Trulli Relishing “Special Month” of Major Enduro Debuts

Photo: MPS Agency

Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver Enzo Trulli says he is relishing a “special month” in which he is set to make his debut in two of the world’s major endurance races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

Trulli, who succeeded Dorian Boccolacci in the Selected Driver role this year, is taking on Le Mans this week as part of Algarve Pro Racing’s No. 25 lineup in the LMP2 Pro-Am division together with Jake Hughes and Michael Jensen.

Two weeks later, he will make his 24H Spa bow driving for Pure Rxcing in a Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo as he continues to build his experience in GT3 machinery.

‘This month will be quite special for me, first for Le Mans and then for Spa, two of the biggest races endurance races in the world,” Trulli told Sportscar365.

“It was an amazing experience to try the [Le Mans] track in real life. It’s just amazing. Now I understand why everyone wants to win here, it’s just really special.”

Trulli completed his required ten laps as a rookie in last Sunday’s test day, but his running was limited by the fact he had climbed aboard the No. 25 car in the morning session just as the safety car was called to allow the field to practice the procedure.

He also noted how different the Oreca 07 Gibson feels in Le Mans trim compared to the European Le Mans Series where he usually races the car.

“I only did about six push laps on the test day, so I am still missing a bit of confidence,” he said. “We’re struggling a bit with the setup but at the end of the session we were improving, so this is positive, and now we have the data to improve for free practice.

“FP1 will be crucial because it’s the last opportunity I have to really test before going into qualifying, so for sure we will need to push more, find the limit earlier and maybe risk a bit more just to get ready, because I haven’t had so many laps yet.

“The car feels quite different in the high-speed sections because normally we don’t have such corners where we arrive this fast and you don’t brake much. Also the spec, we have less power and less downforce than normal, so it’s not exactly the same.

“Anyway, I know the car quite well in general, so I think it will not be a problem to get up to speed for the race.”

Considering that FIA Bronze-rated Jensen is the only member of the No. 25 crew with Le Mans experience, Trulli says he has modest expectations in terms of results.

“The first target is to finish the race,” said Trulli. “You can say it’s already an achievement to finish your first race here, but then of course we need to see.

“It’s tough to say what the expectations are, but for sure if we are in the last hours fighting for a podium then we can be happy about that, because anyway me and Jake are rookies, we don’t have any experience here, so it will not be easy.”

While focused on gaining experience at Le Mans on his first visit, Trulli expressed a clear wish to return in future together with Porsche, ideally one day fighting for overall honors, despite its exit from the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar class.

“I hope to come back here in a Porsche in the in the top class when when they will be back,” said Trulli. “For sure I hope they will be back but for now it’s about learning as much as I can and being ready when this happens.

“I just turned 21, it’s my first year in sports cars, so there is still a lot to learn. If I do everything like I’m doing now I think there is a good opportunity.”

Source: Sports Car 365