Rossi flying to Le Mans for test after F1 practice run

2013 Canadian Grand Prix

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Alexander Rossi will fly to France to participate in a test session for the Le Mans 24 Hours immediately after taking part in the first practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix next week.

Rossi will drive for Caterham in first practice at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and will race for Greaves Motorsport at Le Mans.

“I leave Montreal on Friday evening, straight after FP2 and head back to Europe for the first Le Mans sessions,” said Rossi. “That’s another boxed ticked on my list of things for my CV.”

“It’s great to be taking part in one of the great races with a team that’s already been successful in endurance racing, and to help a bunch of Caterham guys I already know well.

“Like F1, my aim in the first few days with the Le Mans team will be to learn as much I can and build up to the performance, adding value where it counts. It’s a huge honour to be able to take part and it’s something I’ll remember for ever, but first my main priority is F1.”

“This will be my first outing in the CT03 and on the 2013 Pirelli tyres in F1,” he added. “It’s good that my 2013 F1 debut is on North American soil, in front of a crowd who are seriously passionate about F1 and really know what our sport is all about.”

“I’ve raced and won in Montreal back in Formula BMW and I enjoy the circuit a lot – it will be a special feeling to play an active role in the race weekend with the team.”

Rossi tested for Caterham in last year’s Young Driver Test and is racing for their GP2 team this year in addition to his Le Mans appearance. He also drove at the teams filming day and done aerodynamic tests and simulator work for them this year.

Rossi will be the fifth driver to run in a Caterham on a race weekend this year. In addition to race drivers Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde, Heikki Kovalainen has made two practice appearances and Ma Qing Hua drove at the Chinese Grand Prix.

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Image © Caterham/LAT

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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11 comments on “Rossi flying to Le Mans for test after F1 practice run”

  1. Driving an F1 car for a day then back to Europe to drive the Circuit de la Sarthe. It’s a hard knock life for poor Alex.

    1. Yeah, I did kind of miss the point of the article LOL What a rough life the poor kid is living :-)

    2. I’d be aching to have someone next to me on the airplane ask me why I was traveling to France!

    3. Its a big shame these things are nowadays done only by the spares and the dropouts really.

  2. I don’t know if Rossi is the answer, but we really need an American driver in F1 to get the US interest levels up. Someone charismatic that can bring in ad revenue and sponsors to the sport.

  3. And what if the unthinkable happens, and either Pic or VDG are unable to compete in qualifying and the race?

    1. BradandCoffee
      31st May 2013, 0:27

      Heikki.

    2. Well, if they can’t do saturday, its likely the team would know it by friday afternoon and Rossi would cancel the flight and test. And if a driver can’t make it for the race only, they are not allowed to put a different driver in the car anyway.

  4. Reminds me of Loeb when he won a round of the WRC, hopped on a private plane kitted out with Gran Turismo 4 so he could learn the layout of the track. Then landed at Le Mans airport right next to the track and went onto complete the required 10 laps for rookie drivers all with just twenty seconds to spare in the session!

    http://youtu.be/-0G0_XFGlu4

  5. Abdurahman (@)
    31st May 2013, 4:25

    I’d like some more info on his Le Mans drive.

    1. @abdurahman
      Rossi will be driving in one of Greaves Motorsport’s two Nissan-engined Zytek Z11SN for Le Mans. He will be joined by Tom Kimber-Smith (a leading sportscar driver) and the requisite silver-rated driver Eric Lux. The other Greaves Zytek features Nissan factory driver Michael Krumm and GT Academy graduates Lucas Ordonez and Jann Mardenborough.

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