DragonSpeed has announced Pietro Fittipaldi as the new driver of the team, facing the 2018-2019 WEC season. This is not a sign as the team’s titular driver, but as a substitute for Renger van der Zande for two races of the WEC season.
Van der Zande participates at the same time as in WEC, in the IMSA SportsCar championship in a Cadi Dpi Wayne Taylor Racing. The Dutch driver will complete the entire American championship and due to the movement of the WEC calendar after the arrival of Fernando Alonso, coincides at the weekend of IMSA race with the inaugural WEC race at Spa (already before the calendar movement) and Fuji’s race.
So, DragonSpeed has had to find a substitute for Van der Zande and that is Pietro Fittipaldi. The 21-year-old Italian driver is the current champion of Formula V8 3.5, winning six races to win the title. He will run in the LMP1 category with his teammates Ben Hanley and Henrik Hedman.
Pietro said after the announcement: “I am very happy and excited for this opportunity to race with DragonSpeed, they are a championship-winning team with a solid experience in endurance racing, I am looking forward to racing!”
Elton Julian, owner of DragonSpeed said: “In the search for the right driver for the job in question, we evaluated many options that included Le Mans winners and former WEC champions. In the end, we have chosen to support a new generation. You can’t find a better, more prepared young blood than Pietro. He will deliver.”
Fittipaldi has already tested the LMP1, in the post-season tests with theHybrid 919 Porsche.
Photo: Porsche