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!”

AMERICAN VIBES FOR LOU

At this point of the year in Europe you can see snow and feel freezing, but not in Florida: this is the period of the year where many Americans spend holidays in the Sunshine State. But Florida is also the home of the famous Daytona Speedway… so, what does it has to do with Lou? Yes, you understood well: Lou spent two days of testing in Daytona and, according to his latest Instagram post, he’s already in love with American racing! I hope this experience will give him opportunities for his bright future in this fantastic sport.

THE RACING EXPERIENCE

As we know, this is not a period in which racing drivers are very active on tracks. And Lou himself is taking a break, as his ELMS season is now done and dusted. But this doesn’t mean that he’s not thinking about racing; at least 10 days ago, he attended the new simulator center The Racing Experience in Lausanne, in his native Switzerland. He was very enthusiastic and satisfied about the experience and recommends it to everyone.

4 HOURS OF PORTIMÃO - GRAND FINALE

Finally, this breathtaking and exciting ELMS season came to a close… and Lou, Robert and Yifei ended it with a fantastic P2! But let’s start from the beginning… Robert had a good start, in which he overtook two cars! Then they navigated between P6 and P3, until in the end they conquered P2. I’m really happy about their fantastic season, during which all the three WRT drivers as well as the employees of the team made big efforts to make a fantastic job. 

So, what about next year? I can’t wait for other fantastic surprises, and obviously I will tell you about on this little virtual space!

See you in the next post 😊😘👋🏻