ESM Patrón sets pace at Sebring winter testing

SEBRING, FL – Ed Brown, co-driver of the Extreme Speed Motorsports No. 02 Tequila Patrón Ferrari 458 Italia, spent the bulk of the two-day American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patrón logging laps around the 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit at Sebring International Raceway in preparation for the 2013 season and the 61st running of the 12 Hours of Sebring race in March.

#02 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari F458 Italia: Ed Brown, Anthony Lazzaro

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

YOU LOGGED A LOT OF SEAT TIME DURING THE ALMS WINTER TEST THIS WEEK AT SEBRING. HOW WAS YOUR TIME IN THE FERRARI? “Physically it was pretty difficult. We haven’t been back in our Tequila Patrón Ferrari Italia 458s since Petit. But we did race our GRAND AM Ferrari at Daytona and that’s a completely different ride. Then we're back into the ALMS Ferrari, it is a whole different animal and wears you out. I was pretty whipped and I drove most of the laps. It ended up being a great week for us and the Ferraris are really good. The ESM Patrón team made some serious progress in the off season, so I’m looking forward to this year.”

THIS MARKS THE FINAL SEASON FOR ALMS AND GRAND AM RUNNING AS INDEPENDENT SERIES. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE 2013 SEASON, HAVING RUN THE ROLEX 24 AND LOOKING AHEAD TO THE SEBRING 12 HOUR? “This is going to be an interesting and cool season. We just ran the 24 Hours of Daytona and that was the last time the Rolex is a GRAND AM solo race, and every ALMS race this season will feel like that too. I think the merger is a great thing and is fantastic for sports car racing. I’m really looking forward to this season and ahead to the changes in 2014.”

TALK ABOUT YOUR GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS FOR 2013. “I want podium finishes and a lot of them. I would definitely like to see the No. 01 Ferrari win the championship. We were probably just one race away from doing that last year. I’d really like to see Guy Cosmo and I get in there and get some podiums this year.”

WHAT SHOULD THE FANS EXPECT TO SEE FROM TEQUILA PATRÓN THIS SEASON? “I think we’ll have some surprises, we’ll do some different mock-ups on the Ferraris and lots of promotions. This is going to be fun season.”

HOW WAS YOUR OFF SEASON? “I’ve been busy. I turned 50, so we had a big celebration along with all the holidays. I traveled plenty during the off season, so I’m looking forward to race season to slow down a little bit.

“For the Super Bowl, we went down to the St. Bernard Project and built a house for a Katrina storm family. To still see that people are not in their homes after seven years after a storm, it is a little heartbreaking to see what these families have gone through. Thanks to programs like St. Bernard, this is what is going to get people back into their homes. They’ve already built 500 houses, which is impressive. Hopefully they continue to do the good work.”

YOU MENTIONED YOUR MILESTONE BIRTHDAY AND FITNESS. DO YOU AND JOHANNES HAVE AN OFF-TRACK COMPETITION WITH FITNESS THIS SEASON? “I’m always pretty fit, I just had a few bumps last year, so it hindered my fitness a little bit. I just started to get back into pretty hard cardio stuff. I always like to lift weights but the cardio is always a struggle. I’m hoping, at least by Sebring, to have 20 or 30 miles on my legs.”

Extreme Speed Motorsports