Flying Lizard switches to Audi for GT Daytona assault

After more than a decade of representing and winning with Porsche – as a privateer and as a factory program – in the American Le Mans Series, Northern California's Flying Lizard Motorsports will leave the brand in favor of rival German brand Audi.

The Audi R8 LMS will be on the grid of the United SportsCar Championship in the 2014 motorsport season. As the first Audi customer team, Flying Lizard Motorsports from California has nominated two R8 LMS cars for the new U.S. sports car series.

“We’re delighted that such a renowned team has opted for the Audi R8 LMS," says Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “Our aim is to increase our presence in U.S. motorsport. I’m convinced that Flying Lizard won’t be the only team in United SportsCar Championship to rely on the Audi R8 LMS in 2014. Other teams will follow."

The customer sport program of AUDI AG was launched in 2009. At the beginning of the 2013 season, the 100th customer race car based on the Audi R8 was delivered. Victories in the world’s most important endurance races and numerous championship wins have been achieved with the mid-engine sports car. This year, Audi customer teams have won titles in Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Sweden as well as in the FIA GT Series and the GT Sprint International Series. In the VLN Endurance Championship on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, the Audi R8 LMS ultra that took four overall victories was the most successful car of the season. Furthermore, Audi Sport customer racing achieved a one-two GT class victory in the 24-hour race at Daytona (USA) in January.

On January 25/26, 2014, Daytona will also be the venue of the first race of the United SportsCar Championship, which is a merger of the previous American Le Mans Series and the GRAND-AM. The classic U.S. endurance races at Sebring, Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta are part of the racing series too, which consists of twelve events.

The Audi R8 LMS will compete in the GT Daytona (GTD) class for production-based sports cars. 50 percent of the parts are adopted from the production R8 unchanged. With maintenance intervals of 20,000 kilometers the robust and powerful 5.2-liter V10 FSI engine of the Audi R8 LMS is known to be particularly service-friendly and cost-efficient.

The GTD version of the Audi R8 LMS only differs from the Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3 race car in details. In the middle of November, the Flying Lizard team will be running initial test tracks with the Audi R8 LMS at Sebring and Daytona.