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Park Place Motorsports Qualifying Report
Date: March 1, 2013
Event: Inaugural GRAND-AM of The Americas (Round 2 of 12)
Series: Grand Touring division of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series
Location: Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas (3.4-mile, 20-turn road course)
GT Pole Winner: Alessandro Balzan of Scuderia Corsa (2:08.846 at 94.997 mph)
Park Place Motorsports: No. 73 – 6th by Patrick Lindsey (2:10.958 at 93.465 mph)
No. 71 – 14th by John McCutchen II (2:18.958 at 88.084 mph)
No. 72 – 15th by Mike Vess (2:23.140 at 85.511 mph)
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The Dallas-based No. 73 Park Place Motorsports (PPM) Porsche GT3 will start Saturday’s inaugural GRAND-AM of The Americas from the outside of the GT-class third row after GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series qualifying Friday afternoon at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
The No. 72 Vess Energy Services Porsche GT3 for PPM will start from the outside of the seventh row, and the No. 71 Godstone Ranch Porsche GT3 for PPM will start from the inside of the eighth row.
Patrick Lindsey, co-driving the No. 73 PPM Porsche with factory driver Patrick Long, turned a fast lap of 2 minutes, 10.958 at 93.465 mph around the 3.4-mile, 20-turn Formula 1 circuit that is home to the United States Grand Prix. It was good for sixth among 16 GT-class car-and-driver combinations that will take the green flag Saturday for the season’s first 2-hour, 45-minute sprint race.
“It was an improvement but I was disappointed with the result, truthfully,” said Lindsey, who co-drove with Long, Spencer Pumpelly, Jason Hart and Daniel Graeff to a 16th-place finish at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January. “I think it was a better car than the speed I showed in it. You just have to go back and remember that it’s a long race and we’re going to have to execute on pit road and, at the end of the day, nobody’s going to remember where anybody started, really. Third row is not terrible, but you always want to be at the front. This track really sets up well for the Ferraris and they really set sail in that qualifying session. We’re going to have to beat them on pit lane, beat them on strategy, and stay out of trouble, have a better focus and a better game plan. Really, we can’t afford to go off track. There are plenty of opportunities to hurt the car or lose positions just by making a mistake here. There’s going to be a lot of side-by-side racing so you have to remember it’s going to be a long race. Just stay out of trouble. It’s the most challenging track we race on, the best facility, it’s a phenomenal combination. It’s challenging and as a driver you always want to go to a track that’s challenging. It’s going to be a fun day Saturday.”
John McCutchen II of Dallas is co-driving the No. 71 Godstone Ranch Porsche GT3, dubbed the “Heart Car,” with Maypearl, Texas, native Chuck Cole and Flower Mound’s Jason Hart. McCutchen turned a fast qualifying lap of 2:18.958 at 88.084 mph. It was good for 14th on the GT-class grid.
“It went perfectly. I kept looking for the Jason Hart button so I could drop my time by several seconds,” said McCutcheon, whose wife, acclaimed sculptor Karen Garrett, founded the Godstone Ranch organization that is racing for awareness of the American Heart Association’s Hands-Only CPR program here this weekend. “The car was perfect. I would say that the Park Place guys did an amazing job at making these cars easy to drive. We’re going to have to hustle a bit to keep up with the Ferraris. But the car is really set up well for racing. We were really working hard to get the car set up to go two hours and 45 minutes in a jungle out there versus trying to do one fast lap, which isn’t going to get us anywhere tomorrow. We love the track. It’s the most technical track I’ve driven in the United States. It reminds me of Donington in some places, European tracks. There’s nothing like it in the United States. And I’m not so sure even some of the big-time pro drivers have this place completely figured out.”
Mike Vess, chairman and managing owner of Wichita, Kansas-based Vess Oil, a company he co-founded in 1979, qualified the No. 72 Vess Energy Services Porsche GT3 with a fast lap of 2:23.140 at 85.511 mph. It was good for 15th on the GT-class grid.
“The car did great. The car was great. The driver was a little weak, but the car was great,” said Vess, who is co-driving with Mike Skeen of Charlotte, N.C., in the Porsche that finished 14th at the Rolex 24. “I just didn’t push myself fast enough. I had the opportunity on one beautiful, clear lap. I should’ve taken great advantage of it and I just didn’t. I played it safe and it was stupid. I knew we weren’t going to qualify up front so it wasn’t a huge positioning thing as much as just getting me out there and going fast, getting engaged quickly. I had a beautiful lap to do that and I kick myself as I look back on it. I just didn’t push it in a couple of place where I should’ve and I would’ve had a much better lap time. The car was perfect, spot on, which bodes well for tomorrow. I’ll do my best to get us out there on the lead lap and Mike Skeen’s a great driver. I expect that car to finish well as long as trouble doesn’t find us. The track’s fantastic. It’s a privilege for me. It’s challenging as a driver. It throws stuff at you. It’s a tough track to learn.”
The top-five in GT-class qualifying for the inaugural GRAND-AM of The Americas are:
1. Scuderia Corsa (No. 63 Ferrari 458) with Alessandro Balzan and Alessandro Pier (2:08.846 at 94.997 mph).
2. R. Ferri/Aim Motorsport with Ferrari (No. 61 Ferrari 458) with Max Papis and Jeff Segal (2:09.205 at 94.733).
3. Brumos Racing (No. 59 Porsche GT3) with Andrew Davis and Leh Keen (2:10.173 at 94.029 mph).
4. Stevenson Motorsports (No. 57 Camaro GT.R) with John Edwards and Robin Liddell (2:10.615 at 92.711 mph).
5. Marsh Racing (No. 31 Corvette) with Boris Said and Eric Curran (2:10.856 at 93.538 mph).
Race time Saturday is 4 p.m. EST with SPEED providing the delayed television broadcast beginning at 5:30 p.m. Live radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 beginning with pre-race festivities at 3:45 p.m.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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