Cosmo takes top-ten at Mosport in Grand-Am Cup

(Bowmanville, ONT)—Guy Cosmo kept his momentum going in Grand-Am Cup competition this weekend, taking tenth place at Mosport International Raceway with teammate Mark Plummer in their BGB Motorsport Porsche 996. Cosmo, who opened up the season with a fifth place finish at Daytona International Raceway, suffered through three consecutive mechanical DNF’s earlier in the season before rebounding at Watkins Glen last weekend with the team’s first finish since Daytona.

Cosmo’s teammate Plummer had never raced at the high-speed Canadian facility before the weekend, but learned the fast way around with some help from Cosmo, who has good knowledge of the track having taken poles and wins there before.

Plummer showed himself to be a quick learner, shaving seconds off of his time through the weekend and qualifying fifteenth for the race. Immediately after the green flag fell, though, Plummer felt as though something wasn’t quite right with the car’s handling, and was forced to slow his pace as he learned how to get the most speed out of the ill-handling car before turning it over to Cosmo.

“When I got in the car, I could tell right away what Mark had been talking about – the car was very different from how it’d felt in the morning warm up and very difficult to drive,” said Cosmo. “It felt like it was a loss of shock canister pressure or a broken roll-bar, but once the green drops you have no choice but to drive what you’ve got as hard and as fast as you can, and that’s what we did.”

Cosmo, who had his chances at a good race result at Watkins Glen eliminated after a spinning car struck his, thought that the field behaved much better during the Mosport race.

“There was a lot of contact and rough racing at The Glen, but everyone did a much better job this weekend – the racing was extremely tough but very clean,” said Cosmo. “Driving an ill-handling car is always a challenge, and then add the demands of Mosport and a very competitive sixty-car field – I worked hard, but I loved every minute of it. I really love racing at Mosport and I’m glad we salvaged a top-ten out of the weekend.”

Ever the racer, Cosmo has been frustrated not to get the chance to show what the BGB Motorsports team is truly capable of.

“Our program and our Porsche have gained a lot of strength, and I’ve got one of the best teammates out there. We have a package that will contend for podiums as long as lady luck even glances our way. By the next round at Barber we’re looking for a flawless run and the results should speak for themselves!”

Cosmo will race next in his Mazda-powered Courage for the American Le Mans Grand Prix weekend at Lime Rock Park on the July 4th weekend as he will look to take another win in the LMP2 class with B-K Motorsports.

Guy Cosmo Weekend Preview: Grand-Am Cup at Mosport

Bowmanville, ONT (June 16, 2005) — After opening the Grand-Am Cup season with an encouraging fifth place finish at Daytona in February, Guy Cosmo suffered through three consecutive rounds of misfortune in his BGB Motorsports Porsche 996. Cosmo was able to make it to the finish in last weekends Chemung Canal 200 at Watkins Glen and is hoping that this weekend he will be able to not only make it to the finish, but also score another strong result in the Grand Am 200 at Mosport International Raceway. The race is round six of eleven for Cosmo and his teammate Mark Plummer in their BGB Motorsports Porsche 996.

Described as one of the most challenging tracks in North America, the 2.459-mile natural terrain circuit features a number of blind, high-speed corners, as well as significant elevation changes. Can-Am, IndyCar, and Formula 1 have all raced on the track with drivers like Fittipaldi, Andretti, Donohue, Ickx, Stewart, and Foyt taking wins on the daunting circuit.

Cosmo himself is also on that list, having scored victories at the track in both US F2000 competition as well as during his championship-winning 2002 Star Mazda season, when he scored the pole position by over a full second to the field. Cosmo loves racing at the track, which lies sixty miles east of Toronto.

“Mosport is a track that separates the men from the boys with all the fast, blind corners and sweeping elevation changes,” said Cosmo. “The track also has some very long corners, which should be good for our Porsche. The car is constantly under load here, and our car is very well behaved at the limit. Hopefully that will be an advantage for us.”

With rain forecast for Friday and possibly for the race on Saturday, it’s anybody’s guess what is going to happen weather wise for the race, which is scheduled to get underway at 3:30 PM EST, but Cosmo is hoping for a dry race.

“I enjoy the challenge of racing in the rain, but feel like we have something to prove to our competition in the dry.” said Cosmo. “The BGB Motorsports crew has done a great job to avoid the small problems that took us out of some of the races earlier this season, and we have made a lot of progress with our set up.”

Cosmo’s teammate Plummer will qualify the car on Friday and start the race on Saturday before turning the car over to Cosmo. The race will be aired on Speed Channel, although the air date has not yet been announced.

Cosmo finally gets finish in Grand Am at The Glen

(Watkins Glen, NY)— After starting the season out with a fifth place finish at Daytona International in February, championship-caliber driver Guy Cosmo has had a tough string of results running in Grand-Am Cup's GS class and was just hoping to get to the finish in this weekends Chemung Canal Trust 200 at Watkins Glen.

Driving for BGB Motorsports with American Mark Plummer, Cosmo was finally able to cross the finish line once again, but had to settle for twenty-first in class after a competitor spun Cosmo out and the team fell a lap down.

The race started well, as Plummer took the green from 27th position in a massive 73-car field and moved the car up into the top ten before handing the Porsche 996 over to Cosmo, who was forced to bide his time through a series of full-course caution periods before being set free with a green flag to charge to the front.

The run to the point ended quickly, though, as a spinning competitor made contact with Cosmo's right rear forcefully enough to spin the 2002 Star Mazda champion and force him back to the pits for repairs. Fortunately, the damage was light and the car was able to return to the track after replacing the cut tires, but the timing was lousy, as Cosmo was held by officials at pit exit, allowing the field to pass him in the pits and setting him back a lap to the leaders.

“I was so frustrated!” said Cosmo. “I was at the pit exit, and could see that the field was just coming onto the front stretch, but they still held me until everyone went by. For a race car driver, that's just the worst feeling in the world. We've have had some really small issues put us out of races since Daytona, and BGB Motorsports has worked so hard to avoid that. At least we got to the checkered flag today.”

Cosmo will race next in the Mosport 200 Grand American Cup at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville , Ontario . Like many other tracks in North America , Cosmo has taken victories at Mosport and is looking forward to the race on June 18th.

“It's a fast track, and it requires a lot of commitment . I feel really confident racing there, so hopefully we can build on this finish and try to get back into the top five again where we should be,” said Cosmo. “Our first win is not far away.”


NOTES:

LEADING THE FIELD: Cosmo got the chance to participate in Sunday's ‘Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen,' but not the way he wanted to, as Grand American asked the young American to serve duty as the pace car driver for the GT class for the starts and restarts of the 6 hour event. “I like running up front, but I'd of course rather be doing it in a race car! I was still glad to help them out for the race.”

SUB-DUTY—Cosmo was on deck to substitute with the Finlay Motorsports Daytona Prototype effort in case any of the drivers became too fatigued to continue. The rain cooled temperatures during the race, so Cosmo didn't get the chance, but he was flattered that the team, which has finished fourth in the last two Rolex races, thought of him. “I saw (team manager) Steve Cameron in the pits, and he asked me if I would drive for them—I wasn't sure if he was just kidding or what. It turned out that they were all set, but I am still hoping to get an opportunity to race in the Prototypes.”

Cosmo participated in Thursday's ‘Watkins Glen Sahlen's Go-Kart Challenge,' driving the hour and half karting race with a team of other drivers, Watkins Glen personnel, media members, and Grand Am officials. While the event didn't spell victory for Cosmo and his team, it was nonetheless a fun event for both the spectators and the participants.

Cosmo recently completed some successful testing in his other race car, the Mazda-powered Sportsbook.com Courage ALMS P2 entry. Cosmo worked with B-K Motorsports to put the car through its paces at Putnam Park outside of Indianapolis , and feels as though the team continues to make big strides in developing the car.

Cosmo looking forward to Grand Am at The Glen

(Watkins Glen, NY)—New York native Guy Cosmo is excited to be racing this weekend at the historic Watkins Glen International facility in upstate New York for the Chemung Canal Trust 200 Grand Am Cup race on Saturday. Cosmo will be teaming with fellow American Mark Plummer in the BGB Motorsports Porsche 996 in the GS class. The pairing got the season started off well, taking fifth in their first start at Daytona International in February, but have suffered from a variety of mechanical maladies that have kept them from finishing a race in the intervening three rounds.

“This weekend, the main thing is for us to just get to the finish,” said Cosmo. “We have had some unusual things take us out of races, but hopefully we’ll be able to get to the checkered flag here at the Glen.”

Even though he has only raced at the Glen a hand full of times, Cosmo has his own his own history of success on the fast 3.4-mile track, with two wins in F2000 competition in 1998 and 1999. Despite the fact that he will be racing against some forty-five cars in his class, with an additional thirty cars in the slower ST class racing at the same time, Cosmo can’t wait to get back to his winning ways at the Glen.

“We tested after Laguna, and we feel like we have something up our sleeves this weekend,” said Cosmo. “I just can’t wait to be racing in a seventy-car field and moving our Porsche up to the front. This track is really fantastic and this is a beautiful part of the country so hopefully I can get another good result here!”

The Chemung Canal Trust 200 will get underway at 2:00 PM EST on Saturday, June 11th. The race is scheduled to be shown on Speed Channel June 15th at 5:00 PM EST.

NOTES:

Cosmo participated in Thursday’s ‘Watkins Glen Sahlen’s Go-Kart Challenge,’ driving the hour and half karting race with a team of other drivers, Watkins Glen personnel, media members, and Grand Am officials. While the event didn’t spell victory for Cosmo and his team, it was nonetheless a fun event for both the spectators and the participants.

Cosmo recently completed some successful testing in his ‘other’ race car, the Mazda-powered Sportsbook.com Courage ALMS P2 entry. Cosmo worked with B-K Motorsports to put the car through its paces at Putnam Park outside of Indianapolis, and feels as though the team continues to make big strides in developing the car.

For additional information, please visit:

http://www.guycosmo.com

http://www.teambgb.com

http://www.grandamerican.com