6 HOURS OF BAHRAIN - THE CURTAINS ARE DOWN

Good Sunday afternoon, dear readers! Yesterday, in the heat of the night of Bahrain, the 2022 FIA WEC season came to a close, crowning Séb Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa as World Champions. I’m really happy about these guys I met in Monza back in June, and I send them my congratulations!

Lou and his mates RobKub and Lorenzo, thanks to their perfect strategy, even managed to keep their Prema-branded Oreca in the “podium zone”, but in the very last minutes, unfortunately, they ended up to P5. However, I congratulate them for their amazing season as well for their kindness when I met them in Monza.

So, what will Lou do next year? I hope to discover it 😉 I’m sure he will give all his efforts to do his best, as he always did and always will do!

4 HOURS OF PORTIMAO - TWO-TIME CHAMPIONS

Good evening! How did you spend your weekend? Mine was good, and Lou’s one couldn’t have been better. Yes, he became, for the second year in a row, ELMS Champion! 

Surely this season was unforgettable. Lou and his teammates Ferdinand and Juan-Manuel (who was substituted by Lorenzo Colombo while injured) committed themselves seriously and always raced sportively, fairly. In particular this race was difficult due to the wet track; actually Lou managed perfectly to juggle between the frequent Full Course Yellow and was the first to cross the finish line with the Prema-coloured Oreca. 

Again congratulations guys, hope to see you again on the summit of the podium because you deserve it! The next commitment for Lou will be in Bahrain in November. He will do his best one more time!

PETIT LE MANS (IMSA) - LOU, THE HERO OF TWO WORLDS

We usually say that our Italian National Hero, Giuseppe Garibaldi, was “the Hero of Two Worlds” because he was active both in Italy and Latin America. Well, since now we can say the same about our Lou: after the Petit Le Mans in Road Atlanta, he’s IMSA Champion! Not bad, for a rookie 😉 

Tower Motorsport won the race in the LMP2 Class as well as the two titles for Drivers and Constructors: when the end of the race was getting closer and closer, Lou managed to overtake Juan Pablo Montoya and this made him a Champion.

Congratulations to Lou and his teammates in this American adventure, John and Rui, as well as to Tower Motorsport, who made this dream come true. 

4 HOURS OF SPA FRANCORCHAMPS - THE TITLE IS ABOUT TO COME

Good Sunday evening! Have you spent a good weekend? Lou and his teammates Juan Manuel and Ferdinand for sure had a fantastic weekend, they completed a majestic race with P3. 

It was the first ELMS race for Juan Manuel; it’s fantastic to see him back where he belongs, on a race track. I’m happy to see that he’s building back his career after that horrible crash back in 2019. Ferdinand had a superb start and also managed to overtake three cars before JM’s turn, who was perfectly at ease in his first ELMS experience. Lou even tried to reach the Europol Competition car; despite their P3, they’re getting closer and closer to the title.

Big congratulations to the winners of the races, Hanson, Tappy and Gamble of United Autosport! Next stop: Portimao, in 3 weeks!

6 HOURS OF FUJI - FUJIYAMA IS WATCHING YOU

Finally, the moment came. What am I talking about? The 6 Hours of Fuji, held in one of my favourite countries: Japan! 

Lou landed in Tokyo on Monday and had a lot of fun visiting the crazy capital city of the Land of the Rising Sun. According to his Instagram stories, he visited landmarks such as Akihabara and TeamLab Borderless Museum.

Talking about the race, Japanese fans were very happy to see both the Toyota Hypercars on the highest steps of the podium. Our Prema boys gained P6 in their class and P10 in the general classification; in the first 30 minutes, Lou even managed to bring their Prema-branded Oreca up to P3. Robert and Lorenzo did their best to improve the result, but luck wasn’t so generous to them.

WEC will be back on track in 2 months, with the final 2022 act in Bahrain! 

4 HOURS OF BARCELONA - BACK 2 SCHOOL, BACK 2 THE WIN

After the summer break, we finally are back on the track! This time the ELMS circus travelled to the sunny and cozy Barcelona, where the 4 Hours of Barcelona was held. And this “back 2 school” weekend couldn’t have been better for Lou, Ferdinand and Lorenzo. Yes, they won.

In the first stint, Ferdinand started P6 and managed to take the lead of the race before giving the seat to Lorenzo, who raced in the second stint and saved the fuel wisely. Finally, Lou raced in the last stint and made a fantastic, perfect job taking the Prema LMP2 car to the win. Congratulation to this fantastic guys, who showed once again their closeness!

And the next adventure? Well, it will be for WEC, and will take place in a country I really love. I let you guess which one is it!

6 HOURS OF MONZA - A NOT-SO-SERIOUS REPORTAGE FROM THE FIELD

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Monza for the WEC 6 Hours! Oh, well, it took place yesterday, but I came back home at around 7:30 PM and I was too tired to write the review. It was my first time attending a WEC race, and I can say it was an unforgettable experience. But let’s start from the beginning.

My dad and me left our house at 7:45 AM and arrived to Monza Circuit at 9:00 AM. I bought the VIP ticket, so I was allowed to enter the paddock, while my dad remained on the tribunes. In the paddock I met some of my friends from Instagram who are into motorsport too, such as Lisa and her husband Davide, Silvia, Jasmine and Deborah. There also were many people from all over the world: Mexican, Polish, Japanese, French, American and many others. It was like travelling all around the world in an only place! 

Then the pit walk with the autograph session started: the most “sieged” drivers were RobKub and Fisico, but there were many other former Formula One drivers such as Paul DiResta, JEV, Kamui Kobayashi, Séb Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima. Lou was very nice and available towards the fans; despite I was wearing a face mask (Covid, here you are again) he recognized me at the first sight and made a big smile. My friends and me succeeded to get many autographs and gadgets!

I watched the race both from the stands with my dad and from the FanZone with my friends. It was full of crashes and yellow flags; the most scary one was when, during the second racing hour, Henrique Chaves lost his Aston Martin’s control and ended up upside down, luckily he was not hurt. Prema Orlen Team ended the race in 9th overall position and 6th in LMP2; Lou had an excellent first stint, he also managed to get the lead of the race after battling with William Owen.

Fun fact: a few minutes before the end of the race, my friends and me managed to shake our hands with Jim Glickenhaus, a movie producer which created an endurance racing team. He’s such a character, he always wears a cowboy hat, you should get to know him 🤠 

The winners of the race were Alpine for the overall classification and Corvette for GT class; my friends and me went under the podium to attend the ceremony, it was fantastic to sing national anthems of France and United States as well as funny (and refreshing!) to be sprayed by champagne.

My first ever WEC experience didn’t disappoint me at all I definitely need to be back next year!

Before saying you goodbye, I post you two of the many pics I took yesterday:

Despite the crowd, I managed to take a pic of Lou’s car 😊

Vicky with Lou himself! He looks surprised, isn’t he?

So, now definitely I have to say you goodbye! 👋🏻 See you at the next post 😉 

4 HOURS OF MONZA - FROM 6 TO 3 THROUGH 10”

Good late afternoon! As you know, this weekend Lou and his merry companions Lorenzo and Ferdinand were committed in the Monza 4 Hours for ELMS, where they started the race from P6. The Safety Car interrupted the race at least four times, which is a sign that during the race there were some troubles, but these interruptions helped to change the first positions quickly.

Ferdinand had a good first stint, while Lou, unfortunately, was given a 10” penalty due to an infraction during his pit stop; however, in the last race minutes, he managed to overtake Mühler Motorsport’s Oreca. 

The winners of the race are, for the Idec Team Lafargue, Chatin and Pilet, while our heroes’ Prema ended the race on the lowest step of the podium. Good job to everyone! See you in Monza next weekend, and when I say “see you in Monza” I mean it in the literary sense of the term 😉 

6 HOURS OF WATKINS GLEN - IMSA LEADERS!

Good evening! I’m updating the blog a bit late than usual, you know, when it comes to American races the time zone is different eheheh 😜 

This time Lou was in Watkins Glen, a circuit in the State of New York which is well-known by vintage Formula One fans as it hosted a F1 Grand Prix back in the 70s. Plus, it’s close to Seneca Lake, a natural paradise I would love to visit!

However, let’s focus on the race. After 6 hours of epic racing, Lou and his teammates Rui Andrade and John Farano took the Tower Motorsport team to P2, and above all they reached the leadership of the IMSA championship!

The next races will be in Monza, and probably I will attend one of them! If you know my university commitments, you will easily understand which one 😉

2022 24 HOURS OF LE MANS - NIPPON POWER

Good Sunday late afternoon! This was not only the weekend of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, won by Max Verstappen, but also the weekend of Le Mans 24 Hours, in which Lou was sharing his Prema LMP2 car with RobKub and Lorenzo Colombo. 

Let’s go over this legendary race again, starting from what happened during the qualification session last weekend. The pole position was taken by the “little Samurai” Kamui Kobayashi, and the crew Lou-RobKub-LorCol qualified P10 in the general classification and P6 in LMP2. During the race, our heroes kept fighting between P8 and P2, and ended P6 (P2 in LMP2). Huge congratulations to Toyota, for winning the race with Buemi, Hirakawa and Hartley, as well as for P2 with Kobayashi, Conway and Lopez! 

See you for the next race, which will be in Watkins Glen, near New York! By the way, did you know that some weeks ago Lou got lost in NYC? 😉 

4 HOURS OF IMOLA - FORMULINO PUTS A PAW IN IT

Welcome to Imola, Formulino’s kingdom! As a cat lady, how couldn’t I love Imola and its sweet kitty? Lou is a cat lover too, and surely Formulino brought him good luck. His teammates Lorenzo and Ferdinand and him had such a perfect race, as they stayed P4 for a long time and finally gained the tallest step of the podium in both general classification and LMP2. Congratulations boys for your 2nd victory in a row!

Next ELMS race? Monza, on July 3rd! It’s close to where I live, and I couldn’t be happy to be back to the track, or better, to my second home, after two years of pandemic. The only problem? It’s period of uni exams. I will see how I will manage the situation.

SPA 6 HOURS - WHAT A MESS!

Rain, red flags, battles, crashes: this was the 2022 Spa 6 Hours. Toyota lived a double-faced weekend: I’m happy that Kamui Kobayashi won the race, but on the other hand I’m a bit sad for Séb Buemi who had engine issues. And Lou? His teammate Lorenzo Colombo was 4th in the general classification, but unfortunately our Swiss chocolate broke the front end and Prema ended up 10th in the general classification as well as 7th in LMP2 class.

Cheer up Lou, Rob and Lorenzo, your next race will be better!

IMSA, LAGUNA SECA - HEATING UP THE CALIFORNIAN HEAT

Laguna Seca is for sure one of the hottest places I’ve ever visited around the world; I was there back in August 2015 and I was feeling like I was burning. And if that wasn’t hot enough, Lou gave his contribution to further heat it up.

But let’s start from the beginning. For this IMSA race, his teammate in Tower Motorsport was John Farano. They had a very good race, even considering that they had never raced together before, and ended with a fantastic victory in LMP2 class! Congratulations guys!

Lou also had the opportunity to visit San Francisco and loved it so much, just like I did during my 2015 USA trip. 

4 HOURS OF LE CASTELLET - THE SURPRISE IN THE EASTER EGG

Good evening! Have you spent a good Easter? Lou for sure spent a fantastic Easter, in his egg he found such a beautiful surprise: the victory of the 4 Hours of Le Castellet in ELMS.

As Juan Manuel Correa is currently injured, Lorenzo Colombo took his place alongside Lou and Ferdinand. 

The race started well, our boys were able to stay between P1 and P2 for the whole race (they actually started from P3) and finally got an amazing win, both for LMP2 class and for the whole race, making them leaders of the championship. Congratulations, Prema boys! However, this was only the first race, there’s still a long way to go.

I take the opportunity to wish you again an Happy Easter 🐣 Bye!

THREE YOUNG GUNS IN A NEW TEAM

Yesterday, on his Instagram page, Lou gave a big announcement: during 2022 season, he will race in ELMS for the second consecutive year, but this time we will see him at the wheel of a LMP2 Prema car; the Italian team will make its ELMS debut. 

Obviously Lou won’t be alone during this adventure: by his side, there will be Ferdinand Habsburg and Juan Manuel Correa. I wish them all the best, and maybe I will visit them in Monza!

2022 SUPER SEBRING WEEKEND - UPS&DOWNS

If Charles Leclerc had a wonderful weekend, bringing back Ferrari to the win after more than two years, unfortunately we cannot say the same about Lou in his IMSA 12h of Sebring weekend. According to what he wrote on his Instagram account, Prema Team had to retire his car.

But… wait, there wasn’t only IMSA this weekend. He also raced in the FIA WEC Super Sebring weekend, where he ended P4; the crew leaded the race too, but unfortunately they had to surrender to the bad weather conditions and to the subsequent red flags. 

As you can see, this has been an up&down weekend for our hero.

2022 WEC PROLOGUE - A SOUND IN THE HEAT

Prologue is a word which recalls us about classical music. Well, but this time in the Floridian heat you could hear the sound of WEC engines instead of the sound of the orchestra. For the Prema boys it was a fantastic combo of track days, with RobKub who scored the fastest time in the afternoon of Saturday and Lou who ended P4 in the afternoon of Sunday.

Personally I think it will be such an exciting season and I wish all the drivers all the best, especially to Lou and to Prema. Lou loves Sebring so much and for sure will have a good Sebring 1000!

2022 24 HOURS OF DAYTONA - FROM THE TRACK TO… THE OUTER SPACE!

I admit that I’m not so much more used to races outside Europe, as due to the pandemic F1 had to cut off many Asian and American rounds. However, this was Lou’s American debut, his first appearance on a track outside Europe and Middle East, and I can say it was a very good one. But let’s start from the beginning.

His teammates in Remus Racing, as I told you, were John Farano, Ferdinand Habsburg and Rui Andrade: they qualified 15th, and during the race they managed to lead it for a while, even almost winning it, but unfortunately they had to save fuel due to a pit stop trouble, giving the victory to Colton Herta and ending at least P3. Congratulations to everybody, all the drivers were fantastic! There also were some old acquaintances of us such as Andrea Caldarelli, Kamui Kobayashi, Felipe Nasr, Tom Blomqvist, Filipe Albuquerque, Mirko Bortolotti and Jimmie Johnson.

Lou got hooked by the unique atmosphere of America racing, which reflects perfectly the spirit of the US, and his teammates and him were able to visit the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral too! Racing drivers are so lucky, they can visit many of the beauties of this world 😊

AN AMERICAN CHALLENGE

Vicky: “Do you remember the animated movie “An American Tail” by Don Bluth, the one in which the Jewish-Russian mouse Fievel emigrates to New York along with his family?”

Reader: “Yes, I remember it, but what does it have to do with Louis Delétraz?”

Vicky: “A new American challenge is coming for Louis! He will race in IMSA with the team Tower Motorsport, and at the end of this month he will have his first Daytona test!”

Reader: “Cool! Who will his teammates be?”

Vicky: “Ferdinand Habsburg, Rui Andrade and John Farano”

Reader: “Can you wish him all the best?”

Vicky: “Yes, for sure! Let’s all wish him the best!”