![](https://flatsixes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/gt3-800x450.jpg)
Long puts his GT3 sideways on the traction-handling circuit.
Bringing the thrill of motorsport to the residents of Los Angeles, the Porsche Experience Center in LA offers a variety of sights, sounds, and thrills for those who savor motorsport or simply have a few drops of motor oil in their veins.
Guiding us through the staggering facilities of the Porsche Experience Center are two drivers who need no introduction: Christina Nielsen and Patrick Long. For these new teammates, the Experience Center offers them a chance to relax, enjoy the in-house restaurant, and tour the motorsport museum—in other words, to get away from the pressure of racing. However, racing drivers are competitive and single-minded creatures, and they can’t sit long when there’s a challenge present.
In reality, the LA Porsche Experience Center offers these two the chance to compete in a slightly more relaxed environment. Whether it be sampling the simulators or demonstrating car control on the sodden skidpad, there are a variety of ways they—as well as the curious enthusiast—can test their own abilities and measure themselves against another talent.
![](https://flatsixes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/download-8-800x450.jpg)
Despite the smiles, the folded arms suggest a hint of tension between these two.
Partnering with such an impressive figure as Patrick Long must be intimidating. The young, talented, and ambitious Nielsen has her work cut out for her, but is clearly reveling in the challenge, as any successful racer ought to. Despite the respect they clearly hold for one another, the friendly—if not slightly laconic—conversation seems to belie a competitive tension between these two. I wonder what the future partnership of these two racing titans holds?