Flying Lizard Motorsports unveiled today a custom livery for the team's No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The design, created by Troy Lee Designs, depicts the team's familiar Flying Lizard image brought to life in full color across the Porsche's curves. The livery will be run at only one race: this weekend's 24 Heures du Mans, June 16-17 at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.
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(c) Flying Lizard Motorsports
The team offered the first glimpse of the new No. 80 today at its scrutineering appointment. Scrutineering is the formal technical inspection by the ACO of each car competing at Le Mans. It is held in historic downtown Le Mans. The livery, which had been kept hidden in the team's garage, was displayed before and after technical inspection to the thousands of sports car fans attending the event.
Seth Neiman commented on the project, "Racing at Le Mans is one of the best parts of our season and each year we try to bring a little something special to this great event. This year we've chosen to add to the spectacle with a special livery -- let's hope the Lizard brings us luck!"
On site in Le Mans for the event, Troy Lee reflected on designing the car, "I started by thinking about the Lizard's character and looked to the color and texture of real lizards for inspiration. I think a racecar should be colorful and interesting and look like it's travelling 200 mph even while it is standing still. The Porsche is a pretty aggressive car with a high and wide profile -- it was a perfect surface on which to bring the Lizard to life."
Based in Corona, California, Troy Lee has built a significant portfolio of custom designs for all things racing: from his roots in motocross helmet, bike and gear design to race cars, production autos and even Hot Wheels. The design for Flying Lizard is the first time he has worked with an ALMS team. Currently a professional motocross and Supermoto racer himself, Troy has been a major proponent of motocross and an important part of the resurgence of Supermoto racing in the U.S. The Team TLD/Honda professional AMA Supermoto team won both the Supermoto and the Supermoto Lites championships in 2006. For more see www.troyleedesigns.com.
This weekend, Lizard drivers Johannes van Overbeek, Joerg Bergmeister and Seth Neiman will pilot the No. 80 Porsche in the team's third consecutive 24 Heures du Mans. van Overbeek and Bergmeister are partners in the team's No. 45 Porsche, which competes in the American Le Mans Series. Now at the halfway point of the ALMS season, the duo is currently second in the drivers championship, just 14 points behind Risi Ferrari Mika Salo and Jaime Melo, who will also be competing at Le Mans in the No. 97 Ferrari.
Flying Lizard will also offer a limited edition set of merchandise commemorating the custom livery. The gear is available on-site at Le Mans at the Flying Lizard retail store in the vendor village and online at www.lizardms.com/store/4.html
Following the Lizards during Le Mans Race Week
The 24 Heures du Mans begins on Saturday June 16 at 3 p.m. CET (6 a.m. PT). Follow the Lizards' progress:
* Listen to team radio transmission at www.lizardms.com/radio.htm
* View images at www.lizardms.com/gallery/index.html
* Read the team blog at lizardms.blogspot.com
* Listen to Radio Le Mans, available at 91.2 FM locally in Le Mans and streamed online at www.radiolemans.com
* Watch MotorsTV in Europe, and SpeedTV in North America. MotorsTV will air week-long coverage and SPEED coverage begins at 5:30 a.m. PT on June 16.
About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Founded in 2003, the Sonoma, Calif-based Flying Lizard team is competing in its fourth season of sports car racing with the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). In 2007, the team again fields two Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs -- the No. 44 and the No. 45 -- in the 12-race ALMS season.
The Flying Lizard squad has finished in the top three in the ALMS drivers' and team championships in every season to date. In 2006, Johannes van Overbeek was second in the ALMS GT2 drivers' championship and the team finished third. In 2005, van Overbeek was third in the ALMS GT2 drivers' championship and the team finished in third. In 2004, in their inaugural year, Johannes and the team finished in second place. Flying Lizard has completed two contests at the historic 24 Heures du Mans, finishing fourth in GT2 in 2006 and third in 2005.
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