Flying Lizard confirms 24 Hours programme

Flying Lizard Motorsports' has confirmed that it will field the #80 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in what will be the team's fifth consecutive 24 Heures du Mans appearance next month.

The team received an invitation to compete in the event after winning the 2008 American Le Mans Series GT2 championship, and will take Jorg Bergmeister, Darren Law, and Seth Neiman to France to pilot the car. All three drive with Flying Lizard in the ALMS - where Bergmeister and regular co-driver Patrick Long lead the drivers' championship heading to round four, at Miller Motorsports Park, prior to Le Mans - but it will the first time the trio has driven together as a team.

Bergmeister, a Porsche factory driver, has competed at Le Mans seven times, twice with Flying Lizard - in 2007 and 2008 - and won the GT2 class in 2004 with the Petersen White Lightning team.

"I'm very excited to be with the team again for Le Mans," the German commented, "The last few years, we've had some bad luck but, in both 2007 and 2008, the Flying Lizard #80 car was the fastest GT2 car on track. So, this year, if we have the fastest car combined with some good luck, we'll be in good shape."

Law, in contrast to both Bergmeister and five-time Le Mans visitor Neiman, has never raced at La Sarthe before, and is looking forward to the event.

"I'm both excited and thoughtful about the challenges of the race," he admitted, "I'm really looking forward to Le Mans - racing in a 24-hour event is nothing new to me, but this track is.

"Although Jorg and I haven't driven together before, I've been team-mates with both Jorg and Seth for several years now and their experience with this track should help me get up to speed quickly. There is no test day this year, so my first run at the circuit will be on the first practice session of race week. The key will be to make the most of every second to learn the track and get used to the unique aspects of racing here."

In the US, the Flying Lizard team has made a strong start to its defence of the ALMS GT2 title, as Bergmeister and Long have won twice in three outings, while Law and Neiman have charged through the field in each of the opening rounds, improving its standing by an average of more than six spots from start to finish.

"Our objective is fairly obvious and not surprising - to win the championships... team, driver and manufacturer," team manager Eric Ingraham underlined, "Having two strong cars is great, but it's inevitable that the #45 [Long and Bergmeister] will run into some challenges at some point and you hope it is minimal. If it's not, then it's good to know that the #44 has been running so well so early in the season.

"You have to take the right amount of risk. You can't just run around and hope it's good enough to do well. The other teams in GT2 are just too good. We run both cars as strong as we can."