Excited to hit the wide open circuit at Virginia International Raceway with his Extreme Speed Motorsports Patrón Ferrari 458 GT, Guy Cosmo had this to say going into the American Le Mans Series present by Tequila Patrón, Cosmo had this to say about the track.
"VIR is a true road racers dream and one of the absolute best circuits to drive, ever," said Cosmo. "It's a very unique blend providing a driver everything he could ask for. The track has a great flow and a variety of challenges. You see some very technical slow and medium speed sections, two very long straights, killer braking and passing zones, and a few death-defying high speed sections that will have you holding your breath on every approach… and that will make you cry for your mamma if you get them wrong."
After the tight city streets of Baltimore, the entire American Le Mans Series paddock appears excited to hit the wide open circuit at Virginia International Raceway. This will be the series first appearance at the historic track. Guy Cosmo, like every other driver in the Series, can't wait to hit the track with his Extreme Speed Motorsports Patrón Ferrari 458 GT.
"VIR is a true road racers dream and one of the absolute best circuits to drive, ever," said Cosmo. "It's a very unique blend providing a driver everything he could ask for. The track has a great flow and a variety of challenges. You see some very technical slow and medium speed sections, two very long straights, killer braking and passing zones, and a few death-defying high speed sections that will have you holding your breath on every approach… and that will make you cry for your mamma if you get them wrong. You get all of that, and the place is just beautiful. I love going to VIR."
When the green flag dropped on the American Le Mans Series presented by Patrón Baltimore Sports Car Challenge, the field was immediately thrown into a full course yellow due to a front running P1 car making contact with the turn one wall and blocking the track. As drivers attempted to unravel themselves from the traffic jam race positions were quickly thrown into a disarray. Ed Brown, driving the No. 02 Extreme Speed Motorsports Patrón Ferrari, though unaffected by the incident, spent the majority of his stint under the caution.
“I feel bad that Ed only drove a single lap under green," said Cosmo. "I got in 15 minutes into the race. With a two hour race, it was what we needed to do for the strategy."
The street race was as predicted - a street fight. Never really establishing a race-tempo, gaining any sort of track position required a wheel-to-wheel battle. Contact with another GT competitor did damage to the right side of the car and caused a flat tire. Cosmo was forced to pit after the incident. The stop took the team from 7th place to an 11th place finish.
With his back injury on the mend, Guy Cosmo will join co-driver, Ed Brown and the Extreme Speed Motorsports team as they take to the streets of Baltimore for this weeks American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón for the Baltimore Sports Car Challenge presented by SRT. The eighth round of the American Le Mans Series championship is 2-hour charge through the city's Inner Harbor district.
Though Cosmo and Brown did not fair well at the 2011 Baltimore race, the two drivers of the No. 02 Patrón Ferrari 458 GT are looking forward to revisiting the venue and the abbreviated race length.
