[h=2]Sebring IMSA test notebook, Day 4[/h] Friday, 23 February 2018
IMSA Wire Service
Two years ago, Brazilian driver Pipo Derani achieved superstar status in the world of sports car racing, winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and following it up with a victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts with Tequila Patron ESM teammates Johannes van Overbeek, Scott Sharp and Ed Brown.
"If you're talking about sports car racing, you're talking about Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans, Petit and those races that are known worldwide," said the now 24-year-old Brazilian. "After winning Daytona and immediately coming here at Sebring – which if I'm not wrong, I was the first guy winning both on debut and the first Brazilian, probably to win back-to-back on those two races.
"It definitely changed my career. It opened many doors for myself and I'm really glad that it happened. Nothing comes easy. I'm really glad that ESM gave me the chance in 2016 to be in those races. Two years later, I can't wait to win again."
This week, Derani was back at Sebring International Raceway for two days of testing in preparation for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 17. He will co-drive the No. 22 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan DPi with van Overbeek and Nicolas Lapierre, the only lineup in the field that includes three former overall winners at Sebring (Lapierre won the race in 2011).
While he couldn't point to one specific reason why he and the team won, he remains proud to see the sign on the building behind pit lane at Sebring that signifies the team's victory in 2016 with its Honda-powered Ligier prototype.
"It's a place that's so special," Derani said. "It's such a difficult track that I think not only you have to have a great group of guys working for you to be able to achieve a victory here, but you kind of have to be chosen to win and overcome all the difficulties that this race has. I think we were one of the lucky ones, honestly, to be able to be in a position to fight for this victory.
"When I won here, myself and Johannes, we had to fight really hard for that win. Today, to look up and see our names up there, it's quite special. It's a very difficult race, especially because it beats the hell out of you. You get really tired in the end of the race. It's a special one to win. I can't really point out one single reason why we won the race. It's such a difficult race. You need a great group of people around. I think that's the reason why we won this race."
Derani also was pleased with the team's progress throughout Thursday's full day and night of testing. There were able to take full advantage of 10 hours of available track time.
"It's been going well, better than expected," he said. "Yesterday was a day that we managed to get a lot of information. Most importantly, we ran a lot. We were out on track, and that is really good for us. Hopefully, this work is going to pay off really, really soon."
Corvette Racing has 'good relationship' with Twelve Hours of Sebring
Celebrating its 20th season of competition in 2018, Corvette Racing has enjoyed considerable success at several venues in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. However, there's no place like Sebring International Raceway for the two-car GT Le Mans class team.
The team has won 11 times since its first Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts victory in 2002, when Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and current No. 4 Corvette C7.R driver Oliver Gavin took the GTS class victory.
Next month, the team will be looking for its fourth consecutive Sebring GTLM victory. It won last year with Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R, two years ago with Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler in the No. 4 and in 2015 with the No. 3 co-driven by Garcia, Magnussen and Ryan Briscoe, who now drives the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT.
"Sebring certainly holds a lot of great memories for Corvette Racing, some very interesting memories, some not so interesting," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "Early on when we started here, this was our Bermuda Triangle. Back in 1999 and 2000, we couldn't do anything right here. No matter what we did, it turned out to be disastrous.
"But as usual, we kept our shoulder to the wheel, heads down and have developed a pretty good relationship with the track right now. The cars like it here. This is a very difficult racetrack from the standpoint of durability and reliability, everybody knows that. If you can win here in 12 hours, you can win anyplace with the car. The drivers like the track because it's fast. It takes a great deal of skill and experience to be able to run the full 12 hours without hitting anything, without breaking anything and without running off the racetrack.