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John Thawley
The Grand American Road Racing Association’s Rolex Series Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International was not kind to Guy Cosmo and co-driver Memo Gidley. The #77 Doran Racing Kodak Daytona Prototype team got everything they bargained for… and more.
“It was an extremely tough week leading up to the race, ” said Guy Cosmo following the race. “The team worked their way through gearbox problems, handling issues and a few other nagging problems throughout practice. I got very few laps in the car, however we made a lot of progress and finally got everything sorted. By Saturday we were very quick in morning warm-up. ”
Memo [Gidley] qualified and started Saturday’s six-hour event. Taking advantage of traffic and the early lap 1 yellow flag, the crew made the call not to pit allowing Memo to move up to 4th. Pulling a double-stint, Gidley had a great run going until he was hit in the left rear by a GT car. He was forced to pit for some quick repair.
Later, trouble with the throttle position sensor wreaked havoc with the engine mapping making the car extremely difficult to drive at low throttle speeds.
Cosmo took the wheel for the middle of the event driving a 2.5 hour double stint.
“What a great run we had going, ” noted Guy. “But, talk about overcoming adversity… it was just like at Laguna last week. We had a number of issues with the car throughout practice and qualifying, and things just looked to be dismal for the race. However, in morning warm-up the car was very good and we posted 3rd quickest time for the session. We knew we were on to something good. ”
“Memo had a brilliant start and a tremendous run through the pack, ” Guy added. “But it all came to a halt when a GT car hit the #77 Kodak Doran in the left rear. After that we had some issues with our throttle position sensor which made the engine run terribly. But, thanks to the great work of our crew, we got all that fixed and had a very strong run. ”
“I drove about 2.5 hours… a little more than a double-stint, ” said Guy. “That was the first time this weekend I had spent more than a 10 minute stretch in the car! I felt great physically and mentally, and can thank Performance Drink for helping with that. What a sweet ride, though. We really had the Kodak Doran JE-4 running well, and the Roush-Yates Ford motor was absolutely ripping! We definitely had an advantage in straight-line speed this weekend. ”
Gidley got back in the car to finish with about 1.5 hours remaining in the race, Unfortunately, the left front tire was going down, The team managed to salvaged a 10th place finish.
“Overall the team was happy with 10th place given all the adversity we faced, ” Guy commented. “We had great pit-stops and the Doran Racing crew, along with John and Charles from Roush-Yates, did a great job repairing the car and keeping the motor performing in top-shape. ”
“Memo did an outstanding job as well, ” acknowledged Cosmo. “I want to thank him and Kevin [Doran] for the opportunity to drive with the team. We’re really looking forward to the next race, and hope we can create a few Kodak Moments at Mid-Ohio. ”
Over the past few seasons, Cosmo has brought his talent and services to several of the top-tier prototype teams in the Grand American paddock. In 2006 Cosmo joined up with Finlay Motorsports filling in for an injured Memo Gidley in the #19 Playboy Uniden car. He was also instrumental in giving the Spirit of Daytona car it’s best run ever at Watkins Glen. And, of course there was the popular 2nd place finish garnered by Guy, Memo and Michael McDowell at Utah to close out the season.
Guy Cosmo’s extensive background with open-wheel formula cars and sports prototypes has earned him a reputation as one of the most successful and versatile young racing drivers in North America. The 2005 American Le Mans Series Rookie of the Year ranks among the top-level road racers in the world. He has earned overall racing titles and major success in many disciplines including karting, Formula Ford, Formula 2000, Star Mazda, Toyota Atlantic, Grand American and American Le Mans.
