Petersen/ White Lightning's Bergmeister and Long Named to All-American Team

Petersen/ White Lightning’s Bergmeister and Long Named to All-American Team 

 

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., November 10, 2005 – The American Auto Racing Writers and
Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) announced today that Petersen Motorsports/
White Lightning Racing co-drivers Jörg Bergmeister (Langenfeld, Germany) and
Patrick Long (Las Vegas, Nev.) have been named to the First Team of the
prestigious 2005 All-American Auto Racing Team in the “At Large” category.
Bergmeister and Long each earned their first American Le Mans Series (ALMS)
GT2 class Driver Championship this season after a dominating performance
that saw them win 50% of all the ALMS races. Their No. 31 Westward Ho
Casino/ MMPIE/ PAWS/ Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RSR took them to podium
finishes in nine of the ten events including five victories, three
second-places and one third. They had two pole positions (Sebring and Lime
Rock) and never failed to finish in the top-10. Petersen/ White Lightning
earned their first ALMS GT2 Team Championship and nine of ten IMSA Cups—
awarded to the highest finishing privately-entered car in each class— gave
them the season-long IMSA Cup for the production-based Grand Touring (GT) 2
class. 

 

“It’s a big honor for me,” spoke an obviously humbled Bergmeister. “It is
the first award that I have won like this and is coming at the end of a very
good year for me. While Patrick and I will be honored in name, it is the
team that should receive so much of the credit. They gave us the car every
weekend to win races and win the championship. I am really, really pleased
that other people recognized our season. I am very thankful for this honor
and want to say ‘thank you’ to AARWBA, the Petersen/ White Lightning team
and Mike [Petersen] and Dale [White].”

 

AARWBA is made-up of the top motorsports media members in the country from
the disciplines of print (newspapers and magazines), internet, television
and radio broadcasters as well as public relations representatives. As the
single most knowledgeable group on the subject of motorsports, AARWBA has
created the annual All-American Auto Racing Team for 35 years. Each year
drivers are nominated and voted upon by its members for seven categories of
American auto racing (Open Wheel, Stock Car, Road Racing, Drag Racing, Short
Track, Touring Series and At Large). The votes are tallied with the highest
votes given “First Team” status. There is also a “Second Team” and an
“Honorable Mention Team” to drivers nominated but not at the top of the
seven categories. Two drivers, or driving pairs such as Bergmeister and
Long, are elected to the All- American Auto Racing Team from each of
category. The “At Large” category, for which both Bergmeister and Long have
jointly earned a spot, covers a wide range of classes in motorsports. As the
largest of the seven categories, the honor is doubly impressive for the two.
The AARWBA team is the only one of its kind and, due to the make-up of the
panelists, is the equivalent to similar teams drafted in other major sports.
As the only representatives from the ALMS on the “First Team”, Bergmeister
and Long will receive their “Horsepower Award” recognizing their place on
the ’05 All-American Auto Racing Team at the AARWBA Banquet in Indianapolis
on December 3. They are also eligible for the Jerry Titus Award— awarded to
the driver who receives the highest number of votes overall. Similar to the
Heisman Trophy in stature; the Jerry Titus Award will also be announced at
the AARWBA Banquet.

 

"To be announced to the AARWBA All-American Auto Racing Team really is a
dream come true for me,” commented Long. “It caps off a dream season in the
ALMS with Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing. Anytime you can be
listed beside the great names that are on this team, and to be the sole
representatives of the ALMS with all the great drivers in the series, that
is pretty special. I won the Gorsline Scholarship at the AARWBA banquet in
2001 so I have seen firsthand how impressive this all is. This is one of the
greatest honors of my career and I need to thank Jörg, Mike [Petersen], Dale
[White] and all the guys on the team and at Porsche for making it happen."

 

Highlights for the season were many and included a sweep of all the ALMS
endurance events counting the first victory for both drivers and the Las
Vegas-based team at the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the
team’s and Long’s first Petit Le Mans title— it was Bergmeister’s
third-consecutive win at the 10 hour/ 1,000 mile race— and the season-ending
four hour Monterey Sports Car Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The
Monterey victory marked the culmination of a four-race win streak to
close-out the season which started at the Generac 500 at Road America and
included victories at the Grand Prix of Mosport and the Petit Le Mans. The
duo also combined with the Petersen/ White Lightning team to return to
defend their 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans GT, now GT2, race victory. After 24
hours of the famous Circuit de la Sarthe, Bergmeister, Long and Le Mans
teammate and direct championship competitor Timo Bernhard (Germany) finished
just minutes behind the winner. Since joining Petersen/ White Lightning,
Bergmeister and Long have only finished off the podium in one of the 12
events including ALMS and Le Mans races.

 

It is the first such award for both drivers though Long was a recipient of
the John Gorsline Scholarship, also awarded at the annual AARWBA Banquet, in
2001. Bergmeister became the first non-factory driver since 1999 to win the
Drivers Championship while Long, a Porsche “works” driver, became the first
American since ’99 to win the title. The Michael Petersen (Las Vegas) owned
and Dale White (Bozeman, Mont.) managed team became the first non-factory
team to ever win an ALMS title in GT2 dating back to the series inaugural
season in 1999. 

 

More on Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing can be found at
<http://www.petersenmotorsports.com/> www.PetersenMotorsports.com. 

For more on AARWBA, please visit  <http://www.aarwba.com/> www.AARWBA.com .

For more on the ALMS, please visit  <http://www.americanlemans.com/>
www.AmericanLeMans.com .

 

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Digital images and complete team and driver bios available upon request.

Editors, please do not publish any contact information other than web sites.
Thank you.

 

contact: Tom Moore, Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing, 

615-778-1614 (office), 615-509-5000 (cell),  
tom@darkhorsecom.com