Pipo Derani has made a name for himself in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship by being a tremendously fast racer and especially so in qualifying. In fact, he earned pole position for the first three races of the year (Daytona, Sebring, and Long Beach). He’s a four-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring and he’s also won the 24 Hours of Daytona. We caught up with Derani at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach right after his post-race qualifying pole position press conference and conducted this interview leaving the media room and walking with him on the way back to his transporter. There’s a slight interruption in the interview as a fan stops him to take a selfie as we navigated our way through the crowd. It’s a short interview but he fills us in on his mindset in qualifying and racing and how things change between sprint and endurance racing. Enjoy!
NOTE: It was announced during the 2024 season that Derani would not be back with his Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R GTP team for 2025.
Where will he end up? Stay tuned. . .
