Flying Lizard on “Mad Scramble” in BMW M4 GT3 Switch

Photo: John Dagys

Flying Lizard Motorsports program manager Darren Law said it’s been a “mad scramble” to switch from Aston Martin to BMW machinery for its No. 8 Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS entry in time for this weekend’s round at Road America.

The Elias Sabo and Andy Lee-driven entry, which was withdrawn from the second race of the weekend at Virginia International Raceway over Balance of Performance concerns, is now a BMW M4 GT3 after starting the season with Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evos.

It put the Arizona-based team into a race against time to acquire a car and prep it in just a few weeks.

“It was an extremely tight timeframe,” Law told Sportscar365. “By the time we left VIR, we were on the hunt for a car. BMW was the choice we had decided.

“So we were hunting down BMWs. There was no new car available, as of right now, so the only options were used.

“Through one of our engineers and a contact we were able to track down the BimmerWorld car that ran here last year with [Bill] Auberlen and Chandler Hull.

“That car was one of the few that was available so we immediately contacted Jeff Hull (car owner), worked out a deal with him to get the car. It had just been sitting and hadn’t run [this year].”

Law said the team had to then travel to Tennessee to pick up the car, while also making a trip to BimmerWorld’s workshop in Virginia for spare parts.

“Then it was a mad scramble to line up trucks, drive back to the east coast, pick up the car, pick up the spares,” he explained.

“We had to go to two different places, pick everything up, drive back to Arizona.

“We literally had five days to strip the car and go through the whole thing, rebuilt it. We also put in two days of testing at Apex [Motor Club, in Arizona].

“This whole deal, from start to finish, happened within two weeks. It was a mad scramble.

“We had a lot of guys on the car and a lot of support and we got it done. We even got it wrapped!

“It’s been a whirlwind.”

Law said the initial impression of the car, which is in its third year of international GT3 competition, has been extremely positive.

“Both Andy Lee and Elias have driven the car,” he said. “We did about two days or running with it.

“They were up to speed immediately and were comfortable and really happy with everything.

“We feel pretty good about running it.”

“Versatile” Lizards Adapting to Third Different GT Brand Under SRO America Tent

Law said he’s been proud of the team for being able to run cars from three different GT manufacturers, following Sabo’s switch to BMW.

Flying Lizard is continuing to campaign Aston Martin Vantages in both GT3 and GT4 for customers, while it is also in the first season running a Nissan Z NIMSO GT4 in Pirelli GT4 America.

“We are very versatile,” said Law. “If you look at what we’ve done over the last decade, we’ve been pretty diversified as far as Bentley, McLaren, Lambo, Porsche… everything.

“We’re used to it now, we’ve got a system down to be able to run the different manufacturers.

“Probably one of the bigger things is making sure you have knowledge on each of the cars and understand the engineering, and also the parts and equipment you have to bring for each car is different.

“It’s quite a lot. That’s why we have four semi-trucks.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John