Park Place Motorsports announced Thursday (Nov. 8) that the Texas-based organization will expand to the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2019. The team has also joined forces with VOLT Racing. VOLT Racing’s regular drivers, Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman will drive the new Park Place-run entry. Unlike the Ford Mustang seen above, Hindman and Brynjolfsson will race a 2019-spec Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport.
“To fight for a championship, we needed a larger operation and the economies of scale of multiple cars,” Brynjolfsson explained in a press release. “Park Place [Motorsports] is a proven Porsche program in [the WeatherTech SportsCar Championships], we will be running two Porsches next year, so it was a natural fit. With Mike Johnson my Strategist moving to Park Place and taking the helm as Team Manager it made it a very attractive deal.
“I am very excited about the switch,” Brynjolfsson continued. “The Mustang was a point and shoot car where you would diamond off corners to utilize its great torque off the corner. The Porsche has great balance, and you can carry more speed through corners and slide the car, call it a momentum car if you like. I think the Porsche will suit my driving style better. The a/c will be a welcome bonus, but the reliability and thorough development of the Porsche GT4 is the crucial ingredient for being competitive at year end with a large field.”
The comment about the air conditioning is interesting in retrospect. In 2017, Brynjolfsson told Frontstretch at Lime Rock Park the use of air conditioning in the team’s original McLaren 570S GT4 that took part of the feeling away from driving. He described the Mustang GT4 as a more pure race car, repeatedly using the team “raw.”
Hindman is quite pleased to be back for another go-around.
“I’m very much looking forward to a sixth season in the Michelin Pilot Challenge,” Hindman stated. ““Having the opportunity to work with Alan and VOLT Racing throughout 2018 and to be a part of his development behind the wheel once again is a very exciting prospect to me. However, the potential of winning races and fighting for another GS championship is what motivates me the most. I feel that we have an excellent team behind us in Park Place Motorsports that will certainly help Alan and me achieve this goal.”
At Road Atlanta back in October, Frontstretch had the chance to sit down and talk with Hindman about a number of topics, including sharing his car with Brynjolfsson. Look for that in a future Beyond the Cockpit.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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Phil, You are absolutely right that I said the McLaren felt like a street car and the Mustang was very raw and felt like a race car (which was very appealing to me). I’d prefer driving a purpose built race car over a modified street car. But after being almost heat stroked several times, a/c will be a welcome bonus.