Patrick Long Nurburgring race notes

Long Starts 3rd, Punted, Storms Back to 8th at Nurburgring Porsche Carrera Cup

MÖNSHEIM, Germany - American Patrick Long's voyage of discovery in the German Porsche Carrera Cup series took two steps forward and one back last weekend at the famed Nurburgring circuit in Germany. The 21-year-old series rookie stunned series veterans by qualifying third quickest. In the race, however, Long was knocked out of second place, forcing him to fight back to a still-impressive eighth-place finish.

During qualifying, Long finally came to grips with the nuances of the Porsche Cup car, as he needed only four laps to secure third place on the grid, a mere .042 seconds off pole. This gave him the luxury of running fresher tires for the race. At the start, Long immediately moved into second and was hounding series leader Frank Stippler. Running on fresh rubber, Long had aims on taking over the top spot.

Then on Lap 2, rival Christian Menzel evidently missed his braking point and slammed into Long. The impact was so great, Long spun off the track into the wall and onto an unused portion of the circuit, his car's bumper and wing askew, his exhaust system damaged.

Undeterred, Long re-entered the race in 19th position, 40 seconds behind the leaders. He fought all the way back to eighth place, his third Top Ten finishes in a many starts.

"I was very disappointed at being punted off the track - I really believe I could have won the race - but I'm pleased with the weekend's results," Long said. "I showed my face at the front of the field, and was very relaxed. Also, I want to congratulate my UPS Porsche teammate, Mike Rockenfeller, who scored his first podium finish with second spot. Now, it's on to Monaco."

By Monaco, Long is referring to his debut this weekend in the prestigious Porsche Michelin Supercup race, a support event to the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco. Long will compete as a "guest," his first of five such appearances in the Michelin Supercup series. The Supercup Porsches are identical to the cars used in the German Carrera Cup.

Despite his eighth place at Nurburgring, Long still moved up to sixth overall in series points. The next German Carrera Cup will be held at the Eurospeedway circuit on June 6th

As a member of the UPS Porsche Junior team, Long will contest the entire German Porsche Carrera Cup season and select Porsche Michelin Supercup events.

This is Long's sixth year of living and racing in Europe, where he has won international events in karting, Formula Ford and Formula Renault. 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.

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