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.