Nicolas Lapierre is not only one the n°37 Cool Racing Oreca 07 driver, he is also the Managing Director of the team alongside his teammate at the wheel and business partner Alexandre Coigny.
This season, Cool Racing ended the European Le Mans Series season as vice-champion in the brand-new LMP2 Pro/ Am class and also vice-champion in the LMP3 class and in Michelin Le Mans Cup.
We have caught up with Nicolas, to have his overview about his 2021 ELMS season.
What is your main feeling after this 2021 season?
“It’s a great feeling! I’m very proud of what the team achieved this year. We started from scratch in January so it’s quite amazing that we were fighting for titles at the end of the season. Obviously after the last race in Portimão we were a bit disappointed to be so close in Michelin Le Mans Cup and in ELMS (LMP3 and LMP2 Pro/ Am) where we finished runner-up every time. So it’s disappointing as I want to win every time I’m on track, as a racer I didn’t like those results so much. But if I look back at where we were ten months ago it’s quite amazing and it’s also promising for the future. We are going to work hard this winter, make the team better and make sure to come back stronger next year.”
Now you are a driver and also Managing Director of the Cool Racing team, how did you manage to balance your time between your two roles?
“I have to say that I’m lucky enough to know very well the car I’m racing with. I have been developing this car and I’m racing with it since it came out. I would not say it’s easy for me to drive it but it’s quite comfortable and I don’t need too much time to get up to speed. This gives me some free time to work on the other project. And I am surrounded by very good people that took very good care of the team. I can trust them, and they can also make it work without me. This was a key element when we created the team. It took a little bit of time to find the right people but step by step we are getting there and it’s also why the team is working so well.”
This season in ELMS you were competing in the new LMP2 Pro/ Am classification, what do you think of this category after one year?
“It was great! It was clearly something that was missing in LMP2 and the gentlemen were looking for it. We had really nice fights between gentlemen this season. I think that there are still some adjustments to made within the regulation but I’m very happy that the ACO decided to go this way and make this possible. Before, the gentlemen were more attracted by doing GT Racing but they also like to drive the prototypes as they are the fastest cars and they are enjoyable on track. I’m happy that now they get this opportunity to drive in prototypes and race together, as you cannot compare a silver driver with a bronze one.
What are the plans of Cool Racing for the 2022 season?
“We are already working on next season, we did some testing in Portimão: testing some drivers, see what we can build for next year. For sure we will be back in ELMS. WEC would be a too big step for us right now. So the plan is to do ELMS in LMP2, LMP3, the Ligier European Series as well as we are targeting all those championships. We are also targeting to do Le Mans and we asked for an invitation and hopefully we can be there in June.”
