Focus on the season of Villorba Corse: Interview with Raimondo Amadio (Team Principal)

2016 review: “From our side, the season was pretty good. We had quite a satisfying year even if we suffered from a lack of luck at the beginning. We have missed two races where we were unlucky but that’s motorsport! We didn’t get the results we expected (best result was an 8^th position at Estoril) but the team improved a lot. I can see well our progress since our first race in 2015 and the last one in Estoril. The LMP3 class is a major part of our five year program: two years in LMP3 and three years in LMP2. It allows us this year to know better the class and it also helped the drivers because it’s more relax than in GT for example. It’s still Motorsport but you have more time to get ready. We are really happy of our two seasons in LMP3.”

The LMP3 Class: “We are the only 2016 team that did the 2015 season. Since the beginning of this class I knew the project was really interesting. It’s a good alternative to GT3. The car is really nice and it allows the drivers and the teams to start in the prototype world. It’s a good first step because to start directly in LMP2 is really complicated. I’m glad I believed in this class and that it was confirmed this year. I also look closely at the GT3 and GTE and I think that in a few years it will be complicated for the teams and the drivers. The LMP3 is a good choice to start in a new class with a great level of competition.”

The 2017 season: “The best would be to have an LMP2 and an LMP3 in European Le Mans Series as well as an LMP3 and a GT3 in Michelin Le Mans Cup. We would like to see more Italian teams because we have some really good ones. We would like to have a GT3 entry and a LMP one with a different team and organization that will be managed by Villorba Corse. One thing is sure: we want to increase our presence in ELMS.”

The 2017 cars:  “We will run the new LMP2 Dallara in European Le Mans Series. As I said, our program will last five years. We already have tested the car in the past few weeks. We are glad to compete with this car and it will be a nice program with a good line up with Giorgio Sernagiotto, Roberto Lacorte and Andrea Belicchi. We will also be there with our LMP3.”

The future: “We would like to do the 24 Hours of Le Mans as soon as possible, maybe at the end of our five year program. Le Mans is like a star that we would like to catch. The engineers, the drivers, the mechanics and I, everybody would like to go. It’s a real challenge and adventure, this race is full of history.”