NELSON PANCIATICI INTO THE WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP
FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 2 : 6 HOURS OF SPA- FRANCORCHAMPS WEC
He’s been livening up the single-seater’s tumultuous packs on every circuit in Europe, and now Nelson PANCIATICI takes the stage in endurance on the mythical circuit of SPA FRANCORCHAMPS, which hosts the World championship in the discipline (WEC) on May 4 – 5. Nelson will drive the second ORECA 03 run by SIGNATECH-NISSAN’s official team, managed by Philippe SINAULT.
He is joined with Frenchman Pierre RAGUES who he knows well as his co-driver in Formula Renault 2.0 with EPSILON, and with the Russian Roman RUSINOV. After Daniil MOVE and Anton NEBYLITSKIY in Formula Renault 3.5, this is the third consecutive year that Nelson is co-driver with a Russian!
Pierre and Roman are two Endurance specialists and no doubt they will have precious advice for Nelson who will discover the discipline and who is determined to gain experience in preparation for the coming Le Mans 24 Hours.
This change of direction in Nelson PANCIATICI’s career has come about quite naturally: “After a rather disappointing season in single-seater, despite starting the year with the potential to fight to the lead in the championship, I realised I had to look at motorsport differently. I got in touch with Philippe SINAULT as early as September last year to see what we could do together in endurance, especially as we have wanted to meet up again for several years now. I am very happy to be part of his team and with Pierre and Roman, my co-drivers, we have the means to aim for an LMP2 victory. From karting days we are conditioned to think F1 but the fact of taking part in the Rallye du VAR and the MONTE CARLO made me realise that we can live our passion in other ways. I can say today that it’s not a rational choice but rather a choice from the heart. In any case I am satisfied with my progression in single-seater in view of the financial means I had at my disposal and I want to thank my partners who have supported me for several years now.”
The arrival of this second ORECA 03 in the official NISSAN team is an important event for Philippe SINAULT: “We welcome Pierre, Roman and Nelson because we effectively double the size of our team here. We have two series of tests programmed next week which will allow us to work on the consumption, the aerodynamics and the use of the pneumatics. We have 9 hours less driving than the contestants who reached the end of the 12 Hours of SEBRING, following our abandon. We have to make up for lost time, adapt our set ups to the very fast track of the Ardennes and do what we can to be in the lead. Bringing in a second car is an important element and a big challenge which we will discuss more in a future press conference.”
As we can see, the entire SIGNATECH-NISSAN team intend to shine on the hills and twists of the Ardennes and it is clear that Nelson PANCIATICI does not want to miss out!
