Brazilian substitute for Dutchman

DragonSpeed has found the substitute, when one of their regular LMP1 drivers has to race elsewhere.

Brazillian Pietro Fittipaldi will replace Renger van der Zande at Round 1 and 4 of the FIA World Endurance Championship 2018/19 season.

Van der Zande has two date clashes with his WeatherTech SportsCar Championship commitment, where he races for Konica Minolta Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing.

Initially, only one round was clashing between the FIA WEC opening round at Spa Francorchamps and the Mid-Ohio IMSA race, but after the Fuji FIA WEC round was moved, it will also clash with the Petit Le Mans race.

Pietro Fittipaldi
Photo: RJodPhotography

Fittipaldi won the World Series Formula V8 3,5 Championship in 2017, and shortly thereafter signed a deal with Dale Coyne Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series, for a partial season. He will have his race debut at the Phoenix oval, before his Indianapolis 500 debut in May.

The World Series Formula V8 3,5 Championship raced alongside the FIA WEC through a big part of the 2017 season, and the top-3 in the Championship would get a test at the Championship winning FIA WEC team. That made Pietro Fittipaldi one of the last persons being allowed to run in the Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 car, before Porsche rolled it into the museum.

Ben Hanley and Henrik Hedman will be the two full season drivers in the car, where the DragonSpeed team races with the brand new BR1 car, that the Russian SMP Racing has developed together with Italian Dallara. Dallara is incidentally also the chassis manufacturer in the IndyCar series too.

The FIA WEC season starts on 5 May at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium.

Related Posts