Extreme Speed Motorsports

Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) was an American auto racing team based out of Riviera Beach, Florida. Founded by Scott Sharp and Patrón CEO Ed Brown, the team competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Tudor United SportsCar Championship, and American Le Mans Series since 2010 until 2018 when the team sold its equipment and race cars and shut down following an exhaustive sponsor search after the withdrawal of Patrón.

United States Extreme Speed Motorsports
Founded2010
Folded2018
Team principal(s)Ed Brown
Scott Sharp
Former seriesAmerican Le Mans Series
FIA World Endurance Championship
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The team's Ferrari 458 Italia at the 2012 Grand Prix of Long Beach.

American Le Mans Series

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The Extreme Speed Motorsports team first entered the American Le Mans Series with two Ferrari F430 GTCs in 2010. The pair of Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek managed a second-place finish at the season ending Petit Le Mans, finishing tenth in the Drivers' Championship with teammates Ed Brown and Guy Cosmo finishing thirteenth and landing fifth in the GT class Teams' Championship.

The team received two new Ferrari 458 GTEs for their second year of ALMS competition. 2011 season would prove to be a difficult season for the team with the #02 car failing to finish at several races. The team's best result came at penultimate race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with a third-place finish for the #01 car. Sharp and Van Overbeek would finish the season seventh in the GT Drivers' Championship with the team landing sixth in the Teams' Championship.

2012 would be the most successful season yet for the team and its Ferraris. The #01 car of Sharp and van Overbeek was awarded a victory after a post race technical inspection disqualified the #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche at Mosport and earned another hard-fought win at the season finale Petit Le Mans. Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek finished second in the GT Drivers' Championship with Ed Brown and Guy Cosmo fifteen and sixteen respectively. They would finish third in the GT Teams' Championship behind the factory efforts of BMW and Chevrolet.

2013 saw the team move up to the LMP2 class with two HPD ARX-03bs. 2013 would be the final season before the American Le Mans Series would merge with the Rolex Sports Car Series to form the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. Although 2013 was to be a preparation and development year for the team's new prototype machinery, the team fared well against their main rivals Level 5 Motorsports, claiming a win and second-place finish at Long Beach. The team finished the season second in the Teams' Championship with Scott Sharp second in the Drivers' Championship.

Year Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Position Points
2010 Ferrari Ferrari 430 GTE Ferrari 4.0L V8 SEB
6
LBH
7
LGA
5
UGP
7
LRP
6
MDO
5
ROA
5
MOS
6
ATL
2
5th 91
2011 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari 4.5L V8 SEB
8
LBH
9
LRP
4
MOS
9
MDO
5
ROA
8
BAL
9
LGA
3
ATL
5
6th 81
2012 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari 4.5L V8 SEB
7
LBH
3
LGA
5
LRP
4
MOS
1
MDO
6
ROA
7
BAL
3
VIR
3
ATL
1
3rd 125
2013 HPD ARX-03b Honda HR28TT 2.8L Turbo V6 SEB
3
LBH
1
LGA
3
LRP
1
MOS
2
ROA
2
BAL
2
AUS
3
VIR
2
ATL
3
2nd 169

United SportsCar Championship

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The Extreme Speed Motorsports team entered the inaugural season of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship with a two car LMP2 effort in the premier prototype class. Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel would pilot the #1 HPD with Johannes van Overbeek and Ed Brown sharing the #2 car. IMSA's balance of performance left the LMP2 teams with a substantial gap in top speed to the much higher powered Daytona Prototypes throughout the entirety of the season, preventing the team from consistently competing for overall victories. Brown and Overbeek would claim a win victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,[1] a track that favored the LMP2 cars' cornering speeds. The team withdrew the #1 car from the eleventh round to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship race at the Circuit of the Americas,[2] later deciding to withdraw both cars from the season ending Petit Le Mans to enter the Shanghai FIA WEC race in preparation for a 2015 campaign in the series[3]

For the 2015 season, the ESM team originally committed to run the North American Endurance Championship rounds as a supplement to their FIA WEC campaign.[4] However, after unsuccessful results at Daytona and Sebring, the team would not return to complete the rest of the North American season, choosing to focus its resources on the remainder of the WEC season.[5]

In 2016, Tequila Patron ESM run a Ligier JS P2 in four North American Endurance Cup races of the United Sportscar Championship, winning both the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2016 12 Hours of Sebring, with the JS P2 becoming the first car to defeat a Daytona Prototype at the 24 hours, as well as the team becoming the first to win the so-called "36 Hours of Florida" since 1998.[6]

In 2017, Tequila Patron ESM switched to Nissan engines, fielding two Nissan Onroak DPi units for Dalziel/Sharp and Van Overbeek/Brown. The pairing of Dalziel/Sharp would ultimately secure 5th in the drivers championship, while Brown would depart the team mid-season, and be replaced by Pipo Derani. The season was highlighted with 1 Pole Position at Watkins Glen, as well as 2 wins, at Road America, and at the season-ending Petit Le Mans.[7]

In 2018, Tequila Patron ESM continued to run 2 Nissan-Onroak DPis, for Dalziel/Sharp , as well as Derani/Van Overbeek. The Season would be highlighted by 2 poles at Belle Isle, and at Road Atlanta, as well as winning the 12 Hours Of Sebring, and at Laguna Seca. However, due to the loss of title sponsor Patron, the team sold all its equipment and assets, and would ultimately close in December 2018.[8]

Year Car Engine No. DAY
SEB
LBH
LGA
BEL
WGL
MOS
IMS
ELK
AUS
ATL
Points Pos.
2014 HPD ARX-03b Honda HR28TT 2.8L Turbo V6 1 15 2 6 11 5 10 8 5 3 228 10th
2 7 5 7 1 7 11 7 7 8 4 262 7th
2015 HPD ARX-04b
HPD ARX-03b
Honda HR28TT 2.8L Turbo V6 1 10 9 45 12th
2 14 8 42 13th
2016 Ligier JS P2 Honda HR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6 2 1 1 9 2 128 9th

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wins

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# Season Date Classes Track / Race No. Winning Drivers Chassis Engine
1 2014 May 4 Prototype Laguna Seca 2   Ed Brown /   Johannes van Overbeek HPD ARX-03b Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo
2 2016 January 30–31 Prototype Daytona 2   Brown /   Derani /   van Overbeek /   Sharp Ligier JS P2 Honda HR35TT 3.5 L V6 Turbo
3 March 19 Prototype Sebring 2   Brown /   Derani /   van Overbeek /   Sharp Ligier JS P2 Honda HR35TT 3.5 L V6 Turbo
4 2017 August 6 Prototype Road America 22   Pipo Derani /   Johannes van Overbeek Nissan Onroak DPi Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
5 October 7 Prototype Road Atlanta 2   Ryan Dalziel /   Brendon Hartley /   Scott Sharp Nissan Onroak DPi Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
6 2018 March 17 Prototype Sebring 22   Derani /   Lapierre /   van Overbeek Nissan Onroak DPi Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
7 September 9 Prototype Laguna Seca 22   Pipo Derani /   Johannes van Overbeek Nissan Onroak DPi Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6

World Endurance Championship

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Extreme Speed Motorsports sporting their non-alcoholic livery at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The team first entered the FIA World Endurance Championship with a single car at the 2014 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, earning a 3rd-place finish. The team then entered two cars in the 6 Hours of Shanghai claiming 2nd and 5th-place finishes. The two events would serve as preparation for a full season entry in 2015.

For the 2015 season, Extreme Speed Motorsports would commit to a full season FIA WEC effort.[9] While originally planning to run the new HPD ARX-04b, testing issues meant HPD would delay the car's debut until the following season. ESM would instead use their ARX-03bs for the opening round at Silverstone, before switching to the Ligier JS P2 platform for the rest of the season.[10]

Year Car Engine No. SIL
 
SPA
 
LMS
 
NÜR
 
COA
 
FUJ
 
SHA
 
BHR
 
Points Pos.
2015 HPD ARX-03b
Ligier JS P2
Honda HR28TT 2.8L Turbo V6 30 EX 8 5 6 4 4 Ret 7 62 7th
31 6 7 4 8 Ret 7 5 8 62 8th
Year Car Engine No. SIL
 
SPA
 
LMS
 
NÜR
 
MEX
 
COA
 
FUJ
 
SHA
 
BHR
 
Points Pos.
2016 Ligier JS P2 Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 30 8 5 7 9 8 7 4 2 5 78 5th
31 2 2 8 3 3 5 5 5 4 116 4th

24 Hours of Le Mans

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Year Entrant No. Car Drivers Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2015   Extreme Speed Motorsports 30 Ligier JS P2-Honda   Ryan Dalziel
  David Heinemeier Hansson
  Scott Sharp
LMP2 329 28th 10th
31   Ed Brown
  Jon Fogarty
  Johannes van Overbeek
339 15th 7th
2016   Extreme Speed Motorsports 30 Ligier JS P2-Nissan   Ed Brown
  Scott Sharp
  Johannes van Overbeek
LMP2 341 16th 11th
31   Chris Cumming
  Ryan Dalziel
  Pipo Derani
297 42nd 16th

References

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  1. ^ Days, John (May 4, 2014) ESM Takes Breakthrough Win in Monterey
  2. ^ Days, John (August 8, 2014) ESM Enters FIA WEC at COTA, Scales Back TUSC Entry
  3. ^ Dagys, John (September 20, 2014) ESM Withdraws from Petit Le Mans, Enters FIA WEC Race in Shanghai
  4. ^ Days, John (November 19, 2014) ESM Commits to NAEC Rounds Only in 2015
  5. ^ Dagys, John (May 5, 2015) Patron ESM to Forgo Remainder of NAEC
  6. ^ Fira, Michael (22 March 2016). "12 Hours of Sebring Race Report". Topspeed. Retrieved 18 February 2021.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Hartley Takes ESM Nissan DPi to Petit Le Mans Win – Sportscar365". Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  8. ^ "ESM Shutters Operations – Sportscar365". Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  9. ^ Dagys, John (November 18, 2014) ESM Confirms Full Season FIA WEC Program for 2015
  10. ^ Dagys, John (March 10, 2015) ESM Reverts to HPD ARX-03b, Plans Switch to Ligier JS P2 Honda
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