Patrick Long will kick off his 2011 racing season this weekend at the Grand-Am Rolex 24 At Daytona, driving the #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche-powered Riley Daytona Prototype. Long, winner of the GT class of the Rolex 24 in 2009, will seek his first overall victory at the classic American endurance race teamed with Jörg Bergmeister, Seth Neiman and Johannes van Overbeek.
Tuesday, the Lizards wrapped up a private two-day test at Sebing of their American Le Mans Series cars, 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs. The test was designed to develop new bits for the cars in preparation for what looks to be a sensationally-competitive ALMS season. With the advent of the new Ferrari 458 GT, which two of Flying Lizard’s competitors will run, and expected improvements to the BMW M3s and Corvette C6.Rs, every day of testing ahead of the 12 Hours of Sebring is critical.
For the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Patrick will be joined by partner iRise, maker of enterprise-level visualization software, and their guests. Over the years, iRise has used racing as a hospitality setting for their executive confabs, and will cheer Patrick as he goes for his first outright win at Daytona.
Patrick said, “It’s a thrilling time of year, for sure. Getting our testing program kicked off at Sebring and jumping straight into the Rolex 24 – after a lot of preparation by the Lizards – is a great way to start the year. After the test for the Rolex, we’re optimistic about the pace and setup of our car, and I’m thrilled to be back in a Daytona Prototype. It figures to be a very competitive race, but it’s always special to be racing against as many international stars as you do at Daytona. I’m excited to have the iRise guys back around as well – we’ve worked together in the past, and unlike a lot of companies in racing, they’ve really figured out how to make the environment work for them. They know their racing, and they’re fun to have on my side!”
Television coverage of the 2011 Rolex 24 At Daytona will begin at 2pm ET on SPEEDTV. Live timing an scoring from the race can be accessed at: https://www.grand-am.com/
###
Follow Patrick’s Twitter feed for day-to-day updates: https://www.twitter.com/PLMotorsport
Patrick’s Fan Page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=59855999746&ref=ts
Patrick on the web: https://www.patricklong.com
Patrick wishes to thank all his 2011 partners and sponsors for their support.
Porsche – https://www.porsche.com
Oakley – https://www.oakley.com
Club Corp – https://www.clubcorp.com
Troy Lee Designs – https://www.troyleedesigns.com
Speedware Motorsports – https://www.speedwaremotorsports.com
FRS Healthy Energy – https://www.frs.com
Images Courtesy Bob Chapman, Autosport Image