Extreme speed motorsports
Extreme Speed Motorsports ( ESM ) was an American motorsport team that was active in sports car racing . Team owner was Scott Sharp .
history
The team was founded in 2010 by Scott Sharp and the Mexican company Tequila Patrón, which is still the main sponsor of the team to this day. Sharp was active in sports car racing at the time, won the LMP1 class title in the American Le Mans Series and also entered this area of motorsport with his team. Johannes van Overbeek and Guy Cosmo were hired as drivers, and Tequila Patron's CEO Ed Brown is still part of the driver's squad to this day.
American Le Mans Series
In its first season, ESM entered the GT2 class with two Ferrari 430 GTCs, a class of the ALMS characterized by many factory-supported teams. The best result in the debut season was a third place for Sharp and van Overbeek at the Petit Le Mans . Just one year later, the team switched to the then newly released Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, the best result of the second season was also third place, this time in Laguna Seca . The team's breakthrough came in the 2012 season . The first two victories in the team's history at Mosport and at the Petit Le Mans as well as three further podium places led Sharp and van Overbeek to second place in the drivers' championship in the GT class.
But since the private team felt inferior in the GT class, the team switched to the LMP2 class a year later . ESM started there with two HPD ARX 03b. Since there were never more than four vehicles at the start in this class, a podium position could be celebrated in each race, including two victories. Sharp and Cosmo became teammates that season and fought for the championship title, but Cosmo switched to competitor Level 5 Motorsports four races before the end of the season . Sharp collected more points than Cosmo by the end of the season, but he was unable to catch up with Scott Tucker and finished second in the LMP2 drivers' championship.
Grand-Am Sports Car Series
The team was also occasionally active in the Grand-Am Sports Car Series . In 2012 there were five missions in the program, in 2013 there were four starts.
United SportsCar Championship
In the 2014 season , the team will again compete in the newly founded United SportsCar Championship with two HPDs. Ryan Dalziel will replace Guy Cosmo, who left the previous season, as a regular driver in one of the two P-Class cars, while Sharp, van Overbeek and Brown will continue to be part of the driver squad. In the GTD class, ESM provides its Ferrari from the Grand Am operations to the SMP team. At the end of 2018, the team stopped racing.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ SportsCar-Info.de - Scott Sharp: "With this chance you don't say no" ( Memento from December 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ ALMS: ESM changes with Honda to LMP2 ( Memento from December 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Cosmo Makes Surprise Switch to Level 5 - Sportscar365
- ↑ Grand-AM - Internet site: Rolex Team Point Standings By Year. (PDF) (No longer available online.) At: www.grand-am.com , archived from the original on January 30, 2013 ; Retrieved December 9, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Grand-AM - website: GrandAm - Standings - Rolex - team. (No longer available online.) At: www.grand-am.com , archived from the original on December 3, 2013 ; Retrieved December 9, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Exclusive: Dalziel Joins Extreme Speed for 2014 - Sportscar365
- ↑ SMP Racing Planning WEC, Rolex 24 Programs - Sportscar365
- ↑ ESM locks
