From IMSA to NLS @ Nurburgring with Alessio Picariello

Part 2 of Alessio Picariello interview covering IMSA (Daytona, Sebring), Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) and 24 hours of Nürburgring.

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Daytona 2022.

CRR: Congratulation for being able to participate to your first IMSA races. How did it come together? 

Alessio: That was funny.  Again, it was with Proton Competition, the team I’m racing with in ELMS. To be honest, I had no idea this would come. Between Christmas and New Year’s eve, I got an email from Stand21, which is a racing suit maker. They needed my measurements for the Daytona race and then a few days later I got a call from the team and from Porsche that they would like to put me in Daytona. So, it was a nice surprise!

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Daytona 2022.

CRR: Tell us bit about Daytona. Was it your first time on that track?

Alessio: Yeah, it was my first time in Daytona. America is a lot different in terms of regulations and culture. It’s a lot to learn, but we started well. We had ROAR before the 24 hours of Daytona race the week before, which is a small race to define the position on the grid for the 24 hours race. We finished second, we had a good car and we felt strong. 

The weekend after was the 24 hours of Daytona. We had a good early stage. We were leading at some point and then it went from good to bad to worse. A Full Course Yellow came out at a wrong time when we were supposed to pit, but the pit lane was closed. It means we had to do an emergency pit stop which resulted in a drive through penalty. During the drive through I didn’t see the pit exit line because I was in a queue of cars. We all went in but the light was red and I got again a stop and go. During the stop and go the car didn’t fire up again. We had a technical issue. We lost a lot of time in the pits to repair but still could finish the race. 

It’s a little bit disappointing, but that’s part of the game, that’s racing. 

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Daytona 2022.

CRR: But for you personally it must have been a great experience. 

Alessio: Yeah, it was. It was an amazing experience. So, it was my third big 24 hours race. After Nürburgring and le Mans, Daytona is a lot different, but yeah, it was a nice experience for sure. It was tough at night on cold tires with cold weather, very challenging. 

CRR: I can tell you, as a photographer, it was very cold. 

Alessio: Yes. I can imagine. My God! 

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Sebring 2022.

CRR: Tell us about Sebring.

Alessio:  Sebring was more challenging in terms of performance for us. We basically had zero performance all weekend and the car was tough to drive. Lap times were not good. It was not only us, but it was also all the Porsche. We had a clean race, no mistakes, no contacts, no penalties, nothing but following our strategy. As we had no performance, so it was impossible for us to fight at the front.  We were always together with the Pfaff car, which I think for us is also a benchmark there. We were in front of them or just behind and it was always like that. In the overall the weekend was very challenging because, in my opinion, the Balance Of Performance was just wrong for us

CRR: So, it’s not because the track is so different from Daytona that the Porsche was not adapted to it. 

Alessio: For sure, the track is different, and the Porsche is not the easiest car to drive but the year before, the Porsche was able to win. This year we had no chance. It was by a lot. It was more than a second per lap compared to the leaders.

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Daytona 2022.

CRR: Cooper McNeil is now going for Mercedes. Does it have an influence for you in the continuation with WeatherTech? 

Alessio: Yes, I had two more races planned with them, in Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans. Since Cooper is switching to the Mercedes, it means that the team won’t run the Porsche anymore. Therefore, I lose 2 races, but that’s how it is. 

CRR: Do you hope to find a new team between now and then?

Alessio: It is going to be difficult because there is not a seat available normally on a Porsche. So it’s going be tough. I don’t see any opportunities there. 

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Sebring 2022.

CRR: Any way, congratulations for your initial attempt for a Triple Crown. 

Alessio: yes, it’s quite unique to be able to say that you did the three in a row. It’s difficult to realize. Before last year, I never did a 24-hour race and then I did the three biggest ones except Spa. I didn’t realize it, but yes, it is. Unfortunately, it was not so successful, but I have to say that it’s not because of performance. I was happy with my performance and then of course it’s a 24-hour race, a lot can happen. Last year has been valuable for me in terms of experience and I hope to keep going like that. 

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Nürburgring Endurance Series 3-2022.

CRR: April 23rd, you’ll participate to the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in May. Can you explain us a how these two opportunities came together? 

Alessio: Basically, this is part of my contract with Porsche. Porsche did put me in contact with Falken. The Nürburgring is important for them and the German manufacturers. It is basically the benchmark for them. So, it’s important to make your first steps there. The biggest race of the year is the 24 hours of Nürburgring. In the meantime, you have the NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie) championship, which teams use to prepare the 24 hours race. We don’t do the full championship because that’s not the goal. We only do races to prepare the 24-hour race, and, after the 24 hours of Nürburgring, we keep doing some races to prepare for next year. 

CRR: how many NLS races will you run? 

Alessio: I was planned to run two NLS races, but one got cancelled because of the snow. I will do NLS 3 the coming weekend and the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers from 6 to 8 May. The 24 hours of Nürburgring will take place from 26 to 29 May. It’s not clear yet how many races I’ll do after that. I probably will do one or two.

CRR: Does it means you’ll run it again next year? 

Alessio: I hope so. Normally yes. I don’t have a contract for next year yet, but if I do a good job, I should be able to be back. 

CRR: What are your ambitions there? Your team ambitions? 

Alessio: For us it’s a different challenge. Since I drive with Falken tires, we have different tires than the others. Most of the people have Michelin tires there, so for us it’s a big challenge to be only two cars using those tires; we need to develop a lot. We saw last year that we were capable to fight for good positions and especially after the 24 hours of Nürburgring 2021,, we did a lot of progress on tires, and we could be quite successful on NLS races. I did a pole; we did two podiums. Of course, we know there’s still a lot of work to do, but we are quite optimistic. And then we will see, it will really depend on how our tires will be this year. End of the day, we are there to win and first goal is clearly to be in the top three.