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American LeMans
LONG: The Groove
Whether it's driving a GT2 Porsche at Sebring, wielding an LMP2 Porsche RS Spyder, or piloting a 962, Patrick Long enjoys the challenge.
Patrick Long  | http://www.patricklong.com  |  Posted April 02, 2009   Clearwater Beach, FL
Sebring failed to deliver the finish Long's Flying Lizard team deserved, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. (Marshall Pruett)
With Sebring behind me and two street sprint races coming up in short order, I’ve got to say that settling into the groove of being back in a GT2 car is coming with ease and I’m excited.

That’s not to discount the competition in the class, because there’s no lack of that this year. I think that the optimal way to drive the 911 GT3RSR suits my style insofar as it’s quite technical and you’re focused more on tuning the car mechanically rather than aerodynamically. The Porsche RS Spyder that I drove last year for Penske Racing was the cream of the crop in terms of sportscar technology, but I sometimes saw myself at the mercy of the technology - with such a sharp tool, so to speak, you’re always on the fine line of being right on the money or being on the outside looking in.

With that all being said, I really miss the technology and the program - it was a love/hate relationship, but it’s a blast to be overcoming the laws of physics with the aerodynamic package that the Spyder possessed.

Looking back, I have to be realistic in knowing that 2008 was my first full-time season in a prototype, so it’s understandable that there were more massive questions for me at this point last season compared to where I sit now. In saying that, the St. Pete race last year was where I had a bit of a shift in direction with my driving style. A lightbulb went off in my head in terms of how to drive an LMP car.

In the end, it’s more about taking the car to the limit as quickly as you can during the race weekend, than focusing on the big objectives - establishing a great setup and a great strategy. My confidence as a driver is as high as its ever been - I see that coming mainly from my 2008 season, which produced a lot of growth by default from all the challenges that I faced. It’s natural to look at my cumulative experience in a 911 versus an RS Spyder and see I’ve got more time in a 911, so I should be more comfortable. Saying that, driving the RS Spyder last season, I feel I compiled the skillset that it takes to drive the latest class of prototypes, and I’m hopeful that I’ll get a chance to be back in one soon.

The underlying theme in my career has been all the opportunities Porsche has given me - from Penske to the Lizards - to drive so many different kinds of modern sportscars. My ambition at this point in my career is to be known as a driver who can jump into anything and immediately put the car on the limit. Whether that’s an historic prototype like the 962 or the latest Porsche release of its flagship 911 RSR, it’s all about driving the car through feel and instinct, and that’s gained from lots and lots of miles lapped in a variety of different racecars.
It takes intense concentration to get the best performances possible when Long shifts between driving different types of Porsches. (Marshall Pruett)

These days, it’s easy to be classified as a driver who specializes in one formula based on finding success only in one arena, but those challenges face the modern crop of driver much more so than the drivers of the past - the Gurneys, Donohues, Andrettis and Foyts. Those guys represented the glory days, when a driver had the opportunity to go from a Trans-Am car to an IndyCar to a sprint car to a stock car, all in the span of a couple of weeks. I have to believe that culture of the past was incredibly tough, but it's also what made them so good.

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Patrick Long

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