Cosmo Unhurt in Weekend-Ending Practice Crash

After a promising morning, a practice crash has ruled Team TGM out of the rest of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge weekend at Road America.

Guy Cosmo lost control of the No. 4 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR in wet conditions on his first trip through Turn 1 just moments after the start of Practice 2. The car made contact with the wall and ended up on his roof. Cosmo was uninjured.

The damage was significant, and the team indicated a lack of spare parts proved to be too much to overcome.

The accident comes on the heels of a difficult stretch for the team after heavy accidents at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as well as an injury suffered by owner/driver Ted Giovanis which necessitated the addition of Hugh Plumb to the driving lineup this weekend.

Cosmo, who had set the second-fastest lap in Practice 1 earlier in the morning, said he regretted adding to the workload of the already strained team.

“I’m fine, just disappointed to say the least,” Cosmo told Sportscar365. “[I was] just leaving pit lane, left Turn 1, and the car just snapped. It snapped far enough that I was at full-lock with the steering, and it came over.

“As I spun around, it hit the tire wall and immediately picked the car up and set it on its roof. I had been out of pit lane for maybe five seconds and I feel terrible for the team.

“We’ve had so much work that these guys have done rebuilding cars. Both cars were crashed at [Canadian Tire Motorsport Park], we missed Lime Rock, Ted has his injury that he’s recovering from.

“We have Hugh here this weekend and we were among the fastest this morning. We’re done for the weekend, but the fact that these guys now, we have no cars left and they just rebuilt the car and now they have to start completely over again, I feel terrible for them.”

Cosmo indicated that the team expected to be able to repair the damage in time for a return at Virginia International Raceway at the end of the month.

“These guys have performed miracles many times already putting cars back together this year, so I’m sure it’ll be fine for VIR, ” he said. “We were just looking forward to a great weekend, and this is a track that we’ve had success at before.”

Cosmo and Giovanis finished a season-best third at Road America last season in Cosmo’s debut with the team.