Two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner Nico Varrone is trying to find a strategy to proceed his open-wheel profession and desires to take action within the sequence he’s dreamed of reaching since he was a baby rising up in Argentina.
The 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship GTE title winner with Corvette Racing, who additionally gained the LMP2 Professional-Am class in June at Le Mans, is doing what so many others have not too long ago finished in his state of affairs. Like Colin Braun, Toby Sowery, and Hunter McElrea of late, the 23-year-old is attempting to make use of his large leads to sports activities vehicles as a springboard to seek out his approach again to open-wheel.
A karting standout in his native Buenos Aires, Varrone headed to Europe to start out his single-seater training as a young person and gained the Components Renault V de V championship — the identical sequence the place Rinus VeeKay bought his begin — on debut. A transfer to British Components 3 with the unheralded Hillspeed group and nearly no finances in 2019 resulted in Varrone delivering an enormous win at Spa adopted by a short return in 2020 earlier than his funding was depleted.
Alternatives finally arose in GT competitors, then LMP3, the place he gained on the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2023, and extra not too long ago in LMP2 the place he was victorious at Le Mans and was a rocket the subsequent week on the Six Hours of The Glen, posting the quickest lap of the race within the LMP2 class.
“Since I used to be eight years outdated watching Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves, my dream in motorsport is to drive in IndyCar,” Varrone instructed RACER. “I understood that in 2020 when my profession was caught, sooner or later, I needed to race anyplace I may to proceed creating myself, and this was endurance racing in Europe.
“My dad all the time instructed me, ‘In case you begin making excuses, we cease,’ as a result of we by no means had the cash to do testing or something, drove at many small groups, and this grew to become my mentality; I all the time need to be on pole, I all the time need to win. And this has labored and we have now numerous success in sports activities vehicles, and now we’re speaking about IndyCar with some groups to study what is feasible.”
Countryman Agustin Canapino, who transitioned to IndyCar with nothing past touring automotive expertise, is proof of how far expertise can take a driver who didn’t stand up by way of the highest of the open-wheel ladder.
For Varrone, who names Dixon as his fundamental racing hero and inspiration, elevating a finances that might open the door to testing is step one he’s pursuing together with his supervisor. To date, they’ve been in touch with three IndyCar groups, and so they hope to earn the possibility to take part in just a few races subsequent 12 months.
Former IndyCar group proprietor Elton Julian, whose DragonSpeed operation has been a worldwide chief in LMP2 competitors, was impressed by Varrone’s capabilities at Watkins Glen, the place he starred within the group’s ORECA 07-Gibson entry.
“Over the past 9 years, I’ve had a few of the finest IndyCar drivers fly in our LMP2 vehicles; Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward, and Felix Rosenqvist,” Julian mentioned. “Every part we see on observe in IndyCar with them straight translated to how they carried out within the P2. In our eyes, Nico joined that small group of elite IndyCar driver’s tempo when he ran in our automotive at Watkins Glen just a few weeks in the past. Younger, quick, skilled, versatile and at the moment driving a wave. I’d have him within the automotive completely if all these producers weren’t haggling over him for Endurance racing. He must be seen in IndyCar.”
Varrone additionally is aware of that as an unknown throughout the American open-wheel scene, he’ll must show himself with a finances that might entice IndyCar entrants earlier than getting a shot to drive.
“We’re engaged on the sponsorship aspect, and we have now some folks which might be actually involved in investing if an excellent alternative comes,” he mentioned. “Beginning with a take a look at could be nice as a result of we have now folks to speculate if it’s an excellent state of affairs.”
