Pipo Derani scored a memorable victory at the first round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship at Silverstone last weekend.
In his first race for the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team, the 23 year-old shared the #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Ford GT cockpit with teammates Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell and left the UK leading the ultra-competitive LM GTE Pro World Championship.
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The thrilling success was made even more noteworthy after early race problems saw the #67 Ford GT drop to the rear of the class field.
Derani then provided two excellent stints in difficult conditions to hand the car over to Tincknell, who then took the lead in the penultimate hour and built a lead over the #51 Ferrari to take a commanding win.
In his first race for the factory Ford team, Derani was congratulated by his teammates after the race for his weekend performance. After just two days testing to acclimatise to Ford GT and LMGTE Pro racing in general, Derani exceeded all expectations to help secure the spectacular win.
The young Brazilian was delighted with the performance over the weekend and believes that the victory was the perfect way to start his career as a fully-fledged factory endurance driver.
“What a way to start the 2017 WEC season, it is a very nice feeling indeed to win with Ford,” said Derani. “We had a tough start to the race with a door problem so we had to stop early which put us out of sequence with the rest of the field. We got a little bit of luck with the Safety Car which brought us back in to contention.
“The whole Ford Chip Ganassi team were excellent. Andy and Harry did fantastic stints and it has been nothing but a pleasure learning and listening to them as I get more and more used to the Ford GT car,” continued Derani. “They are really great teammates.”
For Derani the first race with Ford was the culmination of several impressive seasons in endurance racing with LMP2 machinery. Now he believes that with more familiarity of the Ford GT car he has a chance of more success in the upcoming races
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“For me it is nice to get the first race under my belt as I did not know what to expect in several areas. I know I will keep improving and with more time in the car we can really look forward to Spa next month. I have to say a big thanks to Ford Chip Ganassi Racing. What a team and it was a very proud moment for me to win on my first appearance with such a professional organisation.”
Derani, Tincknell and Priaulx lead the FIA World Endurance Championship LMGTE PRO class points standings with a maximum score of 26 points after sealing pole position and the race win last weekend.
The next round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship is at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday 6th May .
