The three new 2008 Flying Lizard Motorsports 911 GT3 RSR Porsches — No. 44, No. 45, and No. 46 — had their U.S. debut this week in Sebring, Florida at a two-day private test. The entire team and a complement of Lizard drivers converged in Florida for the first shakedown of the new Porsches, which had arrived at the team’s Sonoma-based shop just over a week ago.
“We’re pleased with the test results so far,” said Flying Lizard crew chief and co-technical director, Tommy Sadler. “With the first run of a new car, there are always some challenges. Having track time prior to the Sebring race to do a shakedown and let the drivers get used to the cars will definitely help us keep our focus on setup during race week.”
In addition, the team announced its full driver lineup for Sebring. In the No. 46 Porsche, Johannes van Overbeek (USA) and Patrick Pilet (France) will team for the season, joined by guest driver Richard Lietz (Austria) for the race. Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Wolf Henzler (Germany) will be paired in the No. 45 Porsche for the season, joined by guest driver Marc Lieb (Germany) for Sebring. In the No. 44 Porsche, Darren Law (USA) and Seth Neiman (USA) will be joined by veteran Australian GT driver Alex Davison for Sebring. This will be Lieb’s sixth race with the Lizards and the first time that Lietz and Davison have run with the team. For driver bios click here.
Law, who drove the new Porsches for the first time yesterday, said, “It was great to get out on track with the new cars and we had a very good test. It’s clear that the cars have taken a step from last year.”
All three Porsches appeared on track in full ALMS livery: the familiar silver and red Lizard combination the team has showcased since their inaugural season in 2004.
Team manager Eric Ingraham added, “This test was a real milestone for the team: the first time that we’ve run three cars in parallel. We’ve added some new folks to support the addition of the third car, including a third engineer, a third strategist, and the requisite drivers and crew members. We’d expected a challenge scaling to the three car setup, but so far, things have gone smoothly. We’re looking forward to being back here in two weeks for the race.”
Technorati Tags: American Le Mans Series, Flying Lizard Motorsport, Porsche, Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, 2008 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
