Sebring, Fla. (17 March 2017) – Round 2 of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge proved a mixed bag for TeamTGM. The familiar duo of Ted Giovanis and Guy Cosmo arrived at the oldest road course in North America prepared to post a positive result, but a bout of bad luck resigned them to a 13th place result.
Having had several tests at the Florida-circuit ahead of the weekend, TeamTGM had high hopes of a positive result with the team’s No. 4 Porsche Cayman Camp Boggy Creek / JKTG Foundation Porsche Cayman GT4 MR.
Giovanis took the green flag on Friday afternoon for the two hour sprint from 14th on the grid and did so with confidence - having bested his quickest lap time ever around the 2.74-mile track as he showed remarkable progress throughout the Sebring event.
“The car felt really good during my opening stint,” offered Giovanis following the race. “My goal was just to have a nice clean run so that we would be in good position for when Guy (Cosmo) took over. I had fun and it felt good. I was glad to keep improving my lap times throughout the weekend and showing progress as a team.”
Following the first caution period of the race, Cosmo took control of the quick Porsche, setting up what looked to be a flying outlap. Unfortunately a penalty called for an improper wave around under the yellow saw Cosmo return to the pit lane which halted his forward march.
Not to be discouraged, the IMSA veteran returned to the track and quickly began posting lap times faster than the race leaders. But the luck of the Irish made no appearance for the Atlanta-based team on the St. Patrick’s Day race as Cosmo called in an issue with the car and the team made the decision to retire early.
“I turned in and the steering wheel froze and I felt like I had lock up,” said Cosmo. “Once I was able to steer through that and continue down the back straight, the car was kind of wobbling and there was a vibration. We’re not exactly sure what happened – whether it was a steering issue or something in the rear of the car – but we decided just to pull the car in and not to risk anything. It’s disappointing because we felt really strong coming into this event and we were really prepared for a good run. Unfortunately sometimes these things happen, and we’ll look to come back stronger at COTA.”
TeamTGM now looks to make the most of a break between races before heading back into action at Circuit of the Americas outside of Austin, Texas on May 4-6.
