Riviera Beach, Fla., – In late 2014, Tequila Patrón ESM submitted two full-season entrant applications for the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC). Today the team received confirmation that it will compete in the eight-race FIA WEC season which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The team will field two Honda Performance Development (HPD) ARX-04b coupe prototypes with continued sponsorship from Tequila Patrón. The 2015 FIA WEC schedule spans the globe and includes Tequila Patrón ESM’s debut in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans and the six-hour races at circuits in England, Belgium, Germany, Japan, China, Bahrain and the United States round in Austin, Texas.

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Houston, Texas - Following their 2014 Pirelli World Challenge GT-A Championship win, EFFORT Racing has announced an expansion for their racing program with Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) for 2015. In addition to an entry in the GT class, the team has joined forces with PMNA to create a new means to develop up-and-coming sports car drivers: The Porsche Motorsport North America Young Driver Program. 

The program will combine the endeavors of PMNA and EFFORT Racing to provide young racers from the Porsche Young Drivers Academy and the Porsche/IMSA Driver Scholarship with the opportunity to race in Pirelli World Challenge's GT Amateur class. EFFORT Racing will enter a season long entry in GT-A, utilizing the Porsche 911 GT3.

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Gains made with new HPD coupe 

Daytona Beach, Fla. – Tequila Patrón ESM might have exited the 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona earlier than expected, but the team is leaving with confidence in the new Honda Performance Development (HPD) ARX-04b coupes. Despite two DNFs on the official results, the team has more experience with the new cars that can be used as preparation for the next race at Sebring International Raceway in March.

The No. 1 Tequila Patrón HPD of Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel and David Heinemeier Hansson started from the 16th position. Since the team did not participate in qualifying on Thursday, the IMSA rule book states the team must start at the end of the Prototype and Prototype Challenge categories. The No. 1 suffered an issue in the bell housing during Thursday’s morning practice that prevented it from participating in qualifying.

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No. 2 qualifies 12th; No. 1 to return to track on Friday

Daytona Beach, Fla., Jan. 22, 2015 – Tequila Patrón ESM continues to improve and develop the all-new Honda Performance Development (HPD) ARX-04b coupes. The team is one step closer to the season opening TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, following today’s practice sessions and qualifying.

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Seeks win at opening round of Tequila Patrón North American Endurance

Riviera Beach, Fla., – Tequila Patrón ESM begins a new motorsports chapter this weekend. Set to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) and the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup races of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, Tequila Patrón ESM kicks off its 2015 season in its home state during the 53rd Annual Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Tequila Patrón ESM is headquartered approximately three hours south of the famed Daytona International Speedway. The twice-around-the-clock endurance race is the season-opening TUDOR Championship event and opening round of the four-race Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. 

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The Florida-based DragonSpeed team today confirmed details of its plans to contest the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series (BES) – becoming the first US team to join the world’s premier GT3 endurance championship – alongside its four-car Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) effort in North America.

The five-race BES (organizer SRO also runs a seven-round sprint championship) will visit the current or former F1 circuits at Monza (3h), Silverstone (3h), Paul Ricard (1000km), Spa Francorchamps (24h), and Nürburgring (3h). The team will operate from a state-of-the-art facility in Switzerland at the Octane 126 Ferrari sales and service center near Zürich airport.

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Riviera Beach, Fla., Dec. 14, 2014 – Tequila Patrón ESM attacked the 2015 sports car racing season today by running the all-new Honda Performance Development ARX-04b Honda prototype coupe for the first time. Tequila Patrón ESM principal Scott Sharp was first inside the enclosed cockpit racing machine.

“This HPD coupe is very exciting for us, there has been so much anticipation building up to our first laps,” said Sharp. “Huge thanks to the entire Tequila Patrón ESM team, HPD and Wirth for their efforts in getting the coupe delivered, built and on-track today. We’ve spent many months getting to this point – our hard-working crew, the HPD engineering team and Wirth have been non-stop these last few weeks. They’ve made huge gains on the car, in addition to the logistics and behind the scenes planning. This has been a long process, but we’re super excited about today, tomorrow and the future.

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Shanghai, China – Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) and Tequila Patrón earned its second consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) podium. On Sunday afternoon in China, the No. 30 Tequila Patrón Honda Performance Development ARX-03b (HPD) team of Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel and Ricardo Gonzalez finished second in the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Shanghai.

In its two FIA WEC races, ESM earned two podium finishes. In September, Sharp, Dalziel and Ed Brown finished third at the FIA WEC race at Austin, Texas’ Circuit of The Americas. The FIA WEC 6 Hours of Shanghai marked ESM’s final race in the HPD ARX-03b prototypes. In May, ESM purchased two HPD ARX-04b coupe prototypes to be used in 2015.

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Shanghai, China – In its first overseas FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) qualifying session, Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) averaged the fifth and sixth quickest times in the LMP2 class. As a result, ESM will start fifth and sixth in Sunday’s 6 Hours of Shanghai race.

Per the FIA WEC rules, the two best lap times from each team’s qualifying drivers are averaged together in order to determine the starting position.

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Two-car, Honda-powered effort from lone American LMP2 team     

STUART, Fla., – October 27, 2014 – Six weeks after earning its first podium finish in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC), Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) with two Tequila Patrón-sponsored Honda Performance Development ARX-03b (HPD) prototypes, six world-class drivers and a crew of 30 set sail for China to add another item to the team’s history book: compete in the 6 Hours of Shanghai.

In February 2013, the Tequila Patrón-sponsored ESM entered two Le Mans style-prototype racing machines (LMP2) for the final season of what was the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), en route to a runner-up position in the championship standings.

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Austin, Texas – Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) battled the world, the elements and the competition tonight during its debut race in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) – the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas. In the end, ESM earned its first podium finish in FIA WEC competition. The Tequila Patrón-sponsored team finished third in the LMP2 class and 10th overall.

Scott Sharp, Ed Brown and Ryan Dalziel – co-drivers of the No. 30 Tequila Patrón Honda Performance Development ARX-03b (HPD) – were thrown a plethora of new challenges during their maiden FIA WEC race and podium result. Despite the challenges, the team posted some of the quickest laps of the LMP2 class and led the class at three different segments of the race.

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Two-car team makes overseas debut in November

AUSTIN, Texas –  Following its debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) this weekend, Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) sets its sights on another round of FIA WEC competition by entering the 6 Hours of Shanghai.

The Florida-based team has entered both its Tequila Patrón-sponsored Honda Performance Development ARX-03b (HPD) prototypes in the LMP2 class for the Nov. 2 race at China’s Shanghai International Circuit. In order to prepare both Tequila Patrón-sponsored HPDs to meet FIA WEC regulations, Extreme Speed Motorsports will not compete in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s season finale – Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October.

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Austin, TX –  In its debut FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) qualifying session, Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) averaged the third quickest time in the LMP2 class. As a result, ESM will start third in Saturday’s 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas race.

Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel qualified the No. 30 Tequila Patrón Honda Performance Development ARX-03b. Per the FIA WEC rules, the two best lap times from each team’s qualifying drivers are averaged together in order to determine the starting position. Sharp’s best lap was 1:57.828. Dalziel’s best lap was 1:56.388.

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Sharp, Brown and Dalziel Piloting No. 30 in LMP2 class  

STUART, Fla., – Six weeks ago, Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) announced its intent to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC). In the last six weeks, the Florida-based team has been unstoppable in preparing the Tequila Patrón-sponsored Honda Performance Development (HPD) ARX-03b for its debut in the FIA WEC.

The transformation is now complete. This week Extreme Speed Motorsports heads to Austin, Texas, and the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas as part of the Lone Star Le Mans weekend on September 18-20.

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Third-place finish for Sharp and Dalziel at Road America;
Eighth for Brown and van Overbeek    

Elkhart Lake, Wisc., –  Extreme Speed Motorsports’ Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel returned to the podium with a third-place finish during today’s TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race – the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America.

Despite crisp, clean and error-free pit stops and properly executed race strategies, the six restarts on Sunday afternoon plagued the No. 1 and No. 2 Tequila Patrón Honda Performance Development ARX-03b (HPD) entries and its quest for a double-podium finish.

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Last-lap flyer by Dalziel Earns Second Consecutive Pole for ESM  

Elkhart Lake, Wisc., - Aug. 9, 2014 – Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) earned its second consecutive pole position in TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series today. Ryan Dalziel, co-driver of the No. 1 Tequila Patrón Honda Performance Development ARX-03b (HPD), saved the best lap for last at Road America. With seconds to spare in the 15-minute session, the Scotsman vaulted to the top of the charts with a lap of 1:55.166 (126.537 mph), nearly eight-tenths quicker than the second-place qualifier.

This marks the third pole position from ESM in 2014: Johannes van Overbeek earned the pole during the May race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In the last round at Indianapolis, it was an all-ESM, all-Tequila Patrón front row with Dalziel starting first and van Overbeek second.

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Sharp, Brown and Dalziel to co-drive No. 1 entry in WEC; Brown and van Overbeek No. 2 in IMSA entrant  

Elkhart Lake, Wisc., – First IMSA, then the World.  Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) will take on some of the world’s best racers in next month’s FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) round at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Tex.

During the Lone Star Le Mans weekend – Sept. 19 and 20 – the Florida-based team will compete in both the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race and the FIA WEC Six Hours of Circuit of The Americas.

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Iconic American track a favorite of ESM drivers  

STUART, Fla. – Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) raced to podium finishes at the 2012 and 2013 American Le Mans Series races held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This year, the team looks to conquer The Kink and ride The Carousel all the way to the podium during Sunday’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, the ninth round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Road America, situated halfway between Milwaukee and Green Bay, is the longest circuit on the TUDOR Championship calendar. The 4.048-mile, 14-turn permanent road course is a favorite of race car drivers, teams and road racing fans alike. One year ago, the ALMS and GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series teams shared the paddock. This year the teams will share both the paddock and the race circuit vying for the title of event champion in the first-year unified championship.

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(photo provided by world-challenge.com)

Mid-Ohio:  EFFORT Racing welcomed to the team, Ryan Dalziel for the first time and back to the Pirelli World Challenge.  With teamwork and precision set-up of the cars by the crew, testing and Qualifying proved strong for both Ryan and Michael Mills.

Race 1 was very good for EFFORT with Michael in the battle with Albert von Thurn und Taxis for the lead in GT-A.  Michael made a move before the rain stopped the race, to take the win in GT-A.  Ryan quickly moved to second and was holding on, creating a gap between him and third- place Johnny O Connell.  Ryan and Mike Skeen, in the Audi R8, were in the battle for first until right before the race was called due to the heavy rain. Because of the timing of Mike Skeen’s decision to put on rain tires, and the timing of the red flag coming out, this ultimately gave Ryan the win. 

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INDIANAPOLIS – Following a promising start to the weekend as the two fastest cars in opening practice and sweeping the front row in qualifying, Extreme Speed Motorsports’ (ESM) Brickyard Grand Prix proved to be challenging. With less than 10 laps to go, both Tequila Patrón-sponsored Honda Performance Development ARX-03b (HPD) pitted for a splash of fuel to reach the scheduled race distance. In the end, the ESM machines finished fifth and seventh.

In its Indianapolis Motor Speedway debut, ESM earned its first front row sweep in TUDOR United SportsCar Championship competition, appropriately on National Patrón Tequila Day. The team was confident it had exorcised the mechanical and electrical gremlins that arose in the two previous rounds of the TUDOR Championship. The front row start was a step in the right direction.

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