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Flying Lizards in the Home Stretch at Petit Le Mans

GT Drivers’, Team and Manufacturer Championships to be decided at Petit Le Mans

September 20, 2010 – Sonoma, California – For Flying Lizard, seventh months of intense racing are coming down to the final race: Petit Le Mans, October 2 at Road Atlanta. In the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long lead the drivers’ championship by 22 points; there are 30 points possible for first place at Petit, which will run a maximum of 1000 miles or 10 hours, whichever comes first. Bergmeister and Long must finish tenth or better in class and complete 70 percent of the laps of the class winner to clinch the 2010 title. Flying Lizard also leads the team championship and Porsche leads in the manufacturers’ title, each by one point: both of those championships will also be decided at the season finale.

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At Petit Le Mans, the Lizards will also host the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid entry in its U.S. racing debut. The Hybrid will be run by Porsche Motorsports; Flying Lizard will provide infrastructure support for the racecar in the Lizard paddock area and pits.

Marc Lieb (Germany), a Porsche factory driver, will join Bergmeister and Long as the third driver for the No. 45. Lieb has been a guest driver with the Lizards since 2006; this will be his fifth consecutive Petit Le Mans with the team. This year, Lieb won in GT2 at the 2010 24 Heures du Mans (with Richard Lietz/Wolf Henzler; Team Felbermayr) and is the 2010 Le Mans Series GT champion (with Lietz; Team Felbermayr). In the No. 44 Flying Lizard Porsche, Marco Holzer (Germany), a Porsche junior factory driver, joins Seth Neiman and Darren Law. Petit Le Mans is Holzer’s first ALMS event. In 2010, Holzer competed in both the FIA GT3 series and the Le Mans Series (Prospeed), with a notable podium finish at the 24 Heures du Mans (BMS Scuderia Italia).

Flying Lizard chief strategist Thomas Blam commented, “Petit Le Mans is a tough race; as we saw last year [the 2009 event was red flagged due to rain] anything can and does happen here. In the No. 45, we have to balance finishing as high as possible without taking any unnecessary risks. It will be a full field with 45 cars entered. Several of those are new entries so there will be quite a few drivers adjusting to the course. Certainly we are expecting a lot of traffic and a complex mix of cars.”

The Lizards are also testing at Road Atlanta next week. Chief engineer Craig Watkins described the plans, “With the large field, race week sessions will be very hectic so having the test time will be helpful. We want to get Marco seat time in the No. 44 so he can learn the circuit and we also have a few minor component changes that we want to shakedown. Road Atlanta is a very fast track: the Porsches have to be set up to get the most out of the downhill runs. We’ll run a high downforce setup, and will focus on maximizing tirewear for potentially long stints – even if we have to trade off some handling.”

Follow the Race

The green flag is Saturday, October 2 at 11:15 am ET. It will be broadcast live in the U.S. on SPEEDTV, on Radio Le Mans (www.radiolemans.com) and on MotorsTV. Flying Lizard will broadcast their team radio live during the race: for more information, go to www.lizardms.com. Team gear will be available at the Flying Lizard store in the paddock.

About Flying Lizard Motorsports

Flying Lizard Motorsports competes in the American Le Mans Series GT class. The team has finished in the top three in the ALMS GT2 drivers’ and team championships every year since 2004, their first year of professional competition. In 2009, the team swept all ALMS GT2 titles: Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long won the drivers’ championship in the No. 45; Flying Lizard won the team championship; Porsche won the manufacturer championship; and the Flying Lizard No. 44 Porsche won the Michelin Green X Challenge championship (new for 2009). It is the team’s second consecutive triple championship: in 2008 Joerg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler won the ALMS GT2 drivers’ title in the No. 45; Flying Lizard won the team championship; and Porsche won the manufacturers’ title.

Flying Lizard has also competed in the 24 Heures du Mans from 2005 through 2010, finishing third in 2005, fourth in 2006, and sixth in 2008. The privateer team is based in Sonoma, California.

Flying Lizard is sponsored by ShoreTel, a leading provider of enterprise IP telephony solutions; Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), a global software innovator delivering context-aware mediation and messaging solutions that enable communication service providers to create and deliver smarter services; eSilicon, a semiconductor company; and Double Clutch Coffee, a premium coffee company dedicated to motorsport enthusiasts. Team partners include Porsche and Michelin.

Visit the team website at http://www.lizardms.com/.

© RIF | Flying Lizard Motorsports