Guy Cosmo will complete the remainder of the Asian Le Mans Series season with Rick Ware Racing after receiving the call-up to race at The Bend Motorsport Park.
The American has been drafted in as part of an additional LMP2 Am entry after the team entered a second Ligier JS P2 Nissan for Round 2 in South Australia.
Cosmo, who shares the No. 25 car with Philippe Mulacek and Anthony Lazzaro, returns to the the series as the 2017-18 LMP3 class champion and podium finisher with United Autosports in LMP2 Am last season.
“That is the plan, that we will run this car for the remainder of the season and maintain this lineup,” Cosmo told Sportscar365.
Cosmo will finish out the 2019-20 season with races at Sepang and Buriram, both tracks that he has raced at in previous seasons.
“I’m so excited,” he said. “Originally racing in Asia is something I never thought I would do with my career and to be able to now have had three years in a row to race in the series is really, really enjoyable for me.
“I love the circuits, I love the travel, I love the format. This is exactly like the European Le Mans Series which is a series I’ve always wanted to race in.
“This is one of the happier things I’ve ever done with my career, and we have a great program so I’m excited to get back to racing.”
Cosmo spent Thursday completing a seat fitting and acclimatizing himself with the Eurointernational-run squad ahead of his first weekend with the team.
He explained that he “looked at some options to race in Asia” this season but decided to focus more on racing in the U.S. for marketing reasons.
Cosmo was confirmed Thursday as part of K-PAX Racing’s lineup for GT World Challenge America, alongside his longtime co-driver Patrick Byrne.
However, when the opportunity for a drive came about last minute with RWR’s second car, Cosmo said he was recommended for the seat.
“Today is my first day with them [Rick Ware Racing]; I’ve known Antonio [Ferrari, team manager] for a very long time very casually dating back to when he was running an Indy Lights team in North America,” explained Cosmo.
“That was when I first started my open-wheel career so to be here now and see the personnel he has; I know the caliber of program he’s been able to put together and I’m also very familiar with a lot of the Ligier guys that are here.
“I’m really excited; I know we’re in very good hands; I know how the car is going to drive having raced it last year and worked with Bruno, my engineer.
“I couldn’t be happier for such a last-minute situation, this is going to be a very good program.”
On-track action begins on Friday with private testing and Free Practice, with qualifying on Saturday and the four-hour race on Sunday.
Slade Perrins is an Australian-based junior reporter for Sportscar365. Perrins won the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars 'Young Gun Award' for journalism for his work with speedcafe.com.
Original story on Sportscar365.com: https://sportscar365.com/lemans/asian-lms/cosmo-planning-to-finish-out-season-with-rwr/