Aasco Motorsports-New Century Porsche Earns Sixth in Desert

AVONDALE, Ariz., September 10, 2005 - Patrick Long (Las Vegas, Nev.) got off
to an impressive start fighting his way up into the top-three early in the
going of Friday night's Phoenix 250 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series
race. The 24 year-old knew for the No. 26 New Century Mortgage Porsche 911
GT3 Cup to contend for its first GT class victory of their abbreviated
season, he would have to show early. However, in the end, Long and co-driver
Pat Flanagan (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) would have to settle for a sixth-place
finish here at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) in Avondale, Ariz. The
Aasco Motorsports-entered Porsche was the second highest finishing 911 GT3
Cup behind a contingent of Pontiacs and BMWs who used the massive torque of
their V8s to their advantage on the tight, twisty course and long
straight-aways. 

 

The 250-mile race marked the first time in the history of the Rolex Series
that Grand American officials separated the purpose-built Daytona Prototype
(DP) racing machines from the production-based sports cars of the GT class.
As such, the 16 car field had the 1.51-mile, 11-turn road course as their
own playground without concern about the faster lapping DPs bringing their
own battle into the intra-squad struggle for GT honors. The format looked
well suited for Long and Flanagan who used on-track performance and the pit
expertise of the Dennis Aase-led organization to stay in contact with the
leaders. At approximately the half-way point, Long brought the New Century
Porsche in for a driver change handing duties over to Flanagan who would
fall to eighth with pit stops but fought for a top-six position throughout
his stint. He would deliver the car back into the hands of Porsche factory
driver Long in the race's closing stages. As the New Century Porsche closed
on the checkered flag, Long was turning laps quicker than the leaders. He
would regain two positions to move to sixth and would end the day with the
team's third top-10 finish in the five races the New Century Porsche has run
in 2005.

 

Patrick Long: "The race was, overall, pretty good. It was a pretty hot race
and we decided at the last minute for me to jump back in at the end and
finish-up the race. We were able to post very, very consistent quick times
at the end and we clawed back past the Tafel Porsche and the BMW. The team
did a great job with the setup. We were able to have a great pace. All is
well that ends well. The car is in one piece and we look forward to moving
on to Virginia."