Patrick Long A-1 Ring German series race notes

SPIELBERG, Austria American Patrick Long overcame mechanical woes in qualifying at last weekend's German Carrera Cup round at the A-1 Ring in Austria to score a solid fifth place, despite starting from tenth on the grid.

While quick in the weekend's first practice session, Long was uncharacteristically off-pace in the second session and in qualifying. The problem was traced to a faulty damper on his Porsche GT3 Carrera Cup car.

In the race, over the famed 10-turn, 4.3km circuit, Long got a blistering start and moved up to fifth spot by the end of the second lap. He dogged the four leaders until lap 13 of the 19-lap race when his front spoiler was damaged. Lacking front downforce, Long was forced to back off his challenge and settled for a fifth place finish.

"This was a tough one," Long said. "I felt I could have moved further up without the spoiler problem, but fifth is still a good result. I'd like to congratulate my teammate, Mike Rockenfeller, on winning his first Carrera Cup. A great result for the team."

Long's fifth place at the A-1 Ring punctuates a remarkable string of success for the rookie member of the UPS Porsche Junior team. In the previous two German Carrera Cup races, he won from pole at the Norisring and was leading from off-pole at the Nurburgring until a flat tire ended his day. He has also showed stellar form in the Michelin Supercup series, a support event to all F1 Grand Prix: a third at Monaco, a second (from pole) at the Nurburgring, and a fourth at Silverstone.

The next German Carrera Cup will be held at Zandvoort in the Netherlands on September 20th. As a member of the UPS Porsche Junior team, Long is contesting the entire German Porsche Carrera Cup series and select Porsche Michelin Supercup events, including this weekend, September 14, at Monza before the Italian Grand Prix.

This is Long's sixth year of living and racing in Europe, where he has won international events in karting, Formula Ford, Formula Renault, Porsche Carrera Cup, and Michelin Supercup. For more information on Patrick Long visit his website at: www.patricklong.com. Information on the Porsche Carrera Cup can be found on the German language website: www.racecam.de.

<pre> Result: Round 7, German Carrera Cup, A-1 Ring, Austria Distance: 82km, 19 laps

Pos/Driver                      Entrant
1. Mike Rockenfeller            UPS Porsche Junior Team
2. Sandy Grau                   Team Farnbacher
3. Christian Menzel             Tolimit Motorsport
4. Romain Dumas                 EMC Carsport Racing
5. Patrick Long                 UPS Porsche Junior Team

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