Long 4th in Qualifying for 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 at Daytona

January 27, 2012

Patrick Long qualified the No 45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fourth in GT for Saturday’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. With 42 GT cars on track for the 15-minute qualifying session today, Long clocked the fourth-fastest time of 1:49.550. The No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche took the GT pole with a time of 1:49.342.

Long commented on the result, “I’m pretty happy with how qualifying ended up for us. It was a trying day: we fought some car issues in the first session and had to cut the second session short for repairs. So to have everything come together for a top- five result is a good morale booster for the race.”

A total of 46 cars are entered in GT representing a diverse group of manufacturers. Long added, “With such a large GT field, the race is going to be extremely hectic: it’s definitely the largest GT field I’ve ever raced in. I am sure it will be a race of attrition but I also expect there to be a significant number of top cars fighting for the GT win at the end.”

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the legendary endurance race, and the occasion has inspired an incredibly deep field of GT competition. With new entries to the Rolex 24 field including the Audi R8, Ferrari 458, Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang and BMW M3, many expect the competition to be the toughest for the GT grid that it’s been in years. Long will go for his second Rolex 24 win, having triumphed in 2009.

Television coverage for the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona will be live on SPEED, beginning at 2:30pm ET on Saturday, January 28.