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March 17, 2025 – At the recent Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, works driver Patrick Long climbed behind the wheel of five different cars spanning five classes: front-engine, rear-engine, naturally aspirated, turbo, V8, flat-six, right-hand drive, left-hand drive, and even shift-on-the-left versus shift-on-the-right. Among them, three Porsches stood out, including the iconic 962 Jagermeister car. Long, who has class wins at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring, has been a factory driver for Porsche and now races vintage machinery. In an exclusive interview, he offered a no-holds-barred look at what it’s really like to drive a 962.
Long has driven multiple 962s since 2007, including the factory 001 (Andretti/Andretti car), the 009 (Stuck supercar), and the Leyton House Kremer car that won the Monterey Reunion, Rennsport Reunion, and Long Beach Grand Prix. He also raced the Miller High Life 962. “They’re such a race car driver’s dream because they can do pretty much whatever your body and mind want it to do,” he said. “Convincing yourself that the car is that capable is a challenge. The downforce, the power—it’s incredible.”
To illustrate the 962’s enduring performance, Long noted that in 2023 he ran a 1:19 around Laguna Seca, matching the lap times of the modern Acura ARX-06 LMDh prototype driven by factory ace Nick Yelloly. “The cars are capable of modern-day prototype speeds,” he said. “They have more horsepower, but they still need grip to support it. It’s wild how advanced that technology was, especially the later-developed 962s.”
Driving a 962 today, especially one without power steering, demands far more from a driver than a modern GT car. Long estimated that “three times more hand and shoulder strength” is needed compared to a modern prototype with power steering. “The 962s create the biggest separation between amateur and pro,” he said. “To really get a 962 running at optimal—with boost, handling, and no power steering in a car that makes that much downforce—you have to be fully committed.”
He pointed to an incident involving his hero, Geoff Brabham, during the same event. “In practice and the qualifying race, he had two spins on cold tires. They started us at 9:30 on Friday morning, and he spun on the pace lap and on lap one. The turbo hits like a light switch, and it’s impossible to catch. You really have to know how to handle big power and big downforce.”
Long, who also raced a 1969 Shelby 302 Boss Mustang, a 1977 IROC Camaro, and a Porsche 935 K4 at the Reunion, emphasized that the 962’s lack of modern aids is part of its appeal. “I love the ’80s and ’90s era because they’re modern fast but the technology isn’t there,” he said. “There’s an art to driving fast, but you also need immense input as a driver—and a super-capable team.”
He compared the 962 to vintage Formula 1 cars, calling it “even more complex.” The difference between a committed driver and a fully committed driver, he said, is about 10 seconds. “A modern GT car is user-friendly with ABS, traction control, paddle shift, and more visibility. The 962 is a serious machine to operate.”
Long has talked extensively with Hurley Haywood, Derek Bell, and Hans Stuck about the 962’s two-driver format for 24-hour races. “On the banking with no power steering, I can’t understand how physical that must have been,” he said. Kevin Doran, a key figure from the era, told Long that “we just put more camber until the driver couldn’t turn it anymore—that was the limit of grip we could get from the front.”
For collectors looking to buy their first vintage race car, Long advises against a 962. “It’s like vintage Formula 1, but even more complex. They’re serious cars to operate and drive. The difference between being somewhat committed and fully committed is probably 10 seconds. A modern GT car is far more forgiving.”
The Porsche 962, first introduced in 1984, dominated the IMSA GTP championship and went on to win Le Mans. Long’s firsthand experience shows that despite its age, the 962 remains a benchmark for raw performance and driver involvement. As he put it, “You really are a big piece of the formula. That’s why I love this era.”
For those fortunate enough to see a 962 in action at vintage events like the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, it’s a reminder of how far—and how close—the sport has come.
