Photo by John Thawley DETROIT (10 January 2007) — Coming off a successful test session at last week's Grand American Series Roar Before The Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, Guy Cosmo is pleased to announce signing with the No. 09 Spirit of Daytona team. The team was out in full force last week putting the Porsche-powered FABCAR through its paces as the Rolex Sports Car Series kicked off the 2008 season with three days of testing.

The No. 09 Spirit of Daytona entry, a FABCAR chassis fitted with a new Lozano Brothers-prepared Porsche-based 5.0-liter V-8 engine, made its racing debut at the season-ending event at Miller Motorsports Park last September. The team used the race as a real-world test of nine hours of wheel-to-wheel competition and to prepare for the 2008 Rolex 24.

In addition to Cosmo, the team has signed Rolex Sports Car Series regular Marc-Antoine Camirand. For the Rolex 24, they will be joined by Rolex veteran Michael McDowell. This year's race is the 46th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Camirand and Cosmo promise to be a force to be reckoned with as both drivers participated in the team's 2007 outing at Miller and this most recent test for the Rolex 24. The team also participated in the Pirelli tire test at Daytona back in November.

“The Pirelli test in November was the first time we ran this car at Daytona, so now we have some data to use as our baseline and hopefully we can keep improving,” said Cosmo.  "The car kept getting faster every time we tried something new, and a lot of improvements were made since that test in November."

Cosmo and McDowell both won Star Mazda Championships working their way up to the Rolex Series. “ Rolling into the Rolex 24 with the continued development as well as with my great co-drivers, I feel we'll bring a very strong package against the competition.  This driver line up is a bit of a reunion to me, having raced go-karts with and against Marc-Antoine Camirand in our early racing days as well as the number of races I spent driving with Michael McDowell in 2006 with Finlay Motorsports.  It's great to have drivers you can totally trust when they're behind the wheel and know they're as fast as anyone out there.

Cosmo continues to be confident with the new car and the Spirit of Daytona program:

"I really feel we're on the right track and a lot of that is due to the team's determination," noted Cosmo. "Just look back at Miller. The No. 09 car did not miss a single lap of practice or qualifying. Because of that, the team was able to work with a variety of set-ups, continue to develop their data collection and gain familiarity with the package."

"Everyone at Spirit of Daytona Racing has the right mindset,” remarked Cosmo. "I'm really impressed with the Fabcar chassis and convinced it's capable of running at the front of this very competitive field. The Lozano Brother's Porsche-based V8 motor is rock-solid and has great potential. Certainly it's as reliable as they come and we keep gaining more and more power."

Cosmo and the Spirit of Daytona #09 Porsche/Fabcar are scheduled to run:

    Rolex 24 ~ January 26 - 27, 2008

    Homestead ~ March 29 - 29, 2008

    Watkins Glen 6hr. ~ June 7 - 7, 2008

    Daytona 250 ~ July 3 - 3, 2008

    Barber Motorsports Park ~ July 20 - 20, 2008

    Montreal ~     August 1 - 1, 2008

    Watkins 200 ~ August 8 - 8, 2008

The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 46th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona will be held January 25-27 at Daytona International Speedway.

Guy Cosmo's extensive background with open-wheel formula cars and sports prototypes has earned him a reputation as one of the most successful and versatile young racing drivers in North America. The 2005 American Le Mans Series Rookie of the Year ranks among the top-level road racers in the world. He has earned overall racing titles and major successes in many disciplines including karting, Formula Ford, Formula 2000, Star Mazda, Toyota Atlantic, Grand American and American Le Mans. You can learn more about Guy Cosmo at www.guycosmo.com.

The Grand American Road Racing Association, which operates and sanctions the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 and the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, is the premier road racing organization in North America. The 15-race 2008 Rolex Series schedule and the 12-race KONI Challenge Series calendar will deliver professional sports car racing to key markets throughout North America. All 2008 Rolex Series events will be televised in the United States and Canada on SPEED and distributed globally through ESPN International. With title sponsorship support from Rolex Watch USA and presenting sponsorship from Crown Royal Cask No. 16, the Rolex Series showcases emerging and legendary drivers from around the globe and thoroughbred racing machines from the industry's leading constructors and the world's top automobile manufacturers. Learn more about Grand-Am at www.grand-am.com.