Shorter races fuel Long
AUTO RACING
LEXINGTON — A 50-minute race is like a power rush for a driver such as Patrick Long, who was twice part of a winning team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a veteran of other world enduro events.
“With no pit stops and no strategy — there’s only one strategy and that’s go to the front,” Long said Friday. “It is a unique flavor.”
Long will sling his Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GTR against a lineup of Ferraris, Aston Martins, Mercedes, Audis and Cadillacs in the twin 50-minute races of the Pirelli World Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday and Sunday. It’s part of the undercard for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200.
“The difference is hundredths of a second in qualifying, and then that one little hole that presents itself in the race can be the difference between a win and fourth.” Long said. “It’s fighting and fighting, and that’s cool. It keeps you sharp.”
He’s one of the best at it. Several observers saw that in him when he moved from California to England 16 years ago with aspirations of climbing to Formula One or perhaps IndyCar. IndyCar practice Pirelli World Challenge race No. 1 IndyCar qualifying
Pirelli World Challenge Race No. 2 Honda IndyCar 200 (TV: CNBC)
Instead, he was offered a ride in the Porsche team development ranks and sought advice from Indianapolis 500 winners Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan.
“They all said the same thing: ‘You’re crazy if you don’t sign that deal,’ “said Long, now one of just 10 Porsche factory-backed drivers worldwide. “‘IndyCar, Formula One, they are amazing, but Porsche, they brand motorsports, they’ve always been there, they’re driven to win.’ That was all I needed.”
Hunter-Reay leads way
Ryan Hunter-Reay led the second practice Friday headed toward qualifying Saturday for the Honda Indy 200. But Hunter-Reay, who seemed snakebit at the start of the season, is taking nothing for granted, especially with Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon and many others close behind him.
“We know everybody else is going to be improving,” HunterReay said. “It’s amazing if you look at the session times, just how close everything is. There’s no margin for error.”
IMSA on way back
Mid-Ohio and the International Motorsports Association announced that the series will return to Mid-Ohio the first weekend of May after a five-year hiatus. There wasn’t room on the schedule then, when the two major sports car series in the country consolidated, but there is now.
“There were a lot of collective fist pumps going on, ‘Yes, we’re back to Mid-Ohio,’” IMSA chief Scott Atherton said.
Among those were Columbus-area team owners Mike Shank and Rahal, who have cars competing in the series.
“Mid-Ohio is one of the crown jewels of road courses in this country,” Rahal said of why it makes sense.