In addition to his scheduled driving duties in the KONI Challenge Series Fountain Motorsports #127 BMW 330i, Guy Cosmo will join Doug Goad and Marc-Antoine Camirand in the brand new Fabcar/Porsche Daytona Prototype for Spirit of Daytona. Cosmo is in Salt Lake City this week for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve season finale at Miller Motorsports Park.
Spirit of Daytona team will contest the September 15th endurance race at Miller Motorsports Park with a Fabcar chassis fitted with a new Lozano Brothers-prepared, Porsche-based 5.0-liter V-8 engine.
The Fabcar chassis (No. 002) was among the first Daytona Prototypes to hit the track when the category debuted in 2003 and was driven to three wins - including the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen - as the No. 58 Red Bull/Brumos Porsche entry. Now updated to the latest Fabcar bodywork designs, the Spirit of Daytona Porsche-based V-8 Fabcar represents both the past success and the state-of-the-art future of the competitive Daytona Prototype category.
"I'm very excited about the debut of this 5.0-liter Daytona Prototype combination with Spirit of Daytona," Cosmo said. "This new motor has all the potential to run at the front of the pack. The revised Fabcar chassis has been a pleasure to drive as well, and is a great improvement from the original Fabcar chassis I drove in 2003. Dave Klym was the first to build a Daytona Prototype and I'm looking forward to getting his chassis back on the podium like we did together a number of times in '03."
"For me personally, this program is very exciting. I really enjoy development programs and this chassis/engine combination adds to the list of Daytona Prototype experience I've got, because I've driven just about everything out there, and now I'm one up on the rest of the field," Cosmo continued. "Working with Troy and Michelle Flis and the Spirit of Daytona crew was a pleasure last season for the limited schedule we ran with Bobby Labonte, and I'm glad to be back with such a nice group of people. Troy has assembled a strong and talented group of people to work on this Porsche-based V-8 Fabcar combination and I'm looking to show what it's capable of doing."”
Over the past few seasons, Cosmo has brought his talent and services to several of the top-tier prototype teams in the Grand American paddock. In 2006 Cosmo joined up with Finlay Motorsports filling in for an injured Memo Gidley in the #19 Playboy Uniden car. He was also instrumental in giving the Spirit of Daytona car it’s best run ever at Watkins Glen. And, of course there was the popular 2nd place finish garnered by Guy, Memo and Michael McDowell at Utah to close out the season.
The SunChaser 1000k will air live on SPEED in two segments on Saturday, September 15. The first part begins at 1 p.m. ET while the second segment starts at 5:30 p.m. ET and will go to the race's finish.
Csomo will also be driving the No. 127 Fountain Motorsports BMW with VJ Mirzayan this week.
“I’m looking forward to working with VJ,” noted Guy. “we’ve developed a good rapport with each other and he really knows the BMWs well.”
After a couple of tough races, the Fountain Motorsports team finds themselves mathematically out of the chase for the KONI Challenge championship.
“We’ve had a darn good season, all-in-all,” said Cosmo. “We surprised a lot of people and the team has learned a lot. Not only about the car and the KONI Challenge competitors, but also about themselves. I think you’ll see this team back with a vengeance in 2008. For us drivers, though, the pressures off... so our focus will be on getting this car to the front. Between here and VIR, we’d like to pick up a win. The team definitely deserves it.”
The KONI Challenge Series Race is 200 miles or 2.5 hours and will run Friday, September 14th from 3 - 5:30pm.
Guy Cosmo's extensive background with open-wheel formula cars and sports prototypes has earned him a reputation as one of the most successful and versatile young racing drivers in North America. The 2005 American Le Mans Series Rookie of the Year ranks among the top-level road racers in the world. He has earned overall racing titles and major successes in many disciplines including karting, Formula Ford, Formula 2000, Star Mazda, Toyota Atlantic, Grand American and American Le Mans. You can learn more about Guy Cosmo at www.guycosmo.com.
The Grand American Road Racing Association, which operates and sanctions the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve and the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, is the premier road racing organization in North America. The 15-race 2007 Rolex Series schedule and the 12-race KONI Challenge Series calendar will deliver professional sports car racing to key markets throughout North America. All 2007 Rolex Series events will be televised in the United States and Canada on SPEED and distributed globally through ESPN International. With title sponsorship support from Rolex Watch USA and presenting sponsorship from Crown Royal Special Reserve, the Rolex Series showcases emerging and legendary drivers from around the globe and thoroughbred racing machines from the industry's leading constructors and the world's top automobile manufacturers. Learn more about Grand-Am at www.grand-am.com.
The American Le Mans Series is the premium brand of motorsport in North America, featuring high-tech sports cars from the most prestigious automobile manufacturers in the world. Its unique four classes of competition showcase exotic, open-top prototypes and sophisticated production-based GT cars, all competing on the track at the same time. The American Le Mans Series competes at the premier road racing tracks across North America and at selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets. With a 2007 television package that includes five network broadcasts on CBS and NBC and seven telecasts on SPEED, plus live broadcasts across Europe, the Series delivers a global marketing platform that is unmatched in motorsports. The Series, founded in 1999 by Georgia entrepreneur Don Panoz, represents a mirror image to the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s most famous and authentic automobile race. The American Le Mans Series features elite marques such as Audi, Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Panoz, and premium brands such as Michelin, Yokohama, Kumho, Lowe’s, Shell and many others.