From Guy: Homestead, Part 4 - The End.

Photo: Grand-Am.comWelp - all I can say is, that stunk!

Yesterday's race at Homestead was an absolute MONSOON. It rained all morning and all through the race, including all day on Saturday, so the ground was so drenched that the water on the race track had nowhere to really go, and was flooding quite badly. But, it was the same for everyone, so whatever - let's race!

Since qualifying was canceled the day before we were gridded off of championship points, which meant Ed was starting in 15th position. Ed's mere few years of racing experience hadn't provided him with much racing in the rain to date, but he was certainly ready for the challenge. The race started under yellow conditions and when it finally went green, Ed held his own and drove really well. Unfortunately our strategy didn't pan out, as the race stayed green longer than we expected and Ed eventually got passed by the GT leaders and went down a lap. Of course, that happened just minutes before the full-course caution we were waiting for finally came out.

We're 45 minutes in, down a lap and in 19th position. Off to work I go. Conditions are treacherous! I came to grips with the rivers, puddles, streams and LAKES on track while under yellow, and once we went green started working my way forward. The Skies, however, kept DUMPING on us with torrential downpours, so each time the conditions got really bad, Grand-Am would go to a full-course caution and make us circulate behind the pace car. The objective was to wait for the rain to slow down a bit and let the standing water drain off enough to actually get under way again. But Mother Nature just wouldn't let up.

At this point some cars had pitted and I'm now sitting right behind the class-leading GT car of my good friend Jeff Segal and his AIM Autosport / FXDD Ferrari - the only other Ferrari in Grand-Am competition at the moment. So here I am, thinking that when we go green again, I'll pass Jeff, get back on the lead lap, wait for another yellow, catch up to the BACK of the pack, go green again, pass EVERYBODY, and WIN!

Sounds like a great plan, right? I thought so! Grand-Am? Not so much... Instead, we circulated behind the pace car for another 20-30 minutes or so while Mother Nature kept hammering us, and rightfully so, Grand-Am decided to cut the race short and throw the checkered flag.

So, my grand scheme to charge through and make history was truncated, and we finished 13th. Certainly disappointing after being so quick all weekend and showing we were the car to beat. But, life goes on, and so does racing! On to the next one...

Lasting thoughts? Our Grand-Am program is strong, our Ferrari is FAST, Ed got some really valuable rain experience, and I'm ready for the next race!

Thanks for following, and I look forward to seeing you at the races!

Guy

From Guy: Homestead, Part 3

Photo: © Trevor Andrusko 2012, MotorSportMediaHang on, my keyboard is waterlogged... oh wait, that's because it was raining SO HARD for so long today that it was actually raining INSIDE the ESM drivers lounge in the trailer!  I had soggy pants all day, and I wasn't even walking around in the rain - THAT stinks!

So yes, rain was the name of the game today.  Our morning practice session was wet, but low and behold, we set quickest time in GT once again, topping the time sheets early in the session - then it really started to rain, and we parked it.

We were all set with our strategy to have me qualify the car today, but then Grand-Am canceled qualifying due to the heavy rain - and opted to determine the starting positions for the race tomorrow off of championship points.  Not that great a situation for us, as we've only raced at Daytona and didn't collect many points while we were there!  Now instead of taking advantage on the very strong pace we've displayed here at Homestead thus far, and possibly earning Extreme Speed Motorsports' first pole position, we will now start 15th out of 18 cars in GT... Oh well!

The plan?  Our fearless leader, Ed Brown, will start the race with vengance and hand our BAD @SS Tequila Patron-shod Ferrari 458 Italia Grand-Am over to me during a pit stop that my ESM boys are going to perfectly execute, and I'm going to chase down any remaining cars in front of us, pass them all, set fastest race lap and possibly a new track record, and win the race.

Sound like a good plan?  I thought so.  Sound a bit cocky?  Yep.  Going to be easy?  Absolutely not.  Going to be an incredible show?  You're damn skippy.  (that's slang for 'you bet your bippy it will be').

Prepare yourselves.  :)

Be sure to tune in and see if my plan comes to fruition, LIVE on SPEED at 1:00PM ET.  Also follow live timing & scoring from your computer or mobile device at http://m.grand-am.com.

Wish us luck, and thanks for following!

Guy

From Guy: Homestead, Part 2

Photo: Grand-Am.comOk! So today was a good day! We definitely made a few improvements to the car and slapped that baby in P1 this morning! Booyaaa!! The GT field is extremely competitive here, and times were all VERY close. We were up near the top the entire session, but made some changes at the end of the session and not only put our #03 Tequila Patron Ferrari in first place, but had a solid gap over the rest of the field. We were the only car to break into the 1:19's all day today, with a 1:19.8. Not too shabby!

Ed did his homework last night and turned some really good times as well - his quickest thus far. For the second session today we finished up 5th in GT, but we were trying a few things on the car that helped in some sections of the track, but made the car worse in other sections. We're collecting data off this car as, again, we've hardly run this thing and still have plenty to learn about it. But at least it's fast!

The conditions were still extremely slipperty today, and not getting any better. The weather calls for possible rain both tomorrow and Sunday, so we'll see what we get. Tomorrow is a practice at 9am to 10am, Autograph session from 10:30-11:30am, and qualifying at 1:15-1:30pm. I'm not sure if Ed or I will qualify the car just yet - we'll decide in the morning and see how the weather is for us!

My ESM boys did good today, as always - but it's nice to be quickest of the day! Stay tuned - more reports tomorrow night!

Guy

From Guy: Homestead, Part 1

Hello everyone! As you may already know, ESM & I are BACK in Grand-Am this weekend! We're running our 2nd Rolex Series race of the year since the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. This weekend is the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

We haven't actually run this Grand-Am-spec Ferrari since Daytona as we had switched gears to focus entirely on our preparation for the 2012 ALMS season and it's opening rounds, the Sebring 12 Hour & Grand Prix of Long Beach. While all the other Rolex teams have tested and raced at Barber Motorsports Park I thought there would be a chance we'd show up at Homestead and be behind the eight ball just a bit, but apparently that wasn't the case!

We had a pretty good day, although it wasn't looking so good at first. We missed all of the first practice session due to an ECU glitch, but my boys on the Extreme Speed Motorsports crew got the problem solved and low and behold, our little Ferrari came to life and we were all set for the rest of the day.

My first laps in session two were quick enough to put us P1, and held strong for much of the session until we were bumped to P2. Not too shabby, I guess! Same story for practice session three, where I drove just the first few laps to evaluate some changes - posted times that put us P2, just behind Bill Auberlen and his Turner Motorsports BMW - and then turned the car over to my teammate Ed Brown. Ed drove at Homestead just once before, and it was one of his very first days in a race car - ever! So I just like to say he's 'never been here before'. Ed drove really well and acclimated to the track quickly. We're looking good so far!

Conditions? Slippery! Like, BIG TIME! There is NO traction out there! It's crazy. But, it's the same for everyone, and apparently our little Ferrari likes it. It's warm too, by the way...

Tomorrow we have just two practice sessions totaling 2.5 hours of track time, so we'll have enough time to make some changes and keep working on improvements. But first & foremost is helping Ed get comfortable and up to speed, and from what I can see in his data thus far, he'll be making some significant gains tomorrow!

I'm looking forward to it! Stay tuned for more updates!

Guy

VIDEO: Podium Finish for ESM at Long Beach

Ferrari Corse Cliente News: ALMS – Ferrari on the Long Beach podium

Maranello, 15 April – The Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari 458 GT2 took third place in the second round of the American Le Mans Series which took place this weekend round the streets of the evocative Californian setting of Long Beach. The Ferrari driven by Scott Sharp and Johannes Van Overbeek also went to the head of the Michelin Green X Challenge GT, drawing attention to the products that mark out the Maranello company’s cars.

Read more here:

http://corseclienti.ferrari.com/2012en/2012/04/alms-–-ferrari-long-beach-podium/