Patrick Long and his teammates Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Pilet wrapped up the 2012 American Le Mans Series season with a 5th place in the hyper-competitive GT class. Having started in 6th position, the first four hours of the race went well, as the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR climbed as high as 3rd in class. Bergmeister and one of the Ferraris had a coming-together in the fifth hour of the race, after which the race stewards inflicted a 60-second stop-and-go penalty on the team for avoidable contact. The decision was a controversial one, and ultimately cost the team a podium finish.
Long said, “At the last six races we earned the most points of anyone. That makes me very optimistic for the future. We could easily have brought home a podium result today. The penalty handed to Jörg cost us the victory. The whole team then tried everything and used a great strategy to keep us in contention, but after the accident the car was no longer fast enough. Still, it was a good season for us.”
Long now enters a busy offseason, and will race next at the Mobil One 12 Hours of Sebring in March as the kickoff to the 2013 ALMS season.