Patrick Long Qualifies No 45 Flying Lizard 4th for Rolex 24

Patrick Long qualified the No 45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fourth in GT for Saturday's Rolex 24 At Daytona. With 42 GT cars on track for the 15-minute qualifying session today, Long clocked the fourth-fastest time of 1:49.550. The No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche took the GT pole with a time of 1:49.342.

Long commented on the result, "I'm pretty happy with how qualifying ended up for us. It was a trying day: we fought some car issues in the first session and had to cut the second session short for repairs. So to have everything come together for a top- five result is a good morale booster for the race."

A total of 46 cars are entered in GT representing a diverse group of manufacturers. Long added, "With such a large GT field, the race is going to be extremely hectic: it's definitely the largest GT field I've ever raced in. I am sure it will be a race of attrition but I also expect there to be a significant number of top cars fighting for the GT win at the end."

For the 24-hour endurance classic, Long (USA) will be joined by Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Mike Rockenfeller (Germany), and Seth Neiman (USA). Bergmeister and Long are Porsche factory drivers and co-drivers of the team's No. 45 Porsche in the American Le Mans Series. Rockenfeller has been an Audi Factory driver since 2007; this will be his first race with the Lizards since the 2004 Rolex 24, in which he finished second in GT in the No. 74 Porsche. Neiman is Flying Lizard team principal and drives the team's No. 44 ALMS Porsche.

Rolex 24 At Daytona Details
The Rolex 24 At Daytona gets the green flag on Saturday, January 28 at 3:30 pm ET. The race will be broadcast live in the U.S. on SpeedTV (select broadcast hours - see your local listings) and also in Europe on MotorsTV. Flying Lizard will broadcast the team radio live and offer a real time race blog: for details see www.lizardms.com.

Flying Lizard at Daytona
2012 will be Flying Lizard's fourth year at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. In 2011, the GT team fielded their first prototype: the No. 45 Porsche-powered Riley DP. After a promising start from the pole (Bergmeister) and having set the fastest race lap, the No. 45 was retired at hour 23 after a challenging race. In 2010, the No. 67 Flying Lizard/TRG Porsche GT3 Cup finished second in GT. In 2005 the No. 75 Porsche finished thirteenth, and in 2004, the No. 74 Flying Lizard Porsche GT3 Cup was second in GT and third overall.

Bergmeister has won three times here: in GT in 2009 (with Patrick Long), in GT and overall in 2003, and in GT in 2002. Rockenfeller won overall in 2010.