When the green flag dropped on the American Le Mans Series presented by Patrón Baltimore Sports Car Challenge, the field was immediately thrown into a full course yellow due to a front running P1 car making contact with the turn one wall and blocking the track. As drivers attempted to unravel themselves from the traffic jam race positions were quickly thrown into a disarray. Ed Brown, driving the No. 02 Extreme Speed Motorsports Patrón Ferrari, though unaffected by the incident, spent the majority of his stint under the caution.
“I feel bad that Ed only drove a single lap under green," said Cosmo. "I got in 15 minutes into the race. With a two hour race, it was what we needed to do for the strategy."
The street race was as predicted - a street fight. Never really establishing a race-tempo, gaining any sort of track position required a wheel-to-wheel battle. Contact with another GT competitor did damage to the right side of the car and caused a flat tire. Cosmo was forced to pit after the incident. The stop took the team from 7th place to an 11th place finish.
“We were on the lead lap at the end and working our way towards a good finish," said Cosmo. "Unfortunately we were hit by another GT competitor and our day was affected… that’s how it is on street courses, which are always tight.”
Taking the day in stride, Cosmo was extremely pleased with his teams effort. Noting improvements and gains made throughout the weekend, Guy congratulated the team.
“The ESM Patrón Ferrari engineering team on the No. 02 car was improved since arriving Friday," acknowledged Cosmo. "The guys did a bunch of work to get us where we needed to be for the race. They made good changes and the Ferrari was certainly better that it had been yesterday and this morning. We were quick."
The next round of the ALMS championship is the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón VIR 240 from Virginia International Raceway. The four-hour race is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 15. ESPN2's broadcast begins at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 16. Full, live coverage starts at 2:15 p.m. ET on ESPN3.
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 GTC series, 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.