Fastest lap of the race in his first-ever start on legendary circuit
Le Mans, France (19 June 2016) - You only get one chance to make a first impression, and American racer Guy Cosmo made the most of his this weekend at Le Mans. Driving in the “Road to Le Mans” event as the prelude to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Cosmo and United Autosport co-driver Mike Hedlund took a fifth place finish on Saturday.
Cosmo set a new LMP3 class track record on the final lap of the race as he charged home in the pursuit of a podium finish. The race meeting was the first time ever for Cosmo to drive on the 8.47-mile circuit, and the limited practice times were further limited by some wet weather and interrupted sessions early in the race week.
Hedlund opened the race from 14th on the grid and held station through most of his stint as Cosmo took the controls in 19th with just 25 minutes remaining in the race. Picking up speed and track position with every lap, Cosmo came up short for his bid for a dream podium result in his debut, but was still very happy to have etched his name as the LMP3 track record holder at Le Mans.
“I loved my first experience of racing at Le Mans and it was a great result – overall an incredible dream weekend,” said Cosmo. “The Ligier was fantastic. With each lap I was learning more and experimenting more with the circuit and at the very end I set the fastest lap of the weekend. That is so cool to be the track record holder in LMP3 on my first ever run here.”
The race marked what Cosmo hopes to be a first step forward towards the opportunity to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“It’s an amazing track, an amazing place, and I’m really grateful to have had this opportunity to make my first start at Le Mans, hopefully there are more to come!” said Cosmo. “I would love to come back and do some more with United Autosports. They are a truly fantastic organization and my entire experience with them was second to none. We’d had very limited running on Wednesday and Thursday so I didn’t get to qualify as well as we could have. But we were much better on race day, and the Ligier is a lot of fun to drive. Of course, racing here at Le Mans has been something very special. I can’t wait for an opportunity to come back.”
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Photos by Richard Dole.