Mowlem Treating Corsa Development Like Any Other

Braselton, August 5, 2009: Corsa Motorsports’ Johnny Mowlem has been in racing long enough to do more than his share of testing and development. He has an interesting perspective on the continued evolution and progress of the team’s Ginetta-Zytek 09HS hybrid prototype.

“Revolutionary as it is to challenge the best teams in the world with an internal combustion engine/electric motor hybrid combination, we can’t just think of it that way,” Mowlem said recently. “We have to develop this car and power package just as we have all developed some new concept at different stages of our careers.”

At first glance that may be hard to fathom. Corsa’s prototype is the first in the American Le Mans Series to be officially homologated and classified as a hybrid. The Ginetta-Zytek employs a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that enables the collection and conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy. It permits the use of an electric motor resulting in more efficient power and a lower carbon footprint.

The combination was more than capable at Lime Rock Park with a third-place overall finish for Mowlem and Stefan Johansson.

“It has required a great deal of teamwork and effort from the Corsa Motorsports team and as much support from all our other partners as possible,” Mowlem said. “Obviously the podium finish was very satisfying. Still, we have a lot of development work to do yet and third place, although great, certainly still leaves us with more steps to take.”