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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Negri’s Hard-Earned Rolex 24 Win
For family man Ozz Negri, Rolex 24 victory is just icing on the cake...
The Negri family celebrate Ozz's victory in the 50th Rolex 24. (Photo: MSR)
Sometimes it take years of hard work to create an overnight success, and Ozz Negri’s story reads like a textbook tale of hard work and ambition yielding the big breakthrough. Negri’s win in the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona for Michael Shank Racing, earned with co-drivers John Pew, AJ Allmendinger, and Justin Wilson came after years of ups and downs in motorsport for the affable Brazilian.
But even before getting into the car to win his newest timepiece, the custom-built Rolex Daytona Chronograph that is awarded only to the winning drivers, Negri felt like he had everything he needed, right at home, with wife Cláudia and his daughters Nathalia and Ana Cláudia.
Success in auto racing often requires equal parts fortune, good luck, and talent. Following a path that many before him had travelled Negri, who was karting teammates with the late Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna, rode the wave of multiple karting championships to be named “Driver of the Year” in his first season of Formula Ford competition.
Without the same sponsorship as others, though, his path was often forked as he took whatever opportunity he could find to keep racing. That attitude saw him impress as he went up against some of the biggest names in the sport, even though he often didn’t have the current year car, or best chassis. He fought his way up to British Formula 3 and won, returning to do the same in the highly competitive International Formula 3. But when the next step to Formula 1 didn’t materialize, Negri didn’t give up, moving to Mexico to keep racing single seaters, and winning the Indy Lights Pan-Am Championship.
A shot at the US-based Indy Lights championship, which proved to be the launching pad for compatriots Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves, came in compromised equipment. Despite showing flashes of speed, it didn’t lead to the next thing for Negri.
But he never stopped working. His sensitive feel for a race car and his ability to break down what it took to make the car faster made him an ideal development driver and driver coach. First for Skip Barber and then for Formula BMW, Negri was asked to develop not just the cars, but also the drivers who were racing them. Turns out, his tips were sculpting the next generation of racers as drivers like Graham Rahal, AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and James Hinchcliff, all benefitted from Negri’s coaching.
But as much as he enjoyed the huge seat time and seeing his young racers progress, what Negri really wanted was the same as ever--to race and win.
Fortunately, his coaching helped to create new opportunity, as a partnership with Mark Patterson saw the duo turn an exploratory run of races in 2005-which netted a pole and a podium-into a five year run in Rolex Series competition that yielded two big race wins and two Pro-Am Championships for Patterson. After Patterson moved his racing focus to the global stage, Pew was tabbed to join Negri, and responded with aplomb, also winning the Pro-Am Championship twice (2010, 2011) and constantly impressing with stout lap times.
“I can’t even begin to describe what kind of influence Ozz has had on my team,” offered Team Owner Mike Shank, who seems to generate as much loyalty as he shows. “He put this organization in position to win the 24, and it all goes back to 2004 when we first ran him and he got us on the podium in just our second Rolex Series race. Ozz was the guy who developed Mark (Patterson, 2-time Rolex Series race winner and 2-time Pro-Am Champion with MSR Daytona), and John (Pew) into the drivers that they are today.”
But even before getting into the car to win his newest timepiece, the custom-built Rolex Daytona Chronograph that is awarded only to the winning drivers, Negri felt like he had everything he needed, right at home, with wife Cláudia and his daughters Nathalia and Ana Cláudia.
Success in auto racing often requires equal parts fortune, good luck, and talent. Following a path that many before him had travelled Negri, who was karting teammates with the late Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna, rode the wave of multiple karting championships to be named “Driver of the Year” in his first season of Formula Ford competition.
Without the same sponsorship as others, though, his path was often forked as he took whatever opportunity he could find to keep racing. That attitude saw him impress as he went up against some of the biggest names in the sport, even though he often didn’t have the current year car, or best chassis. He fought his way up to British Formula 3 and won, returning to do the same in the highly competitive International Formula 3. But when the next step to Formula 1 didn’t materialize, Negri didn’t give up, moving to Mexico to keep racing single seaters, and winning the Indy Lights Pan-Am Championship.
A shot at the US-based Indy Lights championship, which proved to be the launching pad for compatriots Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves, came in compromised equipment. Despite showing flashes of speed, it didn’t lead to the next thing for Negri.
But he never stopped working. His sensitive feel for a race car and his ability to break down what it took to make the car faster made him an ideal development driver and driver coach. First for Skip Barber and then for Formula BMW, Negri was asked to develop not just the cars, but also the drivers who were racing them. Turns out, his tips were sculpting the next generation of racers as drivers like Graham Rahal, AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and James Hinchcliff, all benefitted from Negri’s coaching.
But as much as he enjoyed the huge seat time and seeing his young racers progress, what Negri really wanted was the same as ever--to race and win.
Fortunately, his coaching helped to create new opportunity, as a partnership with Mark Patterson saw the duo turn an exploratory run of races in 2005-which netted a pole and a podium-into a five year run in Rolex Series competition that yielded two big race wins and two Pro-Am Championships for Patterson. After Patterson moved his racing focus to the global stage, Pew was tabbed to join Negri, and responded with aplomb, also winning the Pro-Am Championship twice (2010, 2011) and constantly impressing with stout lap times.
“I can’t even begin to describe what kind of influence Ozz has had on my team,” offered Team Owner Mike Shank, who seems to generate as much loyalty as he shows. “He put this organization in position to win the 24, and it all goes back to 2004 when we first ran him and he got us on the podium in just our second Rolex Series race. Ozz was the guy who developed Mark (Patterson, 2-time Rolex Series race winner and 2-time Pro-Am Champion with MSR Daytona), and John (Pew) into the drivers that they are today.”
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