JUNE 14, 2004

Pat Long wins Le Mans

Grandprix.com 2001 Young Driver of the Year award winner Patrick Long has won the GT category of the 24 hours of Le Mans in his first attempt for Porsche.

Grandprix.com 2001 Young Driver Of The Year award winner Patrick Long has taken the class victory in the GT category of the 24 hours of Le Mans in his first attempt driving for Porsche. Long, who was regarded by many as on his way to F1, became the first American to be granted Porsche factory driver status when he joined the Junior team last season.

"The full effect of winning Le Mans hasn't really sunk in yet, but it's definitely a vindication of the decision I made to go sportscar racing. We were consistently three seconds faster than our opposition, but we had three mechanical failures to overcome so it definitely wasn't easy. Le Mans is a lifetime achievement, and I am really happy about that."

Long was teamed with Jorg Bergmeister and Sascha Maassen for the American Petersen/White Lightning team.