TeamTGM Aims to Turn Luck Around at COTA

Atlanta, Ga. (2 May 2017) – Racing at a track that has some important history to the team, this weekend could be the scene of a turnaround in luck for TeamTGM as the group readies for Circuit of the Americas.

While the first two events of the 2017 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge championship (Daytona and Sebring) did not go according to plan for TeamTGM, the team is looking to rid itself of the bad racing luck and is aiming high for Round 3 at Circuit of the Americas.

Drivers Ted Giovanis and Guy Cosmo enter this weekend’s event hopeful of a positive outing after spending the previous few weeks testing the team’s Porsche Cayman platform.

“I have a good feeling about Round 3 at Circuit of the Americas,” said Cosmo. “The first two races of the season certainly haven’t gone well for us but I think that streak has come to an end. We are a very strong team and an enormous amount of effort has gone into our program for this season. I think COTA is going to be good to us and we’ll be able to show how capable TeamTGM is. We tested at the track a few weeks ago and as always, COTA offers a lot of variety and many challenges, but our test was productive and I feel we are prepared for a great result.”

Likewise, Giovanis is confident that the team’s preparation will yield a positive outcome at the 3.4-mile F1 grade race track that features elevation changes and a variety of high and low speed sections.

“We’ve done a lot of testing and continue to develop both the ClubSport and the MR cars,” said Giovanis. “We are looking to determine which platform is best for each particular track. We have expectations of a good result this weekend at Circuit of the Americas. Guy (Cosmo) has had a lot of track time at COTA and I have been learning a lot from him in that respect. We are very positive about this weekend and have every expectation that we have the potential to be on the podium.”

Circuit of the Americas is a special place for Giovanis and the Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis (JKTG) Foundation For Health and Policy. It was on the pit lane at the Austin circuit where Giovanis first met Dr. Frank Rauscher in a chance encounter.

“I was in the pit lane at a race in Austin and asked the guy standing next to me what he did for a living,” Giovanis recalled. “That guy was Frank (Rauscher), and he told me he researched breast cancer metastasis and was trying to understand how it happens. I told him that’s what happened to my wife. We talked more and I was excited by his work and the potential for collaboration among his Wistar colleagues to uncover truly groundbreaking understanding of how cancer works.”

That conversation was followed by continued discussions between Giovanis and Rauscher which led to a generous contribution of $1.1 million by the JKTG Foundation to establish a Breast Cancer Research Consortium at The Wistar Institute that supports new, forward-thinking approaches to understanding breast cancer and to profoundly impact what we know about the advanced stages of the disease.

As TeamTGM continues to make great strides off of the track, the team looks to take another step forward with its race program at COTA.

The quick two-day Circuit of the Americas event kicks off on Thursday with practice while Friday will feature a full day of practice, qualifying, and the 2-hour Circuit of the Americas 120.

The race can be viewed LIVE on www.imsa.tv with the green flag set to fly at 2:45 PM local (3:45 PM ET).