Extreme Speed Motorsports enjoyed the Grand Prix of Monterey, taking victory at Laguna Seca to score the team’s first overall victory in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
Johannes van Overbeek, who scored his first overall pole position in qualifying, drove alongside Ed Brown, with the duo taking their first win together at the end of the two-hour race.
Brown took the start of the race, putting in a career-best run, holding a top ten position throughout his 22 minute stint, handing the car over to van Overbeek under green, shuffling the team back down the order to twelfth.
Strong driving from van Overbeek saw him move up to fifth in just thirteen laps, taking the lead a further sixteen laps down the road. Further pitstops for fuel dropped van Overbeek down to third with 50 minutes remaining, working his way back to the head of the field with less than 15 minutes left on the clock.
“I could not be happier,” said van Overbeek. “This is my home race. I thought I was cursed at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca because I’ve come so close to winning so many times. To win with Ed, Tequila Patrón and ESM, it is just fantastic.
“From the outside, it probably looked pretty easy, but inside is another story. I was more nervous when Ed was in the car. He did a great job and put us in a great spot, and then I got in. I tried to be clean and knock off good laps and I figured if I kept doing that and stay clean, we’d be toward the front when it was near the end. There were no yellows; my hat is off to all the drivers out there.”
Meanwhile, Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel in the sister car enjoyed strong pace and spent part of the race at the top of the field before being forced to retire with gearbox issues. They were classified 11th at the end of the race.
