Isotta Fraschini Feels “Less Pressure” With Young Drivers

Isotta Fraschini motorsport manager Claudio Berro says the decision to run two inexperienced drivers in its FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar squad gives the team “less pressure” in its rookie season.

The boutique Italian manufacturer only finalized its driver lineup earlier this month, with test and development driver Jean-Karl Vernay joined by two relative novices in the form of Canada’s Antonio Serravalle and Thai-American driver Carl Wattana Bennett.

Serravalle only has limited experience in sports car racing, most notably making one start in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the LMP3 class, while Bennett joined Isotta Fraschini’s partner team Duqueine for the recently-concluded Asian Le Mans Series.

While calling the decision to use Vernay “normal” due to his knowledge of the Tipo 6 Competizione LMH, Berro said opting for two youngsters will help the team build its experience with fewer expectations than if it was using more well-known names.

“It was a team decision to put two young drivers,” he told Sportscar365. “Everything is young in the team, including the car. 

“For me, to have one strong driver like Jean-Karl is important. And then we have two young drivers who will learn the car, learn the championship.

“Sometimes, if you put an expert driver in the car, a ‘big name’, it means the expectations are too high. At this moment, nobody has big expectations. It means we have a little bit less pressure, and we can work in a good way and rise up [the order] together.

“It’s good for everybody. The young drivers are so excited to drive this fantastic car, and on the other side, for us, we don’t have any pressure or have any incredible expectations.”

Originally, Isotta had announced that Alex Garcia would be part of the team’s lineup for its first season, with the FIA Formula 3 graduate testing the car as recently as last December at Estoril.

However, Berro revealed that sponsorship issues forced Garcia to drop out and the team to hurriedly put an alternative plan into place.

“Sometimes the sponsor follows a driver, sometimes the driver follows the sponsor,” said Berro. “In motorsport this happens: some sponsor decides that they don’t want to support a particular driver or a particular project anymore, unfortunately. 

“The problem arrived only three weeks ago! Max [Favard, Duqueine team principal] and the team worked very strongly [to find a replacement].”

Favard clarified that Serravalle was planned to be the team’s third driver before Garcia dropped out, and that Bennett was installed as the Mexican driver’s replacement.

“Carl was already in our family, and we already had a growing program in endurance racing planned for him,” explained Favard. 

“Originally, he was supposed to do the Asian Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series and the Le Mans with us, and then potentially go for a Hypercar drive in 2025. So we just accelerated the plan.

“He was doing pretty well in Asia, some small mistakes, but he is very young. We are very happy to have him. It’s a good move for us.”

Berro says Isotta is going into this week’s Qatar 1812km season opener hoping to finish the race, saying that the team is treating the first three rounds of the season as opportunities to gather experience ahead of its debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“Here the target is just to finish the race,” said Berro. “And if we finish the race, I think we will not be last, unless we have to stay a long time in the garage. But if we have to stay for one hour in the garage, then we will, and continue.

“The next step where we would like to be stronger is for Le Mans. Now we have three races, here, Imola and Spa, to prepare, to develop the team and drivers. 

“After Le Mans, then we have to see how far we can increase the expectations.”