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American LeMans
ALMS: 10 Questions With Patrick Long
Porsche factory driver discusses Le Mans, his NASCAR Nationwide debut at Road America and previews the second half of the American Le Mans Series season.
John Dagys  |  Posted June 25, 2010   Chicago, IL
Patrick Long has been a busy driver of late and now gears up for the remainder of the ALMS season. (LAT)
Despite the American Le Mans Series being in the middle of a six-week break, Patrick Long has been staying busy. Fresh from the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the 28-year-old California native has been getting plenty of racing miles under his belt before next month’s Utah Grand Prix, which kicks off the summer stretch of ALMS races.

Long and Flying Lizard Motorsports co-driver Jorg Bergmeister are in pursuit of their second consecutive GT title together and are currently atop the standings with two wins this season.

We caught up with Long to discuss his adventures at Le Mans and Road America and to preview the ALMS battle to come. It’s all a part of the latest installment of ’10 Questions.’

DAGYS: You finished fifth (provisionally) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving for French squad IMSA Performance Matmut. Was it a satisfying result considering the level of competition in GT2?
Long has become a veteran with the IMSA Performance Matmut squad. (John Dagys)

LONG: Looking at the race and seeing the lineup of all professionals at Risi, two cars at Corvette and BMW, respectively, and a couple of Porsches with all-pro lineups, we knew getting in reach of a podium had to be our goal. A win would have been our first goal in previous years.

We took a realistic perspective that in order to win this year, we had to be flawless and mistake-free and not push the car, driver or team past realistic expectations. In that sense, the beginning of the race wasn’t about getting up front and getting TV time and showing that we could run with the Corvettes. It was about getting inside our window and taking the approach of ‘you vs. yourself’.

There’s a few different ways to race Le Mans. You can race your competition and watch your pace, or you can do your own thing. Certainly with the driver lineups this year, that’s what we had to do with amateur on the team. With saying that, Raymond [Narac] was never more competitive than he was this year. He was sometimes two seconds within Patrick [Pilet] and myself, which at Le Mans is like being within a few tenths of a second at some of the tracks we go to in the ALMS.

We did lose the clutch roughly around the halfway mark, so we knew battling back for a top-five would be an achievement. Fortunately we were able to get there and finish fifth.

DAGYS: With it being your fourth Le Mans with IMSA Performance, have you noticed a stronger bond within the team?

LONG: Certainly the bond has grown over the years. I’d have to say that it was pretty tight from the get-go, based on the type of people they are at IMSA Performance Matmut. They’re people that want to win, but they believe in everybody under the tent. It’s more of a democracy type situation than a dictatorship like some teams. It’s a lot like Flying Lizard where you have smart people who are looking at different areas of the race car.

Although the team layout is somewhat similar, I find my position within IMSA Performance to be more of a leadership role. There’s so much experience and knowledge and know-how at Flying Lizard, that I’m really just focused on driving absolutely at the sheer limit. Within IMSA Performance, there’s a lot of explaining and suggesting and really working with the engineers and strategists closer. That’s not to say anything about those guys, but their experience level and their budget is lower than a team like the Lizards.
Mike Rockenfeller, Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard have all driven with Patrick Long in the past, and the American Porsche factory driver hopes to one day stand on the top step of the overall podium at Le Mans himself. (LAT)

DAGYS: Were you happy to see your Porsche teammates Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, plus former works driver Mike Rockenfeller take top honors overall at Le Mans?

LONG: I have to say that I can’t remember being so focused and thrilled on another class and seeing those three win. Obviously all three of them have been teammates of mine for multiple races in the past and teammates within the Porsche factory. Rockenfeller and I were teammates all the way back to our junior season racing in the Carrera Cup Germany and Supercup. Mike is one of my closest friends in motorsport. Certainly for Timo and Romain, teammates of mine from the Penske program, it was great to see them take top honors as well.

I think it was thrilling to see not only see a Porsche crop of drivers, but youngsters winning the race. Guys like Capello, Biela, McNish and Pirro... they’ve demanded the respect and still demand it, but to see some of the youth and the 20-somethings to get up there on the top step is possibly a changing of the guard is something neat.

DAGYS: Does it give you any hope of you one day winning Le Mans overall?

LONG: It certainly is inspiring to know that the guys I cut my teeth with for the last eight years that I’ve been with Porsche have shown the ability to win. In the same breath, the competition we have in the American Le Mans Series has put me so focused on the job and task at hand. But certainly, one of my biggest goals will be to win Le Mans overall.

DAGYS: You’ve been dabbing your feet in stock-car racing recently and made your NASCAR Nationwide debut last weekend at Road America. How did it all come about?

LONG: When I saw that the Nationwide Series was going to Road America, it certainly caught my attention. I almost thought I was misreading the headline! Then the second thought was, ‘Do we have a conflict on that weekend?’ Because the other races at Watkins Glen and Montreal have traditionally clashed with the American Le Mans Series.

So when I saw that it was an open weekend, I jumped at it. I had a few phone calls and opportunities to look into over there. I don’t know many people in the Nationwide field, so I did my due diligence and called up people that either work currently or had worked within the series to ask for some advice.
Long made his NASCAR Nationwide debut last weekend at Road America, driving for D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports. (John Dagys)

I had a tremendous response when I asked around about Eddie D’Hondt. Eddie is a guy who came from the stables of running Bill Elliott’s organization in the early ‘90s and moving into the Evernham operation and being a hierarchy of the Yates program until its merger with Richard Petty Motorsports.

I felt like I had a guy who was right in there and knew what he was doing. It’s a start-and-park team for the majority of the races, so that was a question of what I’ve had for equipment. A lot of what I’ve learned in road racing in the NASCAR world is that you need to trace the car you have. It’s amazing to discover the life of a road-race car in Nationwide trim, as many of them have a lot of races under its belt. I found out this car had a lot of potential, so I took a chance and signed up.

DAGYS: You walked away with a 14th place finish after enjoying a solid run in the top-10 before a late-race incident. What was your impression of the race?

LONG: I had a lot of fun and learned an awful lot. There were some things that came easy and some things that were definitely as challenging as I’ve faced in the last few years in my career. All in all, it was a great box to check off and certainly gives me the aspirations of doing more road course racing in the future.

It was ironic seeing Mattias Ekstrom and Jan Magnussen also making their debuts in the Sprint Cup Series on the same weekend. I think we all probably came back with the same synopsis: Those guys drive like it’s the final lap or final few corners of an ALMS sprint race the entire time. A lot of that is based on what is allowed as far as contact. It’s self-policing, as we’ve read about in NASCAR. It’s interesting, but it was definitely a culture shock for me in a few different ways.

All in all, if you would have asked me going into the weekend that a 7th place qualifying position and a top-15 finish would have me happy, I think knowing the competition and the big-name teams we were up against, I would have said yes. But after being well inside the top-10 for the majority of the sessions all week and having a great car over a long stint, I was pretty disappointed of not being in the top-five at the end.

DAGYS: Can we expect any future NASCAR road-race outings, schedule permitting?
Long was joined by other top road racing stars such as Jacques Villeneuve and Ron Fellows at Road America last weekend. (John Dagys)

LONG: I’m fortunate that I have the allowance to do a few different types of racing on my off-weekends, as long as they not interfering with my main focus, which is driving for the Flying Lizards and providing my services elsewhere for Porsche on and off the track. When the time allows, I’d love to pick up a few more races on the road courses. But really, the way the racing world works, I think it’s best to focus on the task at hand and try to stay on top of the podium in the ALMS and the rest will sort itself out.

It was great to fulfill that goal of running to that level in a stock-car. But there’s other types of racing I’d like to try one day, too. Certainly Pikes Peak, rally racing, closed-course off-road, Baja, etc... Those types of racing are things I also want to really get checked off on the list. I think the more different things I can drive when time allows, the better and more complete of a driver I will become. I think it would be great to be known in the distant future of a guy who can get into anything and can adapt and run relatively well straight away.

DAGYS: Back in the ALMS, you and Flying Lizard co-driver Jorg Bergmeister are on a two-race win streak and currently are atop the GT point standings. What is your championship outlook?

LONG: The last two races, in my opinion, could have been any one of the four leading manufacturers’ races. It really came down to strategy, pit work and race craft. We have to push for victories this early in the season, just like last year, to try and build a good point cushion.

But there’s also a different scenario this year as it’s so much more competitive. We’re certainly not the favorites when it comes to balance of performance, so we have to be sure we’re in the hunt for the victories whenever we get the chance. You never know when Corvette or Ferrari or BMW might turn up the wick.

We have to be who we are at Porsche, which is hard, clean racers. Flying Lizard usually takes care of the business on pit road with quick stops and great strategy. But we have to take it one race at a time and just race our own race. Right now, I’ve never had more fun in my career. But at the same time, the pressure and competition has never been so high.
The GT battle in the ALMS heats up next month with races in Salt Lake City and Lime Rock Park. (John Dagys)

DAGYS: Do you think the Porsche has a particular advantage or ‘favorite’ track coming up?

LONG: I think Salt Lake City was our best track last year. But I don’t think that puts us in the mindset of being favorites or having it any easier than being anywhere else. The longer straights makes me nervous, but I think we can make some of that up in the corners. It will be interesting. Road America was probably the toughest place for us to go last year because it’s often a horsepower competition there. I like Road Atlanta and Salt Lake City for us, as those are places that can help us with the 911.

I don’t think it’s going to be one specific track. But the reshuffled schedule changes some things for the championship. In some ways, having the penultimate round in Mosport and then going straight to a 10-hour race for the finish of the championship with extra points on the line; it’s going to be a different ending to the year. I think we’re going to have more anticipation and apprehension of how it will end up. I hope it goes down to four cars for the championship at the end of the year.

DAGYS: Besides your full-season ALMS campaign with the Lizards, do you have any other sportscar races planned this year?

LONG: I’m working hard on a deal right now for the Spa 24 Hours. I’m pretty confident I’ll be there. I only had plans to run the first two LMS races this year and I think that will still be the plan.

I’ll also be going ‘down under’ for the Gold Coast V8 Supercar race in October. If I can fit a VLN round in-between there, that would also be a goal of mine. I definitely want to be on the grid of the Nurburgring 24 next year. With that in mind, I’ve begun some conversations with the Manthey group and Porsche bunch over there. I hope to get one of the VLN races under my belt before the end of the year.

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