Flying Lizard Motorsports Press Release
March 9, 2015 – SONOMA, Calif.
This month, Flying Lizard Motorsports will return to Sebring International Raceway to compete in their twelfth 12 Hours of Sebring TUDOR United SportsCar Championship endurance event. The team currently has five podium finishes at the legendary endurance event, and will return to fight for another win with a new driver line up. Racing the No. 45 Audi R8 LMS will be former Flying Lizard driver Marco Holzer, current driver Robert Thorne and newcomer Colin Thompson.
"I'm very excited to return to Flying Lizard Motorsports since I have known the entire team for a long time," said Holzer. "The Flying Lizards have achieved a lot of successes. The team has a strong team spirit and they all keep going in the same direction with the same goal. Being able to drive the 12 hours of Sebring with them again means a lot. I have already been racing in Sebring very often and it certainly helps me to feel confident with the track. So far, I have received a lot of information and data about the car which helps me a lot to prepare myself. I'm very much looking forward to getting in the car and going racing."
"I had never been on the track before a few weeks ago," said Thorne. "However, being able to at least take the McLaren around Sebring and to get some laps in really helps, as well as and learning from my Pirelli World Challenge teammate, Kevin Estre. He's done a lot of laps around that track and got me up to speed pretty quickly so it shouldn't be an issue there. I know the car now pretty well after doing many hours in it at Daytona, so we should have a strong line up and be ready to fight for the win."
Rounding out the line-up is young American Colin Thompson, who will also be a new face at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Currently racing full time in the GT Cup class in Pirelli World Challenge, the young racer already boasts an impressive resume, having won the 2014 Championship in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama and starting the 2015 season well with a win in both GT Cup race rounds at the Pirelli World Challenge season opener at Circuit of the Americas. Thompson has also enjoyed previous success at Sebring International Raceway, and is looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the Audi R8 LMS.
"We are really looking forward to the Mobil 1 Twelve hours of Sebring," said Flying Lizard Motorsports Program Manager Darren Law. "Flying Lizard has had so much success there in the past and we are coming at the event this year with a very strong driver line-up. We are happy to have Marco Holzer back, who is an incredibly fast driver. He has a lot of experience at Sebring so he knows the track and he knows the team incredibly well. We were very excited to find out he was available. To also have Robert Thorne from our K-PAX Racing relationship join us again in our IMSA Tudor United SportsCar effort as he did in Daytona, is a great benefit. He did a great job at the Daytona 24, and he was fast and showed great ability to contend in this type of racing. A new addition to Flying Lizard will be Colin Thompson. He is another very quick up and coming driver. I had the opportunity last season to watch his ability while on his way to winning the Championship in the IMSA Porsche Cup. I have worked with Kelly Moss for a long time and have a great relationship with Jeff Stone, Jeff suggested giving Colin an opportunity to drive with us, so I think it's a perfect fit. We have an extremely strong lineup for this year's 12 Hour."
About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Flying Lizard is based in 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, along with the inaugural season of the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship in the GT Daytona class in 2014. 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. Follow Flying Lizard Motorsports on twitter, and like us on Facebook for all team updates.
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
