photo by John Thawley Penske Racing’s Patrick Long will join four other Porsche driving legends as part of an elite instructional program at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Ala. The Porsche Sport Driving School - one of the nation’s most prestigious driving schools - is offering its first fantasy camp for a handful of qualified participants who will spend a day on the track with some of the finest race-car drivers ever to don Porsche driving suits.

The program, called the Porsche Legends Course, runs December 16 and 17. This exclusive opportunity for just 10 people is the first of its kind and is limited to recent graduates of the school’s Masters Course, who will be personally coached by many of the greats in Porsche racing lore.

Long will join Porsche legends Derek Bell, Vic Elford, Hurley Haywood and Brian Redman. In addition to perfecting his or her skills during a full day of track sessions with these world class racers as personal coaches, each guest will have the opportunity to socialize with the drivers for a closer one-on-one relationship.

Long, a former GT2 champion in the American Le Mans Series, recently completed his first full season of prototype competition with Penske Racing and its Porsche RS Spyder. The lone factory driver from America, he has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice and has nine career Series victories to his credit.

2009 PORSCHE 911 TURBO WILL GET RACE INSPIRED CENTER LOCK WHEELS
Porsche has announced it will offer new, central locking 19-inch RS Spyder wheels, heavily influenced by the Championship winning RS Spyder, for the 2009 911 Turbo starting with January 2009 production.

The main feature of these lightweight, forged aluminum wheels is the unique, central locking system once only found on race cars and exotic street cars like the Carrera GT. Instead of the wheel bolts generally used in motorsport, these exclusive wheels come with a single, center wheel bolt that fastens the seven U-shaped double spoke wheels firmly and safely on the wheel bearing hub.

The innovative security mechanism on the wheel bearing is made up of a cartridge fitted in the wheel hub with spring-mounted security bolts. These bolts on the new central locking are plated in titanium color and thus differ distinctly from the silver-colored paintwork on the RS Spyder wheels.

The special design is derived from the wheels found on the championship winning 2008 Porsche RS Spyder. The sports prototype, built in Weissach, Germany recently won all the LMP2 class titles in the American Le Mans Series for the third year in a row. It also won its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the Le Mans Series in Europe and also won the prototype competition in the American Le Mans Series’ inaugural Green Challenge at Petit Le Mans and Road Atlanta.