Looking Ahead to Monza with Alessandro Pier Guidi

Now the driver from Tortona in Piedmont will return race at his home track of Monza as a reigning World Champion for Ferrari and also as the ELMS championship leader. We spoke to Alessandro ahead of the 4 Hours of Monza about his home race.

Q: As an Italian Ferrari works driver, how special is it to race at Monza?

“Everytime is special! You never get used to racing at Monza because of the history, because I am Italian and driving a Ferrari there is a lot of fun everytime. So you feel important, you are aware of the history and it is always a pleasure to drive at the Temple of Speed.  I can’t wait to put the tyres on the road.

Q: Le Castellet was a good result for the team.  How important was it for you?

“Of course it is always good to start the season with a victory as it is the first step of the goal to win the championship.  It’s a new team and a new name in the ELMS, Luzich Racing. I raced with them in another championship last year and we won the championship.  So I hope we can do the same here in ELMS, but we know it will be very difficult.”

Q: While the LMGTE grid features ten cars, there are a lot of quality teams and drivers. Is that an important factor for you as a driver?

“Yes, the level of the championship is not made by the number of cars on the grid; it is made by the level of the cars and the level of the drivers and the team.  You can have a lot of cars but this doesn’t necessarily mean it is a high level championship. I prefer to race in a championship where all of the drivers can win and all of the teams are very strong, which makes it more challenging.  We definitely have this in the ELMS this year.”

Q: Because the FIA WEC Super Season hasn’t yet finished, you will race at Monza as a reigning FIA World Champion with Ferrari for the first time since winning the WEC title in Bahrain 2017.  Will this give you an extra boost for the 4 Hours of Monza this weekend?

“It is nearly one and a half years since I won the title with James (Calado) but we still have the title until after Le Mans.  I will try to push more and to show why we won the world title. I always push so perhaps it will give me some extra motivation to do well at my home track.”

The 4 Hours of Monza will take place on Sunday 12 May, which will be Round 2 of the 2019 European Le Mans Series.