Patrick Long capitalized on TruSpeed Motorsports’ perfect preparation and execution this weekend to capture wins in both of the Pirelli World Challenge races at Infineon Raceway, in Sonoma, California. Having qualified second for Saturday’s Round 9 of the championship, Long managed to set fast lap of the race in the #45 PrivacyStar Porsche and take his third victory of the season. Due to his fastest lap of Round 9, Long started Round 10 on pole and and scythed through traffic to hold the powerful Cadillac of Andy Pilgrim at bay for his 4th win of the year. Despite missing one round of the 10-race season due to a scheduling conflict, Long leads the championship with two races to go.
Patrick said, “It was a perfectly executed weekend by the team. We expected a big fight in both races, but the team had done its homework and knew that the shortened Infineon track would play to our strengths. Given the level of competition with the other Porsches in the field with substantially less “success” weight, we can be proud to have hit all our marks. At this stage in the championship, it’s going to be a fight to the finish, and we have to be taking maximum points out of each race, and this weekend, we did just that. It’s all still to play for, and the last two circuits in the season will favor the higher-horsepower cars, but the team has been incredible. It was a tremendous honor to run with the Cadillac boys this weekend and the TruSpeed guys have given me everything I’ve asked for this season. It’s a tremendous effort for everybody collectively and it’s great to be part of this series.”
Patrick races next at the Inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix, September 2-3. Live streaming of qualifying and the race can be seen at https://espn3.com
TruSpeed Motorsports and the Pirelli World Challenge Series next race, September 16-18, 2011 at Laguna Seca, on California’s Monterey peninsula. Live streaming of round 11 will be live at https://www.world-challengetv.com
Image © Mark Webber 2011