Post-Sebring Update

Photo by John ThawleyOk, ok - so I've ALREADY slacked on my blog and we're hardly into the 2011 season!  Sorry about that... 

But really, I have a good excuse!  I've been BUSY!! :) Seven days at Sebring, half a day at home before returning to Sebring for testing then driving back home the same day. Next flying to Barber Motorsports Park for testing with BGB Motorsports, flying back home THAT night followed by two consecutive days of private coaching with clients at Palm Beach Intl. Raceway - and then I slept... and then I hibernated for a long weekend!

Sebring was a LONG week.  We finished 10th in the No. 002 ESM Ferrari 458 GT after pushing through a few setbacks including some gearbox problems. The team worked tirelessly through the week, then were up literally all night long before the race making changes to both our Ferrari's, only to work even harder through the entire race to keep the car running.  Most of our guys were up for nearly 42 hours. Thankfully we pulled out a top-ten finish and collected some points for the championship in the No. 002.  Our teammates in the No. 001 had terrible luck, being collected in an accident just under two hours into the race, suffering irrepairable damage to the car.  Fortunately our boy Johannes van Overbeek remained unharmed.

Otherwise the week was really fun and of course it was very exciting to get the season underway.  A number of friends and family came to the race to support me and cheer us on, which made it a very special event for me.  Of course I'm forgetting a ton of details from the week, but it IS almost midnight, I'm watching the Formula 1 Australian GP on my DVR, and I'm sleepy!  I'll keep up with the blog more frequently, I promise!  Stay tuned!

Day One Report: Sebring 2011

It's here! I'M here! And already, day one at Sebring is over, and day two begins. Yesterday was a full-day test for only the ALMS teams.  We didn't have a stellar day, but it wasn't bad either.  A number of system checks, brake bedding and data collection took place.  It was a relatively easy-paced day as we know we're here all week long and don't want to burn down the cars.  We worked on the handling and set up of our #002 Patron / Extreme Speed Ferrari 458 a bit in the first half of the day, then focused mostly on getting my teammate Ed Brown up to speed in the second half of the day.  The #001 car of course worked on set up and going fast all day long - which proved well as they got to some quicker lap times than we did in the #002.  The day ended with our usual debrief with the engineers, strategy for day 2 (today) and the boys hard at work prepping the cars and making changes.

Today should be a good day, but much shorter, with only two one-hour sessions.  Hopefully we've made some progress with the set up and will turn some quicker times today!  Will report later on!

Countdown to Sebring!

Boy oh boy, am I ready for Sebring! The 59th Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.  Talk about an exciting one that's destined for the books, huh?  Nearly 60 CARS on the entry list!  24 of them in GT!  I am patiently counting the days until I'm standing in that paddock. 

I've re-signed with Scott Sharp's Extreme Speed Motorsports, Tequila Patron is our sponsor, I'm driving with the President & CEO of the company - Ed Brown, we've got two new Ferrari F458GT race cars, a new look, a new plan, and a year's worth of experience and information in our back pocket... I've got a lot to be excited about!

We're going to have a great year.  I know the competiton will be FIERCE, but I'll thrive on it!  Scott Sharp & ESM have really polished and refined this operation, and I know we're ready.  The 458's, however, are a bit of an unkown quantity to us, and as with any brand-new race car, you just have to take things in stride.  I'm sure the car will be competitive - at least enough for us to be in the hunt at Sebring - as always, reliability will be the big question mark.  However, I'm sure our Italian friends at Micchelotto and Ferrari are confident we'll have no problems.  After all, they've only won races & championship nearly every year for the past five years!

During this past week and my final few days remaining until the week-long extravaganza of Sebring begins, I've been working out, running, eating right, getting rest, and taking care of a whole lot of work at Cosmo-Sport world headquarters.  It's been good.  Time at home is fairly rare for me, as I've been racing, testing and coaching quite a bit already in 2011, so I really enjoy it when I am home.

But Sebring - I'm ready for you!  It's about time to get my name in the history books!  While my #02 ESM/Patron Ferrari might not be a favorite to win this year's 12 hour, don't be surprised if it does - and even if we don't - there's a bunch more races this year that we might!  C.A.N.T. W.A.I.T!!!

CTSCC Round 2: Homestead-Miami Speedway

This past weekend was Round 2 of Grand-Am's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, at what has become one of my new 'home' tracks, Homestead-Miami Speedway.  All in all it was another successful weekend for us at BGB Motorsports with our Porsche Cayman S'.  We were among the top 5 quickest cars in each of the practice sessions on Thursday; a bit less competitive on Friday as we experimented with some set up changes; my teammate, Stewart Tetreault, qualified nearly two seconds faster than his previous best lap times (in a shortened qualifying session); and we had a pretty strong race! Starting 23rd of 60-something cars, Stew had a great start, held his own, avoided a few incidents and didn't lose any positions for the first 30 minutes.  I then hopped in and began 'doing my thing' - which is going to the front of the pack!  Surviving & definitely enjoying some of the hardest, closest racing I've had, we were all set for a 7th place finish before I got shoved off track and lost a few positions - ultimately finishing 10th.  What an insane race though!  Incredibly tough & close competition, and boy is it fun!  We'll take the 10th and focus on the next race, which will be at Barber Motorsports Park in Brimingham, Alabama, April 8-9th. But before that is the Sebring 12 Hour with Extreme Speed Motorsports! Can't wait!!

Photo Gallery: Kia 200 at Homestead with BGB Motorsports