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LONG: Persevering At La Sarthe
Written by: Patrick Long
Patricklong.com   http://www.patricklong.com
06/26/2009
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
 
With Le Mans in the rearview mirror, my reflections on the race are all positive. So many friends and supporters have kindly written and checked up to see that I'm not too upset with how the race went, but I think I have an unconventional perspective of how I view race weekends and particularly 24 hour races.
Long's IMSA Performance team didn't make it to the end of the 24 Hour race, but that didn't keep the Californian from finding positives to draw from. (LAT) ยป More Photos

For me, to be at Le Mans for the 6th straight year is a small victory in itself; many of my peers have done it 20 times, but in my mind, it's an honor to return to the race. It's just such a special place, but a few steps deeper than that, the way that I look at a race and what determines my emotional response comes in a few different ways.

First of all, I look at a session or a whole weekend and I ask myself "did I perform to the best of my ability, did I get every last bit out of myself in speed, consistency and as a team player?" That's really how I judge my race weekends. Our sport creates so much emotion, which is why we love it - but I think it's dangerous to allow yourself to exist emotionally, basing your reactions purely on the timesheet or what the finishing result says.

With that view, Le Mans was a huge success this year. The team nailed it and hit all its marks - setup, strategy, pit stops and team spirit.

The scenario at this year's Le Mans was a bit unique because there was no official pre-test, which drastically reduced our time on track. With that variable and my teammate Patrick Pilet having his rookie year at Le Mans, we knew that our focus in our limited practice time would have to be focused on getting Patrick the right amount of seat time and making sure we set the car up properly.

The trick was going to be making the car quick on the straights by trimming out the aerodynamics but comfortable enough for the driver to
get through the high and low-speed corners, all while trying to double stint the tires.

Traditionally at Le Mans, in the 911, we've run a set of tires through one tank of fuel, or about an hour on the track. With new ACO regulations for 2009 limiting the number of guys allowed to change tires, strategically it became an advantage to maximize the life of the tires. Good tire strategy could have a huge outcome in the race, because it'd allow us to spend far less time in the pits.

As a result, we spent time tuning the car for the race, not for qualifying - you really don't want a fast qualifying car for a two hour stint at Le Mans. The last wild-card was that Wednesday night practice was run almost entirely in wet conditions, but the weather forecast for the race was dry and warm.

Qualifying on Thursday went as we expected or maybe a bit better. You certainly never aim for 6th place, but considering that the lap was done in the dark and in a car that was set up for the race, I was quietly confident with the result. Rather than explain my confidence to everyone, I thought things would pan out in the first hour of the race and our strategy would make sense to everyone. Miraculously, it all went right to plan.

The opening stint was a wild one - I started the car and planned to do a double stint, but I knew from the first lap that we had a strong chance of going right to the front. As we snuck up on 4th position and got past a few Ferraris, I felt like I was playing that old kids game Operation. The sensitive part was that two of the three cars ahead of me were not only fellow Porsche entries, but one was my ALMS teammate Jörg in the Flying Lizard car, and the other was Porsche's primary entry, led by all factory drivers and engineers.

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