24 Heures du Mans | 5:50:00
There is an American driver named Patrick Long, often described as "the first & only American Porsche factory driver." Long drives a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the American Le Mans Series (A.L.M.S.) for Flying Lizard Motorsports; for this year's Le Mans, Long was co-driver of the № 80 Porsche in the G.T.E. Pro category, an ill-fated car that retired only a few hours into this year's "Grand Prix of Endurance." In years past, when the massive Penske organization campaigned prototypes in the A.L.M.S. as Porsche's unofficial "works" team, Long drove the all-conquering Porsche RS Spyder (L.M.P.2). I'm not a particular fan of the Flying Lizards, but for no reason I can pinpoint it is terribly important to me that Pat Long be in the driver lineup when Porsche returns to Le Mans with a brand-new L.M.P.1 car in 2014. Why do I care so much? Search me. I don't give a tinker's damn, for example, that American B.M.W. factory driver Joey Hand was tapped this year to be the first American to race in the prestigious D.T.M. championship. But I do care, & care a ridiculously great deal, that Long drive the new Porsche challenger in two years' time.

Racing brings out strange impulses & give license to strange ideas.