Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long captured GT2 win at Lime Rock Park last year. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

Flying Lizard Porsche and one of its drivers Joerg Bergmeister enter this weekend’s American Le Mans Series race at Lime Rock on a roll. At the very tight 1.53-mile Lime Rock Park, Flying Lizard has won three straight GT2 races, and Bergmeister four straight wins.

Bergmeister has been part of the team’s success in three straight years with three different co-drivers, Johannes van Overbeek in 2007, Wolf Henzler in 2008 and his current co-driver, Patrick Long, last year.

Mastering the conditions on the track requires a good flow and ability to deal with the constant traffic and overtaking. The GT drivers have to be especially careful as they are running their own race but getting lapped every 6-7 laps or so by the leading prototypes.

What does it take to handle and have the best amount of success here? Flying Lizard chief engineer Craig Watkins explained as part of Flying Lizard’s pre-race strategy.

“We’ve had fast cars here the last few years but we won’t be able to really see how things stack up until we get on track,” Watkins said in the team’s pre-race release. “It’s a short race weekend with a limited amount of track time so we need to be very efficient getting quickly to our race setup.”

Though Lime Rock still has room for error, Watkins said it has similar qualities to a temporary street course.

“I think of Lime Rock a bit like a street course: it’s narrow and short, with mostly right-handed turns,” Watkins said. “Top speed isn’t sustained here the way it was at Miller. It’s a high downforce track so getting to the correct tire compound choice and mix with the 2010 tires will be critical. And, for sure we’ll also have weather to contend with, I expect we’ll see rain at some point during the race weekend, especially in the afternoons.”