Sebring Ends in Disappointment for Flying Lizard
March 23, 2015 – SONOMA, Calif.
The 63rd Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring ended in disappointment for Flying Lizard Motorsports. An unrepairable mechanical issue one hour in to the race forced the team to retire the No. 45 Audi R8 LMS.
The race weekend got off to a normal start for the Sonoma, California based team. Each of the five practice sessions were executed well, showing continuous progression. Drivers Marco Holzer, Robert Thorne and Colin Thompson each received ample time in the car, learning the track and dialing in on the optimal set up.
Two laps into qualifying with Holzer, the gremlins appeared in the form of an oil leak, forcing the German to spend the majority of the session in pit lane. The team worked quickly and methodically to fix the issue. By the time the car was repaired, the session had ended, leaving the team with an 11th place starting position.
Before the pre-race grid, the team decided to do additional work on the car, resulting in the team starting the race from pit lane, After one hour of race competition, the team pulled in for the first scheduled pit stop only to discover a problem. The crew brought the car back to the garage for repairs only to discover they had no choice but to retire.
“Unfortunately, we had a mechanical issue at the start of the race,” said Program Manager Darren Law. “Once we brought it back to the garage, we found it was detrimental. It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to finish the event. You never want to withdraw from any event especially the 12 Hours of Sebring, as this race holds a lot of history for our team.”
The next United SportsCar event for Flying Lizard Motorsports will be Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca May 1-3.
About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Flying Lizard is based in Sonoma, California, and has competed in the American Le Mans Series for ten consecutive seasons, from 2004 to 2012 in the GT class and in 2013 in GTC, along with the inaugural season of the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship in the GT Daytona class in 2014. The Lizards have won two ALMS GT team championships (2008 and 2009), one ALMS GTC team championship (2013), and have secured three ALMS GT Drivers’ championships (2008, 2009, and 2010). Flying Lizard has also competed in the 24 Heures du Mans from 2005 through 2012, finishing third in 2005, fourth in 2006, sixth in 2008, sixth in 2011, and fourth in 2012. Please visit the team website at www.lizardms.com and the team store at www.flyinglizardstore.com. Follow Flying Lizard Motorsports on twitter, and like us on Facebook for all team updates.
About Audi of America and the Audi R8 LMS
Audi began a new chapter in 2009 with the introduction of the Audi Sport customer racing program. For the first time it was possible for motorsport customers to acquire a race car designed for customer racing events. Since its inception, the success of the R8 LMS has been significant throughout the GT3 racing format worldwide, including victory in the GT class in the 2013 edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Audi R8 LMS shares more than 50% of its parts with the Audi R8 street car including the naturally aspirated V10 5.2 Liter engine, the Audi Space Frame and a variety of other components.
Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. Audi was a top-performing luxury brand in Europe during 2012, and broke all-time company sales records in the U.S. Through 2016, AUDI AG will invest about $17 billion on new products and technologies.
Visit www.audiusa.com or www.audiusanews.com for more information regarding Audi vehicle and business issues.
