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(Daytona Beach, FL) 2 January 09—As a new year dawns, one racer is charged up to take on what’s next as Guy Cosmo looks ahead to the upcoming Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season.
Cosmo will be in action this weekend as the Rolex racers take to the track for Daytona’s “Roar Before the 24” to get warmed up for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, which will take the green flag at 3:30 PM ET on January 24. Cosmo has been confirmed as part of the Spirit of Daytona Racing entry for the 47th running of the endurance classic, although his role with the team will see Cosmo putting a different side of his skill set to use once the race starts.
Entered along with a triumvirate of motorcycle champions, Cosmo will be behind the wheel during the test days and leading up to the 24 to help with set-up decisions on the unique Porsche V-8 powered Coyote with fellow Sprit of Daytona Racing drivers Scott Russell, Jason Pridmore, and Jeff Ward as the three motorcycle champs share the behind the wheel duties for the Rolex 24.
While Cosmo will miss being a part of the driving squad for the 24-hour challenge, he sees the situation that will see him coaching and spotting for the 24 as an important element of his opportunity to continue his involvement with Spirit of Daytona Racing and the development of the Porsche V-8 powered Coyote.
“The relationship I have with Troy (Flis, Spirit of Daytona Racing team owner) is great and being loyal to this program is something that’s really important to me,” said Cosmo. “That’s key to me as a person at the track, or away from it. And the chance to develop a completely different package is one that you just don’t get that often in your career so I’m looking forward to what we can accomplish at Daytona and then taking those lessons and continuing to move forward through the season.”
The team is expected to confirm in the coming weeks a 2009 Rolex Sports Car Series program that will see the No. 09 Porsche V8-Coyote in action through a limited schedule of races. Cosmo will be leaned on as the lead driver to not only work with his co-driver to get the most out of the car, but to also keep pushing the potential for the package with Spirit of Daytona engineers and crew.
“It’s rewarding as a driver to be part of that process and it’s also its own challenge to stand out as a racer in this kind of situation,” said Cosmo, who scored two top-six qualifying results with the machine in 2008. “We showed last year that this Coyote Porsche V-8 has some real potential, and I’m excited to turn that potential into performance and results.”
While the checkered flag from the KONI Challenge 6-Hour at VIR seems like it was ages ago, the pace hasn’t slowed one bit for Cosmo in the meantime. In addition to his work with the team focusing on the continued development of the Porsche V8-Coyote package, Spirit of Daytona Racing has also engaged Cosmo as a coach and set-up consultant as the team prepares the motorcycle champions with some limited testing in the off season.
The role of coach is not a new one for Cosmo, who has also used the brief off-season to continue to develop his Cosmo-Sport enterprise. Cosmo-Sport manages track events as well as retail and driver development programs, and has continued to grow during the fall and winter months.
For additional information, please visit:
www.guycosmo.com
www.cosmo-sport.com
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Contact: Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media@sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975 (m)