ESM Patron Ready for Road America Attack

As the lone Ferrari team in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patrón GT class, Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) has two main goals this weekend – maintain Ferrari’s winning ways at Road America and secure another victory for the Florida-based sports car team.

The team has victory in its sights as the Road America Road Race Showcase, the seventh round of ALMS competition, kicks into high gear this weekend.  The 2011 event saw a Ferrari atop the GT podium and ESM seeks a back-to-back Ferrari win and another team victory.

Primed and ready to go for the longest track of the schedule, the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit should favor the high-RPM horsepower of the Ferrari Italia 458s in top-end speed.

ESM driver/owner Scott Sharp is quite familiar with that top podium spot at Road America.  During the four-hour event in 2008, Sharp and then co-driver David Brabham won the P2 class in their Tequila Patrón-sponsored Acura LMP2 race car.  Then the duo backed up their win in 2009, during a two hour and 45 minute race at the fabled track.

At this weekend’s four-hour Road America Road Race Showcase, Sharp and co-driver Johannes van Overbeek look to score their second win of the 2012 season with the No. 01 Tequila Patrón Ferrari Italia 458.  The pair won at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in late July.  This season, Sharp and van Overbeek have had consistent top-10 qualifying efforts as well as four top-five finishes in the increasingly competitive ALMS GT class.

Hot off their front row qualifying spot at Mid-Ohio, Guy Cosmo and Ed Brown, in the No. 02 Tequila Patrón Ferrari Italia 458, look to repeat that success in qualifying and the race.  In the 2009 ALMS race at Road America, Cosmo set the fast qualifier and fast lap time while competing in the GTC class.

In addition to their time in the Ferraris this weekend, Cosmo and van Overbeek will use manpower to wheel their way around the track.  On Friday evening, August 17, Cosmo and van Overbeek are participating in the 2012 Subaru Tour de Road America – Bike Ride to Fight Cancer.  This special on-track bicycle event benefits LIVESTRONG, the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer, the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic.  For more information on the event, visit www.pelotonride.org.