Flying Lizard Announces Driver Roster for 2005 ALMS

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Flying Lizard Announces Driver Roster for the 2005 American Le Mans Series


SONOMA, Calif. - Flying Lizard Motorsports announced today its driver roster for the 2005 American Le Mans series. In their second year of competition, Flying Lizard will again field two Porsche GT3 911 RSRs in the GT2 class (previously called GT). In 2005, the Sonoma, California-based team is looking to build on their successful first season in which they finished second in GT in 2004 in both the American Le Mans Series Drivers' Championship and team points.

The 2005 driver roster will include team principals Johannes van Overbeek, Lonnie Pechnik, and Seth Neiman, who all drove for the team in 2004. Jon Fogarty, who was a guest driver for three races in 2004, will join the team in 2005 as a full-time driver. van Overbeek and Fogarty will partner in the Flying Lizard No. 45 Porsche. Pechnik and Neiman will join forces again in the No. 44 Porsche.

"I'm looking forward to getting the No. 45 out on track in 2005 and having Jon on board as my driving partner," said van Overbeek. "Finishing second in GT in the Drivers' Championship in 2004 far exceeded our expectations for a first-year team. Our commitment is to continue to build on that and do even better next year."

Fogarty joins the team with more than a decade of driving success. He has a strong background in open wheel racing and is a two-time winner of the Toyota Atlantic Championship. Fogarty added, "It will be great to run full time with the Lizards and have Johannes, Seth and Lonnie as teammates. Other than the difference in height, Johannes and I are very complementary: we are both laser-focused on competing at the highest level we can." Fogarty and van Overbeek will participate in a live chat with fans hosted by the ALMS on Thursday, December 16 at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET. To join the chat, go to: www.americanlemans.com, and select the ALMS chat option.

Pechnik and Neiman will return in 2005 in the No. 44 Porsche. Pechnik added, "2005 should be an exciting season in the ALMS, with a full 10-race schedule. We'll see what Seth and I can do to build on what we learned in our first year and do even better in 2005."