Park Place Motorsports will run the final two rounds of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season entering the No. 73 Park Place Porsche GT3 R in the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Featuring America’s Tire 250 and the Motul Petit Le Mans.
Initially, the team set out to only run the Tequila Patron Endurance Championship in coordination with the FIA World Endurance Championship Super Season schedule. However, Team Principal Patrick Lindsey couldn’t help but add a couple of his favorite venues to his plan. He first added the picturesque Road America to his list and now his home track of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Lindsey and Porsche Factory Driver Jörg Bergmeister will run at the 2.238-mile California jewel Sept. 7-9. The duo scored back-to-back second-place finishes at Laguna Seca in 2016 and 2017. However, Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta is set to take place Oct. 10-13 when the duo is competing at Fuji International Speedway.
Park Place Motorsports will call upon endurance driver Tim Pappas, Road Atlanta-ace Spencer Pumpelly and Porsche Factory Driver Wolf Henzler to wheel the No. 73 in their absence.
Pappas, Pumpelly and Henzler have all previously won at Road Atlanta. Pappas took home victory in 2011 in the GTC class. Henzler won at Petit in 2013 and 2014 in the GT and GT Le Mans classes respectively. Park Place Motorsports last win at Petit Le Mans was with Pumpelly in 2015 who also stood on the top step of the podium in 2013.
Atlanta resident Pumpelly may be one of the most notable drivers to run at Road Atlanta with his first turn at Petit Le Mans being in 1999.
“I’m happy to be back with Park Place at my home track,” Pumpelly said. “We had a great run in 2015 with the win. I think with the way the Porsche has been performing in GTD, and with the lineup we have, we’re already in contention for the win in 2018. I’m confident in what this team can do because I’ve experienced it first-hand so I hope we get the outcome they deserve.”
With his Porsche in good hands for Road Atlanta, Lindsey looks forward to enjoying the remainder of the season.
“I had to consider a few things before running Laguna Seca but in the end, I love the track, and we do well there,” Lindsey said. “We consistently podium at Laguna. The last two years Jörg and I have finished second, and Spencer and I won in 2015. It’s a fun track, friends and family always come to watch. This is one of the few west coast-based races for IMSA, so its enjoyable on my end being from California to be home and not taking a red-eye out east.”
The Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix featuring America’s Tire 250 and the Motul Petit Le Mans will air on FOX Sports 1. Live stream the races with IMSA.tv or the official IMSA app, available for both Android and iPhone. For a schedule of either even visit imsa.com
