Local Sports

ALMS teams unveil new livery

Photos

Highlands Today
Published: March 6, 2013

Black, lime green, a bottle of Tequila Patrón and swirling Patrón Bees.

Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) driver/owner Scott Sharp commissioned ESBG Design to create liveries for the Tequila Patrón-sponsored HPD ARX-03b race cars to run in the 2013 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patrón season.

"I want to thank the guys at ESBG Design for their efforts," Sharp said. "Each year we challenge them to create a livery that represents both ESM and Patrón. They've out-done themselves this year in showcasing the Patrón brand in new and bold ways."

A longtime partner of ESM, ESBG Design willingly accepted the challenge to create a dynamic livery for the Florida-based race team. Both the ESM Honda Performance Development ARX-03b P2 cars are black and feature the Tequila Patrón bottle on the nose. Emerging from the Tequila Patrón are several Patrón Bees swirling about the cars with a trail of lime green. The lime green paint on the car is reflective, so both racing machines will pop under the lights at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida next week.

"Our Tequila Patrón livery has excited all of us the last few years...but I can't put into words the new ARX-03b P2 car," Sharp said. "Shocking, electrifying, stunning...are just a few words that come to mind."

In mid-February, ESM announced it will campaign two purpose-built prototypes beginning at Sebring.

Last week, ESM announced the new driver lineups for the 2013 season included Scott Sharp and Guy Cosmo as co-drivers of the No. 01 machine, and Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 02 machine. David Brabham and Anthony Lazzaro were added to ESM's driver roster for the Sebring race.

DeltaWing Racing Cars has revealed the livery for the DeltaWing powered by Elan, before its first on-track test scheduled for Wednesday at Road Atlanta.

After running a fully black livery with some yellow, then red trim on the roll hoop accents in 2012, the 2013 DeltaWing livery marks a radical departure. The DeltaWing will take the grid in 2013 with a striking chrome paint scheme, now highlighted with red accents on the roll hoop and just behind the front tires, from new tire partner Bridgestone.

The chrome is a natural evolution for the car that has made its mark on the sports car racing world simply by being different. It's the latest new element for the DeltaWing's 2013 season.

"It just ties into the DeltaWing being such a unique, revolutionary car," said Don Panoz, managing partner, DeltaWing Racing Cars. "I wanted something that represented that image. A shining, aggressive metal was what I thought of, and that was the chrome."

The design went through several possible design ideas before settling on the chrome and red.

"I think this became apparent once we would be using Bridgestone tires," Panoz said. "The only color they have outside of black is red. We wanted to keep it consistent. Before deciding on the chrome, I looked at brilliant reds or brilliant greens. We decided the chrome was the thing to keep it in line with Bridgestone and their colors."

This is not the first time a Panoz race car has had this type color. The Panoz Esperante GTR-1 that raced in the late 1990s had a primarily silver background, as did the LMP1 Panoz Roadster-S run that premiered in 1999.

The DeltaWing is scheduled to test Wednesday and Thursday at Road Atlanta. Olivier Pla and Andy Meyrick have been confirmed as drivers for the LMP1 class entry, with Meyrick set to turn his first laps in the car this week.

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