Patrick Long has confirmed that he is to step back from full-time driving after a 20 year professional racing career with Porsche.
The Californian, who stepped into a Porsche Junior factory role in 2002, will take up two new complementary roles within the Porsche family: As a brand Ambassador with Porsche Cars North America and as a Competition Advisor with Porsche Motorsport North America.
The move will follow on from a career that saw North America’s only Porsche factory driver of this century score over 50 victories (including class wins at Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, Petit Le Mans, Nurburgring 24 Hours, Bathurst 12 Hours, in the ALMS, IMSA, GT World Challenge, FIA WEC and Grand-Am, and six major sports car championships.
Pat’s new roles will play to his undisputed strengths in practical experience not only in racing and automotive performance, but also in brand development, customer relations, public relations, marketing and more as an Ambassador for Porsche Cars North America.
In addition to his role with PCNA, Long remains an intricate part of the planning and execution of key Porsche Motorsport programmes in North America through PMNA as Competition Advisor.
While he will no longer pursue full-season rides at the top-level, his new role will allow the technical-minded driver an opportunity to test and compete in current machinery while assisting Porsche customer and factory teams where needed.
He also plans to strap into the cockpit of historic and vintage Porsche racing machines at some of the largest automotive events around the globe.
Long’s driving tastes expand beyond the Porsche 911-based race cars he has become so closely linked. Within the Porsche family, he earned victories in the Porsche RS Spyder and the Daytona Prototype categories, but his record also includes non-Porsche drives with starts and victories in NASCAR’s top divisions, V8 Supercars and the Baja 1000. With an “old school driver” approach, Long also has racing wins at the Classic 24 at Daytona, Porsche Rennsport Reunion and at Monterey’s Rolex Reunion.
Patrick Long: “My passion for motorsports has not lessened since the first time I sat in a kart. In fact, I would say it is greater than ever before. But, in the last several months I have recognized that the focus of that passion has gradually shifted.
“I still love to race, to make a Porsche do what I want it to do and, most of all, to win. But that passion is now more fulfilled by taking part in the bigger picture. To support the brand that has supported me and to help usher in a future of Porsche Motorsport that holds true to where Porsche came from.
“I am honoured and excited by these new roles with Porsche Cars North America and Porsche Motorsport North America. It is bittersweet, of course, to not be lining up at the Rolex 24 in 2022 after 18 consecutive starts, but I know that this is the right decision for me, and I am excited to help steer the future of Porsche in a different but equally fulfilling way.”
