Patrick Long and the Flying Lizard team continued their strong form with a solid run to 2nd place at MId-Ohio Sunday, marking the third straight race the team has finished 1st or 2nd. Despite the team’s disqualification for a technical infraction after their win at Mosport, the team is upbeat about its prospects in the back half of the 2012 ALMS championship.
At the wheel of the Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, the pair battled to the finish for victory in the very competitive GT class. In the gripping sixth round of the race series featuring the world’s fastest sports cars, the Lime Rock winners were pipped to the flag by just 0.283 seconds.
After putting in a strong qualifying effort, Patrick Long took up the race from the third grid spot to immediately pull past an opponent. When the leader was too late on the brakes and took a trip into the greens, the Porsche pilot grabbed the chance to slip into the lead. As in the previous races, the GT class was again fiercely contested on the storied 3.621 kilometre circuit. Spectators sitting on the grass hills around the track were treated to thrilling fights for positions and changes at the head of the field. When Long handed the #45 Porsche to Joerg Bergmeister with an hour to go to the finish he was running in second. Whilst the double Mid-Ohio winner managed to chip away at the gap to the leader, he was no longer in a position to overtake the front-runner to claim victory. For the Mid-Ohio winner of 2009, this result marked his second podium placing this season.
Long said, “Second’s never easy but today we executed at 100 percent and crossing the line two-tenths from the lead is something to be proud of. My stint was tough: there was so much traffic and I was defending against both Corvettes and the BMW. Thomas Blam was on his game again today in strategy and the pit stops were solid as always; it came down to traffic and timing. In the end, Joerg was able to battle back and close the gap to Ollie Gavin by five seconds. It’s our third solid race in a row: the momentum is definitely building.”