;)
An abbreviated docu-drama of the Mid-Ohio race will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 15 on CBS Sports.
After chasing the set-up earlier in the week, Cosmo turned in a solid qualifying lap to put the car 6th on the GT starting grid. On race day, Guy took the wheel for the opening stint. Changing things up a bit, the team decided to have Ed Brown finish up the race. Ed did a great job getting up to speed while dealing with cold tires and late-race traffic. Then with just a half hour remaining in the race, Brown suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a punt from No.61 Risi Competizione Ferrari. The avoidable, if not blatant contact, put the No. 02 car in the outside wall at turn 9 and ultimately out of the race.
"Well, another interesting weekend for Ed and I in the No. 02 car," laughed a frustrated Cosmo. "We struggled a bit with our setup early in the weekend, but got things sorted pretty well by qualifying. I got a good lap in late in the session and was able to qualify 6th on the grid. We were pleased with that."
"We made a decision to change things up a bit this weekend," added Cosmo. "We decided let Ed finish the race in order for him to gain more experience. So I climbed in for the opening stint."
"It was a blast running nose to tail with everyone at the start," said the ALMS 2005 Rookie of the Year. "We were fairly deep into the race before the first full-course caution, so my time in the car was full of intense battles and flat-out lapping. It was great. Driving the ESM Patrón Ferrari around Mid-Ohio under those conditions, in this series, with this team and sponsor - it was perfect."
"Ed hopped in and did a great job," said Cosmo. "He consistently turned his quickest laps of the weekend. He was very impressive. Unfortunately with about 30 minutes to go, former F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella shoved him off track and into a wall. It was extremely disappointing to see a driver of Fisichella's caliber make such a bullish maneuver on the track while passing a lapped car. And even more so considering he's a fellow Ferrari driver."
"Despite all of our troubles," noted Cosmo, "before I got out of the car, I had a great battle with 'the boss', Scott Sharp. That was fun. Scott & Johannes went on to take a 5th place finish in the No. 01 car so it was a great weekend for the team as a whole. We'll be in top-form at the next race at Road America. I can't wait!"
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. Cosmo is a race record-holder at Mid-Ohio (for fastest lap in the GTC series, which he set in 2009 in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup). 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.
The ESM Ferraris are running on cellulosic E85R biofuel. The switch to alternative fuels not only helps the performance of the cars, its also in line with the American Le Mans Series global leadership of Green Racing.
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.
The next round of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is the American Le Mans Series powered by eStar. The seventh round of the 2010 championship is set for 2:05 p.m. CT on Sunday, August 22. SPEED will air the race live at 3 p.m. ET with live radio coverage 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. Americanlemans.com will stream Friday’s qualifying session starting at 3:10 p.m. CT. 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.