zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Watch A Supremely Unlucky Racer Lose A Championship With One Nudge
Watch A Supremely Unlucky Racer Lose A Championship With One Nudge-November 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:28

With a on the Pirelli World Challenge season’s first weekend and a team withdrawal that forced him to mid-season, Patrick Long has had absolutely terrible luck all year long. Sadly, that luck continued on his very last lap of the season.

An unusual points adjustment before the season finale worked in Long’s favor, narrowing Alvaro Parente’s drivers’ championship lead to only two points over Long. The series determined that they had incorrectly awarded Alvaro Parente seven points for pole position at Lime Rock, according to .

Thus, the battle for the championship came down to the absolute last lap of the season. Cadillac driver Johnny O’Connell was in the lead, but wasn’t really a contender in the 2016 drivers’ championship. Behind O’Connell, Long was trying to play keep-away from Parente’s K-Pax McLaren in hopes of winning the championship.

On the last lap, O’Connell went wide into the dirt, allowing Long to get a nose ahead. That nose didn’t last for long, though, as O’Connell stuck his nose on the inside of Long as Long turned in for the next corner, nudging Long (and Long’s championship hopes) off the track. O’Connell went on to win the race, and Long finished fifth.

After the race, stewards handed O’Connell a 2.1-second penalty for avoidable contact that moved him down to a fifth-place result behind Long, per a Pirelli World Challenge . This gave the race win to Parente and moved Long up to fourth place, but Parente still ultimately won the championship by 28 points. Ouch.

Better luck next year, Pat.

: The final championship points standings had not been updated to reflect O’Connell’s penalty at the time of this writing. We originally reported that Parente won the championship by two points, but after post-race penalties had been assessed, he won the title by 28 points. This has been amended above.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
How To Follow NASCAR's 2021 Daytona 500
How To Follow NASCAR's 2021 Daytona 500
NASCAR’s Daytona 500 is one of my favorite racing events of the year for plenty of reasons, but in large part because it’s one of the tasty appetizers we get before the full race season really kicks off around the world. We’ve already seen the Duels, we have a...
Nov 3, 2025
Formula E Is Going To Fine Manufacturers That Quit The Series
Formula E Is Going To Fine Manufacturers That Quit The Series
How do you convince manufacturers to stick around and keep on participating in your racing series? Why, you fine them, of course! At least, that’s Formula E’s strategy. Among the many new rules to be introduced in the Gen3 era—a boost of 470 horsepower, for example, while also reducing...
Nov 3, 2025
What You Need To Know About Formula One's Future Engine Plans
What You Need To Know About Formula One's Future Engine Plans
On Thursday, Feb. 11, Formula One teams approved an engine freeze that will be instituted in 2022 as one of many new and different concepts being discussed to keep the series interesting. Here’s what you need to know. An engine freeze is, basically, a mandated hold on developing the...
Nov 3, 2025
JR Hildebrand Really Wants The Pikes Peak Record
JR Hildebrand Really Wants The Pikes Peak Record
The entry list for the 99th running of , and there are some pretty exciting entries on there for this year. After the event was postponed in 2020, and it was limited to pretty much only American entries thanks to COVID-19-related travel bans, the game is back on in...
Nov 3, 2025
How To Watch The Daytona 500 And Everything Else In Racing This Weekend; February 13-14
How To Watch The Daytona 500 And Everything Else In Racing This Weekend; February 13-14
Welcome to the Jalopnik Weekend Motorsports Roundup, where we let you know what’s going on in the world of racing, where you can see it, and where you can talk about it all in one convenient place. Where else would you want to spend your weekend? The 2021 NASCAR...
Nov 3, 2025
Does Ferrari Have A Chance This Year?
Does Ferrari Have A Chance This Year?
Ferrari unveiled the sound of its 2021 car Friday for some good Friday content. Well, if you think that Formula One cars even sound good anymore. I’ve never been a great judge of motor racing sounds, in that, while they don’t all sound the same to me, they do...
Nov 3, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved