Long Joins WeatherTech Porsche Lineup for Petit Le Mans

Photo: Porsche

Patrick Long will join Cooper MacNeil and Gunnar Jeannette in the No. 50 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in next weekend’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans, the team has confirmed.

The newly crowned Pirelli World Challenge champion moves over to the Riley Motorsports-run operation for the ten-hour Road Atlanta finale after taking part in multiple races with Alegra Motorsports.

“I have been friends, and competitors, with Cooper and Gunnar for a long time,” Long said. “When they switched back to the Porsche mid-season I knew that would be a good opportunity for me to run in a strong car at Petit Le Mans.

“They won at Long Beach early in the year and I am hoping to combine with them and win next week at Road Atlanta. They have always run a top program and they are fun guys to hang around with as well. I think we will have as good a shot as anyone come the green flag.”

The team’s regular third driver, Shane van Gisbergen, is unavailable due to his Virgin Australia Supercars commitments, which races at Bathurst that same weekend.

It will mark the first time Long, MacNeil and Jeannette have co-driven together.

“I’m super excited to drive with Pat,” MacNeil said. “His career achievement list speaks for itself. The guy has been a Porsche factory driver for a long as I can remember and he’s always been one of the fastest guys who has driven for Porsche.

“He already has two Pirelli World Challenge Championships in the same car we’re going to be racing at Petit – the Porsche GT3 R.

“He’s got a ton of experience in the car. He can drive it really fast. I’ve always wanted to drive with Pat. Gunnar’s always wanted to drive with Pat. So, now we’re finally putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together and we’re going to go try to win the race.”

Jeannette added: “To be back with Porsche for our first endurance race this year, going to Petit is great. We skipped Petit last year. So, Cooper and I are really looking forward to racing there. To have Pat there with us is awesome.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John