6 HOURS OF BAHRAIN - END OF MANY CHAPTERS

In a sunny and windy November afternoon, the day after coming back from a beautiful family holiday to Parma, I’m writing this review of Lou’s final race of the year, which crowned him King of LMP2, obviously along with RobKub and Rui Andrade. By the way, did you know that next year WRT will switch to Hypercar? 

The overall WEC Champions, once again, are Séb Buemi, Brendon the Pop Singer and Ryo Hirakawa, whom I sent my dearest congratulations to! And I’m also happy for the Iron Dames who gained P1 in the LMGTE class, which unfortunately had its last appearance in WEC. I will miss that beautiful GT cars next year.

Finally, I say a big THANK YOU to all the drivers who entertained us on track, as well as team managers, mechanics and all the staff who worked to this amazing WEC season. Because it’s not only about drivers, motorsport is the fruit of the hard work of several different figures. 

What will be Lou’s future challenges? In 2024 he’ll race full time in the US with Acura, I can’t wait for this new adventure and I will always support him. I’m a bit sorry he won’t come to Monza, but maybe I’ll try to attend some overseas races (everything can happen!)

4 HOURS OF PORTIMÃO - DOUBLE RACE IN ELMS, IS THAT POSSIBLE?

Good morning! Sorry if I found myself to write the weekend review later than usual, but yesterday I was quite busy with work at home! However, I hope you’ll forgive me, or not?

Anyway, last weekend Lou attended the last ELMS race weekend of the season, in which he was crowned third-classified in both LMP2 and overall! Congratulations, Lou, you did all your best!

This weekend was quite different from traditional ones, as there were two races, with a different qualification session for each other. In the first one Lou and his teammates crossed the finish line in P13; the rainy weather influenced the race, in which there were many crashes, such as one involving an Inter Europol Competition prototype which was engulfed by flames; even Salih Yoluc, Lou’s teammate, ended up in the gravel.

In the second race, unfortunately, Salih Yoluc ran over a mechanic in the pit lane (luckily he didn’t have physical consequences) and Charlie Eastwood was hit by a Ferrari; Lou had to save the honour of Racing Team Turkey ending P4 in their class and P7 overall.

And now, see you in November for the last WEC act! 

4 HOURS OF SPA - UP & DOWN, FROM POLE, TO P4, TO P3

Good afternoon! How did you spend your weekend? Mine was great, on Sunday I attended the races of TCR Europe and GT Open in Monza. Thanks to Matilde, Miloš Pavlović’s wife, I managed to obtain a pass for the paddock and I had the pleasure to follow GT Open race from the box of Bonaldi Motorsport. But this doesn’t mean I forgot about Lou’s ELMS race in Spa, and here I am to tell you a few words about it. 

Thanks to Salih Yoluc, Racing Team Turkey obtained the pole position. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the race, Manuel Maldonado (yes, Pastor’s cousin, you surely remember him on Pastor’s shoulders during the 2012 fire in Barcelona, right after the Venezuelan driver’s maiden win) caused a crash with another car, and safety car made its entrance on track. Lou and his crew ended the race P4, but, after the race, Alessio Rovera, Mathieu Vaxiviere and François Perrodo (AF Corse) got a penalty for accelerating too early at the restart after the end of the yellow flag, making Racing Team Turkey switch to P3.

The next (and final!) ELMS race will be on October 21st and 22nd in Portimao. Who will become the champion? You will discover it on these pages!

6 HOURS OF FUJI - BIG IN JAPAN!

Konnichi-wa 🙏🏻 Welcome to Japan, one of my favourite countries ever! I may have already written about it on this blog, but I love Japan for its millenary culture and traditions, its delicious and healthy food and the kindness and politeness of people! And yes, it’s okay to admit it, I love Japanese car manufacturers and racing drivers too. And you can easily imagine how happy I am for the win of the FIA WEC championship Toyota obtained on the Fuji Speedway, after a tumultuous race fighting with a Porsche. Japanese fans were amazed, they have a great love for their cars and drivers as well as a big respect for “rivals”, which is a quality I admire a lot.

Lou had a good time in the days before the race, strolling around Tokyo with Nobu Matsushita (his former Formula 2 teammate) and visiting hedgehog cafés. And, along with his teammates RobKub and Rui, he won in the LMP2 classification, incrementing the chances to seize the LMP2 title! 

WEC will be back on November 4th in Sakhir, for the final act of the 2023 season! See you 👋🏻 

4 HOURS OF ALCANIZ - TROUBLES FOR LOU

Good Sunday evening! Did you spend good summer holidays? I hope you enjoyed them, so, let’s head back into racing!

This weekend, Lou was committed in the Alcaniz ELMS round, which unfortunately was not a lucky one for the Racing Team Turkey. 

Lou was first in his class, but unfortunately he was overtaken by Matthieu Vaxiviere; then, due to electrical troubles on his Oreca, he had to spend a long time at the box and ended the race P20.

As a Japanophile and big fan of Japanese drivers, I’m proud of Marino Sato who, along with Oliver Jarvis and Philip Hanson, won the race from the pole position! Do you remember when I met Marino in Monza, back in 2019?

Plus, this gives me the assist to announce that Lou’s next race will be the Fuji round of WEC! May some of you give me a ticket to Japan, please? 😉 

4 HOURS OF PAUL RICARD - MIRACLES HAPPEN!

Good evening!

After the Monza WEC round of last weekend, Lou is back to his racing duties in ELMS. This time he raced in Paul Ricard, where he made such a miracle: he had a unfortunate front left tire puncture with 12 laps to go, but, according to what he wrote on his Insta, “drove his heart out” to make it to the first step of the podium, at least for his class. In fact, he actually ended the overall race P3.

Also big congratulations to Algarve Pro Racing for their first overall win!

See you for the next adventure 👋🏻😘 

MONZA 6 HOURS - A WEEKEND ON THE FIELD

Good evening!

If you follow me on Instagram, you know for sure that on Saturday I attended the qualifications of FIA WEC in Monza. Due to a mistake I bought tickets for the qualifications and not for the race, but this doesn’t mean I made the wrong thing: Ferrari won Le Mans, and this means that paddock tickets for Sunday were sold out.

I caught up with friends of mine I use to meet in Monza, and we had good fun together, apart from the pit walk which unfortunately this year, and I’m sorry to say that, was very badly organized. I met some drivers I had never met before, such as Daniil Kvyat and Andre Lotterer. Lou was the first driver I met in the morning, and we had a 360º chat: I asked him something about his racing duties and he asked me how is my life going. You’re always so nice and kind, Lou! Never change, please, you’re perfect as you are!

And the qualification session of his team was perfect too: RobKub gained LMP2 pole position (the first one for a Polish driver in WEC!) with a breathtaking lap.

The 6 Hours of Monza saw another Toyota win in Hypercar, so I send my congratulations to Kamui, Mike and José Maria; JOTA won LMP2 and Dempsey-Proton conquered GTE AM. 

And what about the WRT car with the number 41? During the race they oscillated between P6 and P8 in their class, and they ended up P13 for the general classification and P3 for LMP2.

I sadly have to tell you this will be the last Italian WEC race in Monza, as from next year the 6 Hours will be held in Imola. However, I’m happy because the next one will be in Fuji! I wish I could attend it too, but it will be difficult.

Here you are my selfie with Lou and the photo of his car.

2023 24 HOURS OF LE MANS - ITALY CAN SMILE AGAIN

Good Sunday afternoon, my friends and followers! Are you ready to the report of the most important race of the year?

After the disappointment of FC Inter defeated by ManCity in the final UEFA Champions League match, Italy regained a smile with the win of Ferrari 499P, with the Prancing Horse coming back to Le Mans after 58 years of absence. Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi made a very good job and I send them my biggest congratulations!

I can say that Toyota, the winner of the previous editions, had a fantastic race too, with strength and commitment, but they had to surrender to Ferrari’s superiority.

Lou and his teammate RobKub and Rui Andrade were a bit unlucky this year, as they ended the race P11 for what concerns the general classification and P2 when it comes to LMP2.

What can I say? Le Mans is always Le Mans, I can’t help it if it’s always so fascinating 🥰

2023 COURSE DE MONTEREY - CRASH FOR JOHN, NO RACE FOR LOU

Good Monday evening! Have you spent a nice weekend? Has your week started well? 

Well, let me tell you how Lou spent his weekend in one of the hottest (in every sense) circuits in the world (personal experience).

Lou arrived to Laguna Seca full of good hopes for the IMSA Monterey race. His teammate John Farano and him qualified P7 but, unfortunately, the Canadian racer had a big crash which resulted in an hospitalization; luckily, he’s well. This means that Lou did not compete in the race.

Never give up, Lou, next time you will hit the track!

SPA 6 HOURS - TODAY, TOMORROW, TWO TOYOTAS

Good Sunday afternoon! Here it’s raining cats and dogs, but this doesn’t prevent me from talking about Spa 6 Hours, which is commonly considered as a “general test” for Le Mans 24 Hours. 

Toyota conquered its third overall win of the season; my biggest congratulations go to Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José Maria Lopez, as well as to their teammates Séb Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley, who ended P2. There’s also some Italy on the podium: a red Ferrari LMP1 car driven by Alessandro Pierguidi, James Calado and Antonio “Jesus” Giovinazzi.

In the last hours of the races, Lou had a breathtaking duel with Tom Blomqvist, United Autosports’ ace, who started from the pole position. After a pit stop, Lou managed to get rid of him, thanks to the help of Rui Andrade and RobKub too, resulting in the LMP2 triumph of WRT.

Congratulations to all the boys and girls and see you at the next adventure!

4 HOURS OF BARCELONA - LOU WRITES HISTORY

Another weekend, another race for Lou. This time we’re in Montmelò, and the championship is ELMS.

This time our Swiss ace gained another satisfaction in his flourishing career, as he, along with his teammates Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood, ended the race P1 both in the whole classification and in their category. We can say, as he posted on his Insta profile, “history has been written”.

Salih Yoluc started with a bang, managing to be constantly close to Pro racers, while Charlie Eastwood reached P2. Then, Lou had some troubles with the black and orange flag, as there was a broken piece on the car; however, after the mandatory pitstop, he finally overtook his compatriot Neel Jani and VICTORY!!!

What can I say now? Good job, guys! 

See you for the next race!

6 HOURS OF PORTIMÃO - THE SEASON IS ON!

Good evening! The Portimão weekend started with a nasty crash of a Porsche who flew on the (luckily) empty grandstands of the circuit. I admit I was scared by this unusual accident, which (again) luckily had no consequences.

However, I’ll give you a little summary of the race, in which Lou and his crew started from P20 and ended P12 in the general classification as well as P3 in LMP2.

Toyota confirmed its superiority, just like in the past year’s season. Unfortunately, while Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa won the race, Kobayashi, Conway and Lopez had some troubles on their car and this prevented the Japanese manufacturer from monopolizing the first two steps on the podium. 

Unfortunately, Prema’s race was negatively influenced by the safety car; that’s why Lou succeeded in overtaking Daniil Kvyat in the last minutes. 

What can I say now? I wish good luck to all the WEC guys, hoping to meet them (again) in Monza next July!

2023 SEBRING 12H - 10TH IN THE HEAT

Good late afternoon, we’re back to the hot Floridian race tracks! This time we have the pleasure to race on the former military airport of Sebring, nowadays the track in which one of the most iconic races is held.

This time Lou and his teammates Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque had not the pleasure to climb the podium, as they ended P10, but there were many more surprises during the race.

The Cadillac driven by Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken started from the pole and won the race, but we shouldn’t think they had an absolute dominion. Instead, they went through some troubles caused by a crash with a LMP3 car; then, with 20 minutes to go, Filipe Albuquerque (Lou’s teammate) crashed into another driver involving several cars, giving way to the red and black Cadillac, which conquered the victory trophy.

From the bottom of my heart I send Lou and his teammates my biggest encouragements, waiting for the international season and their next adventures!

PREMA AND LOU: ETERNAL LOVE

2023 will be a busy year for Lou. During the last weeks, he announced he will race in ELMS for a brand-new Turkish team. He confirmed his partnership with Team Prema also for the WEC season as well as for Le Mans 24 Hours; along with him, Rui Andrade and RobKub are confirmed too. On his Instagram account, Lou said that his one with RobKub is “a long-term relationship”, a joke which tells a lot about Lou’s relationship with Team Prema and his teammates. They’re the perfect balance between youth and experience, Prema is a glorious team with many successes under its belt and I’m sure they will have great satisfactions this year too.

2023 DAYTONA 24 - A WINTER WEEKEND IN FLORIDA

We have to wait until March 5th for the Formula One season to begin, but it doesn’t mean that there aren’t races in this period. For example, the last one was the Daytona weekend! 

Similarly to what happens with Indy 500, qualifications for this race were held on the previous weekend. Lou and his teammates Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Brendon Hartley managed to qualify their Wayne Taylor Racing Acura to P3.

After a week of fun in the heat of Florida, going to theme parks and watching NBA matches, it was the time to play serious. And they did so. 

They managed to end the race in P2, with only 4 seconds of distance from the Meyer Shank Racing Acura driven by Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Simon Pagenaud and Hello Castroneves. Congratulations to all the guys as well as to Acura for its 1-2!

But wait, don’t close the page: Lou, while chilling in Miami Beach, announced that he will spend 2023 ELMS season with Racing Team Turkey, his teammates will be Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluc. Maybe I will meet him again in Monza, who knows 😉