;)
“Winning the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge in just the fourth race for our team was a pleasant surprise,” said co-driver Guy Cosmo. “The MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge is a great program, and it is a tremendous honor for Ed Brown, me and for the entire Extreme Speed Motorsports team to receive it for this race.”
Designed to accelerate the development path to market for innovative technologies, fuels, and energy sources through motorsports competition, the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge has become the premier environmental award in motorsports competition worldwide by recognizing cars that go farthest, fastest, with the smallest environmental impact. Two awards, one for Prototypes and one for GT are presented at each American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón event.
While winning the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge for the GT category is an honor, Cosmo and Brown really had their hearts set on making it to the podium steps of victory circle. The track and challenging conditions at Miller Motorsports Park had other ideas.
"This was a character building week," laughed Cosmo. "I think every member of the team got a real taste of what this series is all about. Not that we ever thought it would be easy, but we've really been enjoying small successes making progress each and every time we take to the track. We've been fast. We've improved. We've continuously been able to make the march forward. This week, it felt like everything we did was wrong. It was brutal."
Qualifying was the first blow to the #02 teams efforts as they came up six spots back from their Extreme Speed teammates in the #01 Ferrari who had taken the outside pole.
"We were really happy for Johannes (van Overbeek) and the #01 team," said Cosmo. "They did a great job. But by the same token, we were really disappointed in our own efforts. We simply missed getting the right setup."
The team's luck didn't get much better, although the #02 crew was able to improve the cars handling considerably by race time. Given the rough week they had, the solid 8th place finish in class is an indication of the team's fortitude and willingness to fight back.
"The positive part of the week is how we handled adversity," noted Cosmo. "We stuck with it. Everyone stayed focused, didn't get down and we came away from the week with our heads held high. We raced hard and we never quit."
"The reality," continued Guy, "is this is the American Le Mans Series. This is World Class sports car racing and we're up against the best. We're a new team with four races under our belt. We didn't sign on for an easy challenge. We signed on to race against the top GT teams in the World. Our week in Utah served as a reminder of the job at hand and just how tough a job it is. I have a lot of faith in our guys and the entire Extreme Speed team. We'll get there."
Next up is The American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix, the fifth round of the 2010 season. The two-hour, 45-minute race is set for 2:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 24 from Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. SPEED will air the race live at 2 p.m. ET. Live radio coverage will be available on American Le Mans Radio presented by Porsche – a production of Radio Show Limited – as well as Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 242. Visit the Series’ schedule page for ticket and accommodation information. Live Timing and Scoring, track schedule, entry list and much, much more will be available on Racehub at americanlemans.com.
Guy Cosmo, 2005 American Le Mans Series Rookie of the Year and also a former ORBIT Racing driver, competed last season in the No. 47 Porsche 911 GT3. He finished the season 3rd in the Challenge class championship qualifying on the pole three times. Cosmo has 19 starts in the American Le Mans Series, finishing in the top-five 17 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. Find out more about Guy Cosmo at http://www.guycosmo.com and follow Guy through the racing weekend on Twitter @guycosmo.
Extreme Speed Motorsports is sponsored by Tequila Patrón, along with support from Ferrari Corse Clienti and the team’s official tire technical partner Michelin. Patrón, a longtime supporter of motorsports racing, is the presenting sponsor of the full American Le Mans Series.