Patrick Long and the Wright Motorsport crew capped the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge season in fine style, clinching the GT Overall championship with a p3 on Saturday and adding the GT Sprint, manufacturer and team championships with a P2 on Sunday. During Saturday’s round 9, Long raced strategically and set fastest lap of the race, yielding not only pole position for Sunday’s race but also, critically, a bonus point which allowed him to claim his second career PWC championship. In Sunday’s round 10, Long was bettered by eventual race winner Michael Cooper at the drag race at the drop of the green flag, then went on to make a number of attempts to pass for the lead in low speed corners. Regardless, his second place to close the season added to his championship-winning margin, and helped Porsche to claim the manufacturer’s championship.
Long said, “It’s been a magical weekend for Wright Motorsports and Porsche. The Overall and Manufacturer’s championship is what we set out to win and I wouldn’t have imagined being able to close it out with one round remaining. It’s been a long wait since the end of last year when we came so close. Everyone at Wright and Porsche put their heads down and came to the track prepared every single weekend this season.”
“To finish with a double podium on a high stakes, high-pressure weekend is a different type of test for a driver. We could’ve come into this and taken ‘intentional walks’ of mid-pack finishes to capitalize on the overall, but that is not us. The guys at Wright Motorsports put in tireless hours this year. During the race week, they’re here long after the drivers leave and long before we show up. These guys deserve to be up there on the stage to join in the celebration and closing the deal on the team championship was the best way to do that.”
Adding his two Pirelli World Challenge driver’s championships to his three previous American Le Mans Series GT driver’s championships, Long has now tallied a total of five across his 13-year Porsche works career.
