Pipo Derani Looks to Add to Sebring Legacy
Credit: IMSA, LAT Images, Michael L. Levitt
There’s something about the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac that brings out the best in Pipo Derani. Just thirty-years-old, Derani returns to this weekend’s 72nd running as the defending and four-time race winner as well as IMSA Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) champion.
Considering his record at the rough, multi-surface circuit originally used as a training base for B-17 pilots during World War II, Derani is confident his No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R and teammates Jack Aitken and Tom Blomqvist are up to the task, especially with a year’s experience with the new GTP cars.
“I think it certainly does give you a lot of confidence. Last year was very up and down and one of the goals for this year was be more consistent, stay more at the top throughout the whole season. Having Daytona be very positive for us also gives us great hope, even more so than winning the championship last year, that we will continue to be strong.
“It would be great for me to win the fifth, but I’m honestly not thinking of that.”
“There are many things that we need to improve on if we want to be at this level, but we believe we are on the right path and Daytona was a great result to prove to ourselves that we are working on the right things to be competitive.
“It’s details and experience that help you build and create a championship fight year. You can’t let yourself down once in a while because it will hurt you. Having the experience gives you even more confidence that you can achieve that year in and year out, so having gone through the ups and downs of last year it’s allowing us to be stronger this year and be more consistent at the front. If you are competitive and constantly putting yourself in that position to win without mistakes, without giving your adversaries a chance to do better than you, then I believe the year will be much better and wins will be a consequence and championships as well.
“It would be great for me to win the fifth, but I’m honestly not thinking of that. I’m just thinking of it as any other race to do your best. If we repeat the win, to be the only GTP car to win at Sebring would make it special.”
Credit: IMSA, LAT Images, Michael L. Levitt
Derani burst onto the America sports car scene in 2016 as a relatively unknown driver from Brazil. Back-to-back wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Daytona and Sebring established him as a rising star and set him up for the career he’s had.
“Absolutely. I think more Sebring than Daytona. Daytona was a bit more shocking to many people because I was an unknown to most in America.
“But Sebring 2016 came in a different way because we weren’t leading in the last 30 minutes. We were I think P4 and I was able to overtake those guys and win in a very nice way.
“Some people, with truth, said we won Daytona only because the car was so good. That’s fair because you don’t get to win such a big race without a good car. Then, because we won Sebring because I did a very strong job at the end, I believe is what cemented myself as a new, young and perhaps up-and-coming star to the sport. It was for me a life-changing moment, a career-changing moment because up until that moment I was nobody.
“I was racing in Europe; I had done a year of WEC (World Endurance Championship) that went really well. It was my first two races in America and had been in a moment when I had just turned pro. So, I went from someone who had a dream of being a professional to then becoming a professional and immediately when that happened I managed to win two of the most prestigious races you have around the world. That helped cement my name and push me towards where I am now.
“I would say Sebring '16 was a very special one.”
Credit: IMSA, LAT Images, Jake Galstad
One of the first things you see when to drive into Sebring International Raceway is a list of all the winners. While he knows his legacy at Sebring is secure, Derani is approaching this weekend’s race as if he is trying to win it for the first time instead of for the fifth.
“I do sometimes think about how lucky I have been over the last few years, how lucky I’ve been to work with so many great teams and great people and great teammates that allowed me to have that much success. Not in my dreams would I have thought by the age of 30 I would have won four times at Sebring.
“When you look back over the years, it was only during the Audi dominance that someone was able to win as much as what I was lucky to win over the last few years. In itself, it’s quite nice, but it wouldn’t have happened without a great team and great people behind me.
“Come race day or race week, you don’t allow yourself to think about that much because what happened is in the past. You want to do it all over again, like it was your first one. It’s nice to be able to walk into the track and see your name or walk into the hall fame and see how many great drivers have won Sebring. And to think you’ve done something nice in this very iconic and special race is nice, but I don’t look at it the same way probably as I will once I retire.
“At the moment, I’m constantly trying to win more. Sebring will be up there with the best things I’ve achieved.”
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