Flying Lizard took pole position in GT2

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Flying Lizards
Risi
Drayson
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Corvette
Corvette Racing Qualifies One-Two in GT1 for 24 Hours of Le Mans

Magnussen Wins Second Straight GT1 Pole for Classic 24-Hour Race

LE MANS, France, June 11, 2009 -- With days of persistent rain only a memory, qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans was completed tonight in near-perfect conditions. With a dry track and cool evening air, Jan Magnussen won the pole in the GT1 category for the second straight year with a time of 3:54.230 in the No. 63 Compuware Corvette C6.R. Olivier Beretta was a heartbeat behind at 3:54.702 in the No. 64 Compuware Corvette C6.R to give the Corvette Racing team a one-two qualifying sweep in the final race for the factory GT1 Corvettes.

"So far so good!" said Magnussen. "The Corvette C6.R goes really well and responds well to changes. I set my qualifying time on soft tires with a couple of laps on them already, which shows how good the car is. In the second part of the qualifying session Antonio (Garcia) did a long run to see how the tires would behave over a distance. With the new rules on tire changes, we'll have to double-stint them to avoid losing too much time in the pits. Tonight we learned how hard we can push them."

The Corvette Racing team devoted the majority of the first two-hour session to tuning the chassis/aero package and evaluating the Michelin tires under race conditions. Then in the closing minutes of the session, Beretta and Magnussen traded fast times. The Dane finally claimed his second Le Mans GT1 pole with two minutes to go.

"Winning the GT1 pole at Le Mans is fitting after 10 years of intense competition and a great way to begin the ending of Corvette's reign in the GT1 category at Le Mans," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "Tonight's performance certainly reflects the advances in technology that General Motors has developed through the Corvette Racing program."

Following a 35-minute break, the second two-hour qualifying session ran from 10 p.m. to midnight. While the first session had been routine, the second proved eventful. Olivier Beretta had a quick spin in the No. 64 Corvette C6.R in the second chicane on the Mulsanne Straight, while Antonio Garcia had to contend with a punctured tire in the No. 63 Corvette C6.R.

"The car was very good, faster than on my best lap, and I just lost it in the second chicane," Beretta reported. "It had nothing to do with the car, just the driver! The engineers worked very well, and gave us a very good car. I'm happy with how the test went tonight because we didn't have a lot of time. We used the hours we had very effectively, and I'm feeling confident for the race."

"I did a long run in the second half of the qualifying session to see how the tires would behave," Garcia said. "Unfortunately I had a slow puncture on the fifth or sixth lap, but the team spotted it on the telemetry and talked me through it, so I got to the pits without blowing the tire. In the first half of the stint it was difficult to brake into the corners, but after that the tires got better and the car was easier to drive, even when low on fuel. The traffic is very difficult though -- a lot of prototypes are quite slow and the drivers are not very consistent in their driving."

Johnny O'Connell, who will share the No. 63 with Magnussen and Garcia, was upbeat after the session. "I'm surprised how well everything is going, considering we managed very little in terms of dry-weather setup yesterday," the Georgian said. "All of us are rather optimistic for the race and the main issue will be how the LMP race cars will race you, how impatient they will be to get by you."

Four-time Le Mans winner Oliver Gavin agreed: "It's been a very good day, and I think we made some significant progress at the end of the session," said the Briton. "It was good that Marcel (Fassler) got some extended time in the car. I drove the No. 64 Corvette at the end, and I was very happy with it. Olivier did an excellent job with the tire evaluation and the car setup -- it was really his day today. We just missed out on the fastest GT1 qualifying time, but congratulations to Jan for that. Now we're focused on our job on Saturday and Sunday, and that's getting another Le Mans victory for Corvette Racing. This is one of the best race cars I've ever had here, so I'm very content."

After limited time in yesterday's rain-plagued practice session, Swiss driver Marcel Fassler was able to do an extended stint in the No. 64 Corvette C6.R.

"I was looking for my braking points and learning how to handle the traffic," Fassler said. "By the end of the stint I was feeling quite comfortable. My goal for the race is to be consistently fast, and to make no mistakes."
Flying Lizards
June 11, 2009 - Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France -- Joerg Bergmeister put the Flying Lizard No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on the GT2 pole today for the 2009 24 Heures du Mans. This is Bergmeister's and the team's first ever pole at Le Mans. Bergmeister set the fastest GT2 lap during the first of two two-hour qualifying sessions. His time of 4:03.202 just edged out the next closest GT2 car by three-hundredths of a second (the Felbermayr No. 77 Porsche driven by Marc Lieb). This is the second pole in a row for Bergmeister, following his pole in May at the American Le Mans Series Utah Grand Prix.

Rain dampened Wednesday's practice, so the initial qualifying session today was the first opportunity for dry track setup. "Because the track was so wet on Wednesday, one of our top objectives for the first qualifying session was to get Darren Law and Seth Neiman some laps on a dry track," commented Bergmeister. "We were able to work a bit on setup during the first session, then at the very end we put on a set of stickers and I was able to get a solid lap before it got dark. The car was OK but we still have some room for improvement in our setup."

The Lizards had intended to run the entire second qualifying session today, but with 30 minutes left to go, an issue with the left rear suspension sent Darren unexpectedly back into the pits. He was able to return safely with no further damage to the car but the problem put an end to the session for the No. 80 Porsche. Engineer Stefan Pfeiffer added, "It was unfortunate that we lost the setup time at the end of the session. We are still diagnosing the issue: luckily we have all day on Friday for repairs, and also the morning warmup on Saturday to do a shakedown. It's a long race and we'll be starting from the front of the grid."

Bergmeister, a Porsche factory driver, has competed at Le Mans seven times, twice with Flying Lizard (2007 and 2008). He won in GT2 in 2004 and finished on the podium three times and in the top five in four out of the seven races. In addition to his 2009 GT win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Bergmeister has also won the last three American Le Mans Series races in a row in the Flying Lizard No. 45 (with Patrick Long) and is leading the ALMS drivers' championship. For a full bio, click here.

Law and Neiman will join Bergmeister in the No. 80 for the 24 Heures du Mans, which takes the green flag at 15:00hr CET on Saturday, June 13. This will be Law's first time at Le Mans, but he's no stranger to endurance racing: he's driven with the Lizards in the American Le Mans Series since 2004, and earlier this year, he won the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Neiman, who drives with Law in the No. 44 in the ALMS, is currently in fourth in the ALMS drivers' championship - 2009 will be Neiman's fifth consecutive 24 Heures du Mans.

Risi
Winners of the GT2 category twelve months ago, Risi Competizione showed that they will still be a force to be reckoned with in this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans with a perfect display of speed, reliability and consistency during today's qualifying session.

Jaime Melo set the fastest time of the ten Ferrari 430s which will be battling five Porsches, a Spyker and an Aston Martin for GT2 honors in the world's most famous endurance race. His time of 4:04.056 was set under the hours of darkness in the third of the four hours of qualifying but was not enough to be able to match the Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche of Jorg Bergmeister who claimed pole position. Melo's Red number 82 will line up in third place in the category, while Nic Jonsson's time of 4:08.758 places him and his Krohn Racing colleagues in the distinctive Krohn Aviation-liveried number 83 on the sixth row of the GT2 grid.

Both Risi Competizione entries profited from the first proper dry running of the week so far to work on set up and carry out longer fuel and tire runs as well as assess the real race pace of their cars. Team Principal, Giuseppe Risi, said after the end of the evening, "I am satisfied that we managed to run through the program we'd set ourselves for these last two days, despite yesterday's inclement weather. Jaime is pleased with the balance of the car, which is the most important thing, and I know that Tracy was really enjoying his night laps in the car -- he didn't want to come back into the pits and stop! We now just have to have a smooth run for the race and in particular try and avoid any pit stop penalties. These new regulations are likely to catch out more than one team but I hope that we aren't one of them."

Jaime Melo: "I was hoping to get out a bit earlier in the second session [the car was slightly delayed by the completion of some scheduled pre-race mechanical preparation] to get some daylight and I think I could have been a little bit faster then. In the dark you cannot see your lines as well so you are a bit more conservative. I'm happy as third is not bad and the important thing is that the car is really well balanced; we will be able to keep a good lap time which gives me a lot of confidence for the race."

Nic Jonsson: "It's great to get a few dry laps in before the race. The Risi Competizione and Krohn Racing guys did a great job to set the car up and it seems to be very mechanically sound. Everything is working very well, we tried a few different types of tire and it seems like the soft tire in the night will work well to get rid of the understeer. We know we won't win this race on speed but we can win it by being smart and staying out of trouble and out of the pits. That's what we are focussing on and what we will be concentrating on doing. I'm looking forward to it."
Drayson

LE MANS
, FRANCE- Drayson Racing is set to make its premier in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the ninth position of the LM GT2 grid. In the process, the No. 87 Drayson Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT2 will make a dream come true for the all-British driving team of Paul Drayson (London/Gloucestershire, UK), Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK) and Marino Franchitti (London/Edinburgh, UK). Cocker, the young, sports car prodigy, set the ninth-quickest lap of the class with a time of four minutes, 6.482 seconds around the 13.629 Km/8.468 mile-long Circuit de la Sarthe. It was Cocker's first qualifying attempt on the track.

Cocker's fastest lap came at the start of the second of two, two hour sessions. He pulled the entry of the Official Partner Team of Aston Martin Racing (AMR) from the garage moments after 22:00 and turned the best lap on the first of his two "flying" laps. After a week of rain, including Wednesday's first six-hour practice session, the track had begun to improve in grip. Furthermore, the team and drivers had begun to find the secrets of campaigning a car on the world's most famous sports car course. Drayson and Cocker are both "rookies" at Le Mans getting their first taste of the full circuit only yesterday. Franchitti has a single start here in 2005.

Most impressive about Cocker's lap was that it came only an hour after a harrowing episode that very likely would have sidelined even a seasoned-pro. In the first two hour session, which had its start delayed, Cocker set the quickest time in the V8-powered Aston Martin. He lapped at 4:10.048. The time was 12th quickest of the 17 cars entered in class. The session ended with a heart-stopping moment for all in Drayson Racing coveralls when Cocker reported that the throttle had stuck wide-open entering the Mulsanne Corner. The Mulsanne Corner, one of the two slowest turns on the track, comes at the end of the long, legendary and blindingly quick Mulsanne Straight. Cocker kept his head about him as only a veteran could be expected to do and brought the car to a safe stop, undamaged. Unfazed, he re-started the car and continued to pit lane where the crew quickly diagnosed the issue.

With the start of the race, Paul, Lord Drayson becomes the first government minister to take part in an international motor sport event the magnitude of the 24 Heures du Mans. Drayson is the Minister for Science and Innovation and Deputy Minister of Defence for the UK. While other Lords have competed at Le Mans, even won the event - Peter Mitchell-Thompson, 2nd Baron Selsdon won in 1949 driving with Luigi Chinetti - no other cabinet-attending minister has ever competed at such a high level.

Drayson Racing is now on the grid to make its 24 Hour premiere representing the Aston Martin on the occasion of its overall victory here 50 years ago (1959). The Michelin tyre-shod Aston Martin Vantage GT2, the only Aston in the class, will enjoy one day of off-track preparations on Friday, 12 June. Spectators can enjoy a pit walk throughout the day and the Drivers' Parade in the city centre. However, Drayson Racing will be focused entirely on race-prep. Every component of the car will be thoroughly inspected or, in the case of the car's 4.5 litre, V8 powerplant, changed. There will be little rest for the Dale White (Bozeman, MT, USA) managed team as they ready themselves for the history of Le Mans. The race will start with the traditional waving of the French Tri-Colour at approximately 15:00 on Saturday, 13 June.

Quotes

Paul Drayson, Driver/Owner: "I am ready for the race of my life. Le Mans has lived up to its reputation with the changing conditions over the past few days but everyone in the team has done a great job to put Drayson Racing ninth on the grid for our debut at Le Mans."

Jonny Cocker, Driver:

About his lap: "I am really happy with the lap. It was probably one of the best laps I've ever done. There weren't any mistakes, I felt like I got a clear lap and absolutely got the best out of the car. But, there is still obviously work to do. To be just three seconds off at Le Mans, such a long circuit, on our first go is not bad. I am looking forward to the start now. It is a long race and we just need to make sure we make it to the end."

About the incident at Mulsanne Corner: "It was tricky. We had a problem where the throttle stuck open and it happened just under braking going into Mulsanne Corner. Not really the ideal place for it to happen. I was able to get it stopped without any damage. The guys found a little problem and resolved the issue. I think we got away lightly with that one."