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American LeMans
PROUDFOOT: Brand Of Excellence
Flying Lizard Motorsports team principal Seth Neiman outlines his blueprint for success to Sylvia Proudfoot.
Sylvia Proudfoot  |  Posted May 14, 2010   Calgary (CDN)
FLM owner/architect Seth Neiman, right, talks with Lizard driver Patrick Long. (Bob Chapman, Autosport Image.com)
"Racing is not like business, and the reason is that the objectives you set are so different. In business, it's reasonably easy for people to comprehend how the economics of the business work and therefore to have an internal guidepost about what's good for the group they belong to and what isn't, and how that ought to balance their own personal interests. Racing isn't like that at all – it isn't the economic interests that matter. You don't make money winning races; you gather money in by being exciting and performing well and creating a certain environment."

I sat down for an interview with Seth Neiman and came away with an education.

After excelling in data networking and venture capital, Neiman turned his attention to sports-car racing. He won his first professional race in 2003, founded Flying Lizard Motorsports shortly thereafter and started racking up success. The Lizards finished second in the 2004 American Le Mans Series GT2 championship, won driver and team titles in 2008 and 2009 and have yet to finish a season outside the top three. They've earned class wins in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petit Le Mans, second in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and third at Le Mans. Not a bad start!

Privateers are the backbone of sports-car racing, but tilting against the big factory efforts can be daunting. Although many teams disappear after a season or two, the Lizards have survived and thrived. Their secret? Neiman outlined his blueprint for success:

"There are three things from a philosophical point of view. The first one is a big belief in raw talent. We know about that with drivers, but I'm talking about with workers and managers, too. A lot of people come into motorsport and the first thing they try and do is get a lot of high-priced people around them and they try to make a team. They might perform reasonably quickly, but they aren't really a team – they are a lot of individuals functioning.
FLM's dedicated crew have kept Neiman's team in the championship hunt for every year they've been in the ALMS. (Bob Chapman, Autosport Image.com)

"My philosophy has always been that what you want is the best athlete available, regardless of their experience. For me, that means people who are really intelligent, hard-working and communicative. People have to like to talk to each other and listen to each other; you can't teach that to people. In order for people to gel as a group, they have to communicate, and you can't force that.

"Number two is aggressive goals, but patience in getting there. We set very ambitious goals for ourselves, but I know it can take time. Our first meeting as a team, we spent eight hours doing something that today it would never occur to them to have a meeting about, because they've been welded together.

"The next thing is stability. I knew that understanding how long it took to build a team and what management was about was going to be a big differentiator. ... I knew enough to see very quickly that the few teams that made stability a priority dominated.

"I believe in talent; we can gain experience. I believe in stability; that's how we gain experience. I want intelligent, communicating people, so that we can grow together as a group."

So how did the Lizards meld talent, objectives and stability into championship form? The team's unusual name is a clue – they developed a brand, a unique identity that drives every element of their program.

"One of the things that we set as an objective was the development of an actual brand. We weren't even sure why," Neiman said. "Because we had people who were smart and we talked about how we have to do it right – I think this is just part of my character, I just don't want to do it any way but right, it's not really very much fun for me to do it any other way – as people gained skill in managing their budgets, they began to see, 'Oh, we're going to invest in the way we look and we're going to create that image.' And it doesn't take very long before you don't have to say anything. Everybody knows they better look pretty good and they need to be really good."

The name and logo are distinctive, but the Flying Lizard identity is more than graphics. It's an attitude, a way of doing business, a commitment by every team member.

Neiman adds one more important element – a written objective to have fun.

"Of course we're serious, of course we work hard, of course we want to win the championship," he said. "But we have to have the exhilaration and fun that we've always had. We can't let that seriousness grind us down. Nobody wins races without exhilaration and fun; it just doesn't happen."

The proof is in the results.

Sylvia Proudfoot has seen motorsport from many vantage points. She's worked as a reporter, series media officer, entrant, driver manager, team strategist, event coordinator, logistics administrator and sponsor rep. With stints in open-wheel, stock-car and sports-car racing, she's equally at home at le Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Daytona International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Nürburgring. Her life before racing spanned political and corporate work, automotive consulting and sports projects including golf, hockey, pro rodeo and the Olympic Games.

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The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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