Park Place Racing/Fordahl Motorsports Battle to Fourth Place Finish at Petit Le Mans

The #05 suffered severe rear-end damage when it was involved in a single-car incident during the rainy morning practice.

With only a few hours before the green flag, the Park Place/Fordahl Motorsports crew hustled to fix the car in time for the start. Having to replace the exhaust and rebuild the rear subframe and bumper, the team was able to get the Saleen on the track 55 minutes into the race.

"I am extremely proud of the team," Park Place driver Ron Johnson said. "We knew were we going up against some of the fiercest GTS competition in the world. Everyone really stepped up and proved that we are a high caliber team."

Despite having to change the shocks, and having a very limited time to re-align the car, Park Place drivers, Johnson, Chris Bingham and Oliver Gavin were still able to turn competitive lap times throughout the event. Gavin turned the second-fastest GTS lap time of the race with a 1:19.7.

With surprisingly few problems, and just a few unscheduled pit stops, the car held together with significant amounts or duct tape, a wrench, several hose clamps and a ratchet strap.

Eight hours later when the checkered flag dropped, the battered #05 machine rolled across the finish line, outlasting a factory Corvette, two Vipers and a Ferrari.

Although not the exact finish they were hoping for coming into the weekend, Bingham was thrilled with the efforts of the team.

"That was the best fourth place finish I have ever received," Bingham said after the race. "Despite the rough weekend, the team kept their spirits up and came out and did what they needed to do. Under the circumstances, I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome."

The Park Place Racing team will head to Daytona International Speedway for the Grand American Rolex Series season finale November 3.  By completing only one lap under green, Bingham will clinch the Grand-Am GTS Driver Championship.