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Park Place Motorsports Looks to Impress at Home Race in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (September 16, 2014)- For the inaugural year in a new series, local team Park Place Motorsports has exceeded expectations and now prepares to battle for a podium finish in this weekend’s Lone Star Le Mans race, the penultimate round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship held at the famed Circuit of The Americas. With one podium under their belt already this season, Park Place Motorsports and its fans are ready to celebrate a win at their home track.

“Showing well in Texas is critical for us,” stated driver and team co-principal Patrick Lindsey. “Being in the home state for everyone at Park Place and their family of dealerships is very important, and we look to deliver for everyone in attendance. This team has been on the brink of success for so long now, I can’t think of a better place to breakthrough than in Austin.”

Team engineer and team co-principal John Horton noted, “As anticipated, the new model year car has had its challenges throughout the year. The platform has now become very reliable after making a few small changes that will keep the car competitive. Now it’s up to the team to execute. We’re ready!”

Park Place Motorsports is an extension of Dallas-based Park Place Dealerships, which represents upscale manufacturers Porsche, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Lexus, Bentley, Maserati, Lotus, Rolls-Royce, Volvo and Smart. Services include maintenance and repair, driver and racecar support, and parts engineering and distribution. These offerings are authentically promoted by Park Place Motorsports’ flagship GT Daytona team in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Park Place Motorsports, which officially began in 2013 through a partnership with Horton Autosport. In the team’s 22-month history, the squad has garnered several podiums, pole positions and fastest laps, but the elusive first victory still remains missing from the team’s impressive list of accolades.

Headlining the team’s No. 73 Park Place Motorsports / Children’s Tumor Foundation / Hawk Performance Porsche 911 GT America will be drivers Patrick Lindsey and Norbert Siedler. As the team’s full-season entrant, the team has come heartbreakingly close to top results this season. Leading a number of races including the July round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park where they lost the lead with two laps to go, to everything from: mechanical gremlins, restart incidents, and contact from other classes has kept the team from their long sought after victory.

Lindsey, now in his third full season of competition at this level, is hungry for a win. While his season-long teammate Kévin Estre will be absent due to commitments in Europe, Austrian Norbert Siedler will once again return to the fray with Park Place. No stranger to Porsche competition, the 31-year-old is a former race winner of the Porsche Supercup, as well as current competitor in Europe’s VLN Series. Sielder was also the highest qualifying Porsche at Daytona this year in the Park Place No. 71 car.

73pr2Joining the team will be local heroes Mike Vess and Mike Skeen in the No. 71 Vess Energy Group / Hawk Performance machine. A native of Texas, Vess is a familiar face in the TUDOR Series. A veteran of such events as the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Sebring, Vess will rejoin the team for his first race since March, this time with the support of his home crowd.

“Returning to Austin should be a sensational event,” stated Vess. “It’s a fantastic facility, should be a great crowd, and everyone on this team is ready. It will be great to be back behind the wheel, hopefully we can deliver in front of our fans.”

Joining Vess in the No. 71 will be long-time team driver Mike Skeen, Hawk Performance factory driver. Taking part in the team’s first event in 2013, the talented driver has made appearances at events throughout the last two years, most recently at Indianapolis where he drove with Lindsey in the No. 73 Porsche. Most notably, the Charlotte native is coming off of his most successful season to date in the Pirelli World Challenge, where he recently took three victories en route to a runner-up finish in the GT Driver’s Championship.

With only two events left in the title fight, all focus for the team is purely on winning. Practice will begin on Thursday, September 18, with live television coverage occurring on Saturday, September 20, at 12:30 PM EDT on FOX Sports 2.

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