After posting a team high P2 qualifying time, Guy Cosmo found his No. 02 Extreme Speed Motorsports Patrón Ferrari 458GT stuck in a traffic jam during the opening laps of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. It would be the beginning of a long afternoon that saw Cosmo and co-driver Ed Brown finishing in 8th.
In Friday's qualifying, Guy literally tore the track up. Cosmo scored the team’s best qualifying position of the 2012 season, putting the No. 02 Tequila Patrón Ferrari on the GT outside front row.
“It was great," said Cosmo after his run. "I really didn’t think we were going do too well in qualifying because we were struggling a little bit with the setup all throughout practice. We showed signs of being relatively quick but we just had some issues with the car that we weren’t able to dial out."
“As always, our engineer Jim Malicki, was stellar," added Guy. "We made a change just before qualifying, right after that last practice. We made some improvements, but that was about all we had. That was 100% trying to go as fast as we could. Fortunately it netted us a solid qualifying position."
Unfortunately, come race day, Cosmo's front row seat turned out to be a hinderance. Though theLMPC cars qualify faster than the GT class, it takes them much longer to get heat into their spec tires, making them extremely ill handling in the opening laps. This means the GT cars are jammed up behind them creating a high speed bottle neck.
“At the drop of the green flag," said Guy, "I wanted to get to the front and set the pace of the GT field. On the first lap there is always plenty of traffic and all the drivers are fighting for position. In addition to battling my GT competitors, the LMPC-class cars were right in front of us causing a bottle-neck. I tried every which way I could to not hit everything in front of me, but was definitely unsuccessful and wound up running into the back of a few cars. There was a lot of contact. Then one of the PC cars turned down on me when I was trying to get inside of him going into turn nine and it spun him around and we kind of T-boned. He came to a stop and everyone passed me. I went from first to last."
“It's a shame because we had a great car," said Cosmo. "We were really quick, though the damage from that first lap ruined our aerodynamics a bit. The handling balance was a little off ...but I was able to charge right back through the field and catch-up. The damage hurt us for the long run because it was wearing on the Michelins a little more than we had hoped."
With the opening laps out of the way, Guy went to work showing again the No. 02 Tequila Patrón Ferrari was quick. True to form, Cosmo charged back through the pack. His first stint ending in a solid run. Unfortunately, when the team pitted for Guy's second stint, IMSA served the team with a penalty for speeding in pit lane. Guy had to serve the penalty once he got back in. The team was now two laps down with nowhere to go.
“Our race strategy was good," Guy concluded, "but with how the race went, it didn’t work in our favor. Ed did a great job getting down to his best lap times, unfortunately we had a combination of things that happened… it wasn’t our best day.”
Extreme Speed Motorsports' next event is the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón Road America Road Race Showcase at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on Saturday, August 18.
2012 Subaru Tour De Road America - Bike Ride To Fight Cancer
Having recently discovered a passion for cycling, Cosmo will again participate in the 2012 Subaru Tour de Road America - Bike Ride to Fight Cancer.
The Tour de Road America takes place each year in August during the American Le Mans Series race weekend at one of America's greatest race tracks - Road America, in Elkhart Lake, WI. It supportsLIVESTRONG, the Austin Hatcher Foundation, the Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic and the millions of people whose lives are affected by cancer.
In 2011, Cosmo raised over $4000.00. Guy's goal for 2012 is to raise over $5,000.00 through the support of friends, family and fans. A donation of just $10.00 per person can add up quickly. Supporters have until Friday, August 17th to share and support Guy! Donate on line at LIVESTRONG
Guy Cosmo, 2005 American Le Mans Series Rookie of the Year drives the No. 02 Extreme Speed Motorsports Patrón Ferrari. Cosmo is a race record-holder at Mid-Ohio (for fastest lap in the GTCseries, which he set in 2009 in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup). Cosmo has 38 starts in the American Le Mans Series, finishing in the top-five 18 times and has been on the winner’s podium twice. In addition to being an accomplished driver, Cosmo is also a highly sought-after driving instructor. You can find out more about Guy Cosmo at http://www.guycosmo.com or follow Guy through the racing weekend on Twitter @guycosmo and on Facebook.
The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is the world`s leading sports car championship and is recognized as the Global Leader in Green Racing. In the tradition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, multiple classes of cars - purpose-built prototypes and production-based Grand Touring automobiles - race on the track at the same time to create compelling race action and constant passing. All cars in the Series compete using one of five approved alternative fuels or energy sources: clean sulfur-free diesel, cellulosic E85 or E10, Isobutanol and electric hybrid technologies. The Series has more automobile marques involved than any other major race series in the world as manufacturers develop relevant technologies on track that transfer directly to the customer showroom. The ALMS competes at North America`s premier road racing tracks and selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets.