In Conversation with Jorg Bergmeister
On The Eve Of The 12 Hours
© Russell Wittenberg

Russell Wittenberg caught up with the 2006 GT2 Champion, ahead of the debut of the Flying Lizards Porsche 997s in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

Race Prep.
“We concentrated mainly on tire testing at the winter test, so we had a baseline to start the private testing on Friday but that was the first real set up work we had done on the car. We did a lot of work with damper adjustments and ride height to help the car over the bumps. Sebring is always a special place to set up for. The track surface changes so much it’s very challenging. I could feel the surface changing as the week wore on. Thursday morning the car was pretty good.”

The #45 Lizards Porsche was third quickest in that morning session with a 2:02.8, which is still the quickest of all the Porsches so far.

“We had a little bit of understeer, so we made a few changes to correct that in anticipation of qualifying. But track temperatures were up and during qualifying the understeer was worse, even with the changes.”

Much has been made of the new car from Porsche this year, replacing the 996. But it could be better described at an evolution, instead of a revolution.

“It is a new car but it’s still a Porsche, and it reacts a lot like the 996. You can feel the wider rear tires on the turn in and it lets you carry more speed through the corner, especially the slower ones.”

In order to run the wider rear tires (GT1) the new 997 Porsche is required to now meet a minimum weight of 1225kg as opposed to the 1100kg the 996 competed at last year.

“You can feel the extra weight through corners that (also) have a change of direction. The body rolls slowly to the opposite direction of the initial turn, and then settles. Then it tends to snap back in reaction to change of direction in the second part of the turn. So far though, here at Sebring, I think that wider is better. We did several long runs earlier this week and the tire wear was very consistent. I don’t think we will have any problems with the tires. These things, along with the improved weight distribution, make the 997 an easier car to drive than the 996.”

Becoming a Lizard
It was a virtually seamless transition going from the Petersen White-Lightning team to join the Flying Lizards. The Engineer for the #45 car, Stefan Pfeiffer, is not only a good friend of Jorg’s but filled the same role on Jorg’s car at PWL in 2005.

“So far I’m really enjoying this season. I like working on a new car, and getting to know the guys on this team. Johannes and I seem very compatible, not only in driving style but personality also.”

The driver pairing of these two has its logistical advantages too. Physically the two men are both tall and slender, so their seating position is very similar.

Back to the Future
After a two year hiatus, Jorg is now again an official Porsche Factory driver. Maybe the back-to-back ALMS GT2 drivers’ championships, while privately employed, had the brass at Porsche thinking twice about their decision to let him go after the 2004 season. At the racetrack though, Jorg takes direction solely from the team. The only benefit for the team, besides the use of his talents behind the wheel, is they don’t have to pay him. Jorg’s first race as a factory driver was at Rolex 24 in 2003. He was placed with Kevin Buckler’s Racer’s Group along with Timo Bernhard and they went on to win the race overall.

“That was pretty amazing for my first race. I had never been to Daytona before and never even driven an RSR before. But it worked out pretty good I guess.”

A Famliy Affair
Championships run in the Bergmeister family. It all started after the war with Jorg’s Grandfather, Wilhelm. Wilhelm was a champion motorcycle racer and factory driver for the Sachs Motorcycle Company. Jorg’s father, Willi, continued the racing tradition but moved from two wheels to four. Willie was very successful in Formula Super V and then went on to become a champion in the European Touring Car Championship. Willie was a factory-supported driver for Audi and had six class wins at the 24 hours of the Nordschleife. Audi is currently building a replica of his championship-winning car to place in their museum.

“My Grandfather gave my brother Tim and I and go-kart for Christmas when we were about four years old. That was the start of it all and that gift ended up costing my father a lot of money over the years.”

Final Thoughts
“I am going to go a quickly as possible. Even if we can match the Ferrari’s pace out of the gate, there are some pretty strong cars behind us that we need to stay ahead of. We can’t just run a comfortable pace and hope they break. We need a strong finish to get as many points as possible. I raced all last year from behind in the points race: maybe I can get a better start this year. But a similar finish would be fine.”

The Flying Lizards hope Bergmeister, with his championship lineage, is the last piece of the puzzle in the quest for their own GT2 championship. A strong finish here at the 12 hours of Sebring would go a long way to helping that dream become reality.