Bergmeister Reunited With Long at Wright for SprintX Races

Photo: Porsche

Joerg Bergmeister will reunite with Patrick Long for the Pirelli World Challenge SprintX races with Wright Motorsports, the team confirmed on Monday, rekindling one of sports car racing’s most successful driver pairings.

The German factory ace will team up with America’s only Porsche works driver in the No. 58 Porsche 911 GT3 R for the five-round championship, which kicks off at Virginia International Raceway next month.

Bergmeister and Long have teamed to win three American Le Mans Series championships in seven seasons together, including class wins in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 24 Hours of Le Mans and Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The last time the pairing contested a full season together was 2012.

“I’m really happy to be sharing a car with Patrick again,” Bergmeister said. “The Pirelli World Challenge is going to be a new series for me and I’m excited for the challenge.

“Patrick has already been very successful in this championship so I’m looking forward to helping him with some unfinished business. Working with John Wright and Wright Motorsports is also something that I have done successfully over the years.

“We’ve already had a very good test with the team and hopefully that will translate to many successful races for us during the SprintX season.”

Long, who is set for a full-season campaign in the No. 58 Porsche after finishing second in the GT championship last year, has echoed his longtime co-driver’s thoughts.

“Joerg is a tremendous competitor and always pushes every aspect of the program to be its very best, including his teammate,” Long said.

“We’ve shared a lot of very fond memories and victories in the past and have many more to make in the coming races.”

Added Porsche Motorsport North America President and CEO Jens Walther: “Seeing Patrick and Jörg back together brings a smile to my face, as I’m sure it does for many fans of the driver duo from the 911 GT3 RSR Flying Lizard Motorsport days.

“The Flying Lizard team was one of the most popular and successful customer teams in recent memory, with multiple championships to their credit.

“The two will definitely add excitement to the growing PWC SprintX format.”

Wright has also confirmed Jan Heylen as co-driver for Michael Schein in the SprintX races, with the pairing set to battle for Pro-Am class honors in the No. 16 car, which Schein will contest for the full season.

“I’ve been working with John Wright for four years now and started coaching Mike in his first year of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge [2014], so everyone there is family to me,” Heylen said.

“Mike is certainly one of the quicker GTA guys out there well so I’m confident that we have a great shot at this.”

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