Park Place Motorsports rejoins IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2019 with a full season GT Daytona class entry featuring Team Principal Patrick Lindsey and Porsche Factory Driver Patrick Long.
Lindsey and Long previously ran together in 2013 under the newly formed Park Place Motorsports banner. Then running the No. 73 in the Grand-Am Rolex GT series. The duo scored multiple top-five finishes and three, second-place finishes resulting in a fifth-place finish in the championship.
Years of experience later, Lindsey and Long are after the same goal, to win a driver and team championship together. Together they will take to the fight armed with the new Porsche 911 GT3 R for the 2019 IMSA season. The new GT3 R is a 911 through and through but with favorable upgrades focused on making the car driver and pit stop friendly.
“I’m extremely excited for our team this year,” Lindsey said. “We’re growing as a team, and we have the full support of Porsche Motorsport North America to chase a championship. We’re pursuing a lot this year. We’re running two new cars with the new GT3 R in WeatherTech and GT4 in the Michelin series. We’re hoping to run Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA for the second year.
“However, I do believe that we’ve never been in a better position to make the leaps we will make this year and to do them with great success. Maybe we won’t make them without setbacks or issues, but we will have success this year. Everyone on the team feels that.”
Park Place Motorsports is doubling down in Dallas with the extension of its customer program. An initiative first started in 2013 when Long was the factory driver at Park Place. Long helped lead the first ever track days held by Park Place Motorsports. While he will rejoin Park Place without plans of such an undertaking, he is familiar with the effort the team is putting forth to grow.
“Park Place is a great team and I enjoy working with them,” Long said. “They’re a group of very determined people with tremendous talent. We had some memorable moments when we last raced together, but I’m hoping we can build on those accomplishments this coming year. They’ve made great changes and additions during the offseason to the team which I’m sure will pay off during the season. I’m happy to be back with Patrick; he’s a great a teammate. Hopefully, we can make some magic happen this year.”
The first order of business for the No. 73 is the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 4-6. The annual event preludes the first official race of the season, Rolex 24 At Daytona which takes place Jan. 24-27. While no points are awarded at the Roar, a qualifying event to award garage spaces does take place during the event. For more news on the Roar visit imsa.com.