Pat Long Article
02-22-2013 | 04:27 AM
#1
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From: Wishing I Was At The Track
Pat Long Article
02-22-2013 | 03:51 PM
#2
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From: FL
Long’s ‘purer’ style
and preference, but as he himself
admits: “to be at the top, you need
to progress and move with the times.
You cannot be an “X” type of driver.”
Nevertheless, it was machinery
that Long had never experienced the
likes of before. Coming from GT cars,
he had reason to expect two things:
a slightly easier car, and a steep
learning curve.
“Driving an automated full-aero
car like the RS Spyder with Penske,
there was as much technology
and resources present than there
had ever been in my career—but it
didn’t make it easier. It just changed
where your emphasis was.
and preference, but as he himself
admits: “to be at the top, you need
to progress and move with the times.
You cannot be an “X” type of driver.”
Nevertheless, it was machinery
that Long had never experienced the
likes of before. Coming from GT cars,
he had reason to expect two things:
a slightly easier car, and a steep
learning curve.
“Driving an automated full-aero
car like the RS Spyder with Penske,
there was as much technology
and resources present than there
had ever been in my career—but it
didn’t make it easier. It just changed
where your emphasis was.
02-23-2013 | 04:58 PM
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From: Northeast
The parts that jibed with me:
"The biggest thing that scares me
about technology and driver aids is
removing the driver’s style.”
“I like driving historic Porsches
because the sensation of speed is
really high and it’s more of a finesse
sport than a brutal, ragged edge sport.
Historic racing tests the mechanics
(of the car) whereas modern day
racing is sometimes testing purely
physics,” he explains. “I’m more
enthusiastic about mechanics than
about physics”
"...just
slippery, old school, raw!"
Long is, without a doubt, a huge talent and able to extract top performance out of any machine, but I truly believe that technology, gadgets, horsepower, grip, and down-force have little to do with enjoyment in racing (for me, and it seems for Long, as well). A big part of the enjoyment I've had racing comes from the challenge to extract that extra tiny bit of grip, momentum, and exit speed no matter how grippy the tires or powerful the engine.
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02-24-2013 | 02:01 AM
#11
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Posts: 1,389
Likes: 67
From: Chicago, IL
Chad - you have posted that video several times and I never tire of it. I have probably watched it a dozen times and it never gets old. He is a superb talent and watching him inside an older car (well, really any car but this is just special) is fantastic. Thank you
