Patrick Long
Patrick Brian Long is an American professional racing driver. He has previously competed in Pirelli World Challenge and the FIA World Endurance Championship, as well as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Long is one of eighteen Porsche factory racing drivers, and the only American to hold that distinction.
Racing career
Sports car racing
Following a successful career in karts and the open wheel ladder system, Thousand Oaks-born Long caught the eye of Red Bull, and was included in the inaugural Red Bull Formula 1 Driver Search. During that test, he came to the attention of Porsche, for whom he has driven — first as a Junior driver, then as a Factory driver, since 2003. Long has had notable success racing for Porsche, including class wins at all four sportscar "classics" - the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Petit Le Mans and the Mobil One 12 Hours of Sebring.Long is a three-time American Le Mans Series driver's champion, winning the GT2/GT class in 2005, 2009 and 2010, and won the Pirelli World Challenge Driver's Championship in 2011 and 2017. Additionally, he was part of the driving trio that claimed the first international competition victory for the innovative Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, in the 2010 1000 km of Zhuhai, China. From 2006 to 2008, Long drove for Penske Racing in a Porsche RS Spyder, culminating in an LMP2 class victory and second place overall at the 2008 Petit Le Mans.
In 2015, Long led the Dempsey-Proton team to success in the FIA World Endurance Championship, co-driving with Marco Seefried and Patrick Dempsey, notably scoring a second place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and helping secure Dempsey's first professional racing victory in the GTE-AM class at Fuji, in Japan.
For 2016, Long raced twin programs: again in the FIA WEC in #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR with Khaled Al Qubaisi and David Heinemeier Hansson, as well as a full-season attack on the Pirelli World Challenge with Wright Motorsports.
Long has also made two starts in the Australian V8 Supercar Series — in 2010 for Garry Rogers Motorsport Fujitsu Racing where he finished fourth and eleventh in the dual races at the Gold Coast, and in 2011 for Walkinshaw Bundaberg Racing where he finished fifth and seventeenth in dual races.