Petit Le Mans Race Report

October 04, 2008
Patrick Long in the #6 Porsche RS Spyder at Petit Le Mans

Braselton, Ga. — Patrick Long and his teammate Sascha Maassen, driving the #6 Penske Porsche RS Spyder, rounded out the Penske podium sweep at the 11th annual Petit Le Mans in Braselton, GA on October 4. Long and Maassen took their fourth podium finish of the season in third place, behind winners Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe in the #5 car, and LMP2 Championship winners Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas in the #7. In fact, Porsche RS Spyders took five of the top six places in LMP2 with Butch Leitzinger, Andy Lally and Marino Franchitti fourth in their Dyson Racing Porsche, and Guy Smith and Chris Dyson in their Dyson Racing Porsche sixth.

Dumas and Bernhard wrapped up their second consecutive LMP2-class driving championship at the northern Georgia track Saturday night, as main championship rivals Scott Sharp and David Brabham, driving the Patron Highcroft Acura ARX-01b retired in the third hour. By finishing 2nd in the LMP2 class, the #7 drivers claimed an insurmountable points lead heading into the final race of the season in Laguna Seca.

Patrick said, “What a spectacular weekend — our mission was to lock up drivers’ and team championship come the end of the season, and we were able to achieve both of those in spectacular fashion. For the #6 car, it was a smooth and uneventful race, where we continued our wingman role. It was great to be part of a dominant weekend for Penske and Porsche — sweeping the podium and winning two of the three available championships was a great achievement for the team. We look forward to pushing on to Laguna to try to capture the manufacturer’s championship for Porsche.”