Pat Long to Fortec

[paulzinho]

Anyone know the story behind this?

I know he was having car problems at Manor but didn't realise he's moving to Fortec.

Who's he replaced and who's replaced him?

[Mr Jinxx]

He's replaced Katherine Legge, and is in the Oulton Park pole-winning car. Poor Pat will be kicking himself after Manor found a set-up or whatever to put Hamilton and Griffin on the front row for Thruxton, and after Hamilton then set lap times far quicker than anyone else.

[bella]

i think a degree of that's to do with lewis' talent though. say griffin's your standard good driver (for evidence, cue paul's statistic about the next 20-something after hamilton being covered by a second), the rest is all down to lewis.

hope katherine finds some money soon, we need more girls in motorsport.

[Jonny Apex]

Long's replacement at Manor? Watch this space ...

[Mr Jinxx]

for how long??

[bella]

can i blink yet?

(can't actually think of anyone right this minute..)

[Mr Jinxx]

needs a decent driver in there ... and a well funded one. A foreign one. Rudholm to transfer? Van der Ende? Has to be Kane doesn't it, in a flash of inspiration. A last ditch attempt to see if he can get on the pace with a car that is finally sorted. Kane it has to be or I'm a Dutchman

[bella]

fair point, me overworked braincell excluded the most likely candidate. i'm sure pursestrings must be flexible enough to deal with a manor style budget. but i'll bet my last fiver he won't do any better than pat did.

[Mr Jinxx]

I agree

[sgrok]

So is 'lack of money' the offical line on Katherine Legge..?

Sorry to say, I think Pat Long probably left Manor not because of Lewis' "talent", but because he was demanding and receiving all the attention from the team.

Good move for Pat, anyway.

[Jonny Apex]

Nope. Won't be Kane ...

[Mr Jinxx]

Lack of money is the pit gossip for Katherine, and I was talking to her father a couple of weeks ago ... sponsorship is hellish hard to get, as we all know. I have raised precisely zero pence in the last 2 years of trying. It looks cosmetically like Oulton Park may have been a last ditch attempt. I have every sympathy - she's a good driver.

I think that anyone who drove for Manor this year was taking a huge risk, because Lewis will obviously get all the attention, and Manor cannot afford to let the McLaren protege be less than really fast in one of their cars. So best engine, best treatment, most media coverage, most pressure too in one sense (although a 2 year deal dissipates some of that) very demanding people working for Lewis, and the personal engineering of John Booth means that, if I was Pat Long, I would be looking to move to a team which APPEARED more equal for its drivers. I wouldnt accuse Manor of favouring LH, but you have to confess that human nature alone would dictate that it would be hard not to. I do not know how good or otherwise Pat is - it's not been possible to tell so far.

[sgrok]

Oh that's the pit gossip....;0