only 10 minutes into the race, Spencer was hit again, this time by an out of control Prototype class car. This caused a flat tire and Spencer pitted immediately for repairs. As each driver is only allowed to earn points in one car, the team took the opportunity to put Dion von Moltke into the car for the remainder of the race, but he too fell victim to poor and overly aggressive driving on the part of his competitors, being hit by another GT Daytona class car as well as a Prototype Challenge car as the race went on, before eventually finishing the race with body damage in 13th place in class.
Spencer's teammate Nelson Canache Jr. fared better, starting the race in 4th place and moving into the lead with an inspired pass to jump up two positions in one turn. But the same bad luck was to befall Nelson, as he was hit multiple times by the GTD class BMW and was forced into a spin as well. He was able to recover however and entered the pits in the top-5 during a lengthy yellow for track repair due to a damaged section of curbing. Spencer then took over the No. 45 Yoddle / Venezuela / eSilicon Audi but irregular handling caused by damage to the car hurt his race pace and an 8th place finish was all that was possible.
Flying Lizard hopes to shake its recent run of bad luck in two weeks at the Road America racetrack in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The race will be held on Sunday, August 10th, starting at 1:15pm local time.
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 / Bob Chapman
