Oct 11, 2009 7:27:12 AM
- Spyderidol
- Rennteam Master
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- Loc: Mozambique
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- Registered on: Apr 25, 2007
Flying Lizard Wins GT2 2009 ALMS GT2 Drivers' & Team Championships
October 10, 2009 - Salinas, California - Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long brought the No. 45 in for the win at today's Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. With the win, the duo clinched the 2009 ALMS drivers' championship and the team won the team championship: their second consecutive dual championship title. Porsche also clinched the manufacturer's title at Petit Le Mans, and with today's result won the one-hundredth ALMS class victory for Porsche since the series inception in 1999. The No. 44 Flying Lizard Porsche of Seth Neiman and Johannes van Overbeek finished fifth in class. The No. 44 also won the Michelin GreenX Challenge award for the race and the season long Michelin GreenX Challenge championship for the 44 car.
Patrick Long reflected on the season, "Our five wins in a row in the first half of the season built a foundation for the championship. To drive the way that we needed to over the season to win the title required flawless strategy, engineering and pit work, the 100 percent reliability provided by Porsche and the performance of the Michelin tires. And in the end we were able to race for the victory."
Long added, "The sweetest feeling in racing is to win both a championship and to go out winning in the final race. A huge thanks to the team for the incredible number of hours they put into the program this year, and our partners and sponsors who made this possible. The pit work in the race today was incredible and in both pit stops we were out ahead of our competition, allowing us to first take and then extend our lead.
Unfortunately the race ended on an incident that saw the No. 3 Corvette, which had been in second at the time, severely damaged at the finish line. Joerg Bergmeister, who started and finished the race, said, "It definitely was not the way that I wanted to finish out the race. I hope that Jan (Magnussen) is OK and I am sorry that the race ended in contact. A huge thank you to the team: this race was won in the pits. I'm honored to be part of the 100th Porsche win and my second championship in a row with Flying Lizard."
