The Grand American Road Racing Association’s Rolex Series presented a full 10 hours of wheel-to-wheel racing last weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Guy Cosmo contributed to the excitement driving the #77 Doran Racing Kodak Daytona Prototype in Saturday’s Rolex Series event and the #127 Fountain Motorsports BMW in Sunday’s KONI Challenge ST race.
The first job at hand for Cosmo was doing battle with a field of highly competitive Daytona Prototypes in Saturday’s feature race.
"What a joy it is to race these prototypes on a great track like Mid-Ohio," exclaimed Cosmo. "We were pretty far off when we rolled the #77 Doran Racing Kodak Daytona Prototype off the trailer but managed to turn it around by race time. We worked hard throughout practice and even the morning warmup on race day trying to come up with a competitive setup on the car.”
The 2 1/2 hour race was filled with promise for the duo of Cosmo and [Memo] Gidley until they were bit by a flat tire.
“We had a strong run going,” noted Guy. “Memo was running solid in 8th place during his whole stint until we had a tire go down. He did a great job keeping the car on track and getting it back the pits, but we lost a lap in the process.”
“I got in the car with about 50 minutes remaining,” said Guy. “I was basically in cruise mode. We were a lap down to the next car for position, and about 30 seconds ahead of the trailing car behind us. So I just pounded out consistent laps and brought it home for a 13th place finish. It was too bad, about the flat tire though, I thought we really had a better car than that."
Sunday’s task for Guy was no stroll in the park either. Though once again, the Fountain Motorsports team dug in and came through with their typical refuse-to-lose attitude, Cosmo wrestled the car from the back of the pack to a 4th place finish.
"What a disaster that race was," said a frustrated Cosmo. "I'm not sure what was in the air this weekend, but that was some of the most unprofessional driving I've seen from our competitors. Drivers were crashing into each other everywhere. The blocking, chopping, hitting - it was insane, and down-right embarrassing for a group of racers who are supposed to be professionals.”
But all is well that ends well. After venting is frustration, Cosmo went on to describe his race.
“Fortunately I managed to avoid the big accidents and keep our BMW 330i relatively unscathed,” said Cosmo in relief. “Once again, the Fountain Motorsports boys called good pit strategy and made sure I kept my cool during all the chaos. VJ [Mirzayan] did a great job at the start and handed me a solid car. It's a pleasure to have him back with the team for the next few races."
"Consistency was key for this race. We didn't have the outright speed to run up front, but everyone else started falling off-pace towards the end of the race and we kept running solid. Ultimately, I think we were one of the quickest cars at the end. If we had a few more laps, I think we would have been fighting for the win."
Next up the Daytona Prototypes cars will make their annual pilgrimage to the Daytona International Speedway for the Brumos 250, July 5, while the KONI Challenge crew will head to Watkins Glen for the July 6-7 weekend.
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 success 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 Special Reserve and the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, is the premier road racing organization in North America. The 15-race 2007 Rolex Series schedule and the 12-race KONI Challenge Series calendar will deliver professional sports car racing to key markets throughout North America. All 2007 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 Special Reserve, 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.