Extreme Speed Motorsports–Johannes van Overbeek Earns Pole for ESM Patrón


MONTEREY, Calif., May 3, 2014 – Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) showed its speed on Saturday afternoon at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with pole position for Sunday’s TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race. Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 2 Tequila Patrón Honda Performance Development ARX-03b was the fastest qualifier in a battle between the two ESM prototypes.

The Oakland, Calif., driver won his first overall pole position with a time of 1:18.561 (102.555 mph), which established a Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca qualifying record for the Prototype category. In addition, it was ESM’s first overall TUDOR United SportsCar Championship pole position. Back in 2012, van Overbeek earned a GT class pole at Virginia International Raceway.
 
During the brief 15-minute qualifying session, van Overbeek and Ryan Dalziel in the No. 1 Tequila Patrón HPD ARX-03b swapped the lead several times. Dalziel eventually qualified with the third-fastest time with a 1:18.788 (102.259 mph) lap around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit. 

Ed Brown will start Sunday’s race for the No. 2 team and van Overbeek will drive second. Scott Sharp will start in the No. 1 machine and Dalziel will drive second.

The day didn’t start as the team planned. Following a traffic-filled opening session, ESM was uncertain about the performance of the prototypes and were fourth and sixth in class. In the second session, both machines shot to the top of the charts. In a preview of what was to come in qualifying, the two black and green machines traded the top spot several times. When the second session was complete, van Overbeek was quickest and Dalziel was third.