For Brazilians Bruno Senna and Pipo Derani, the inaugural AT&T 6 Hours of Mexico is the nearest they have to a home round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Having spent the formative years of their careers pursuing opportunities in Europe, the opportunity to race close to home is always one to savour.
If there's one thing that racing drivers from South America can all relate to, it's the culture shock that new arrivals on the European theatre experience after saying goodbye to friends, family and an entire way of life. But despite the hardships incurred, the lure of the ultimate proving ground is often too great to pass up.
As a 16-year-old, Derani took the decision to follow the path to England trodden by Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna and was racing in the well-respected British Formula 3 championship at 18. Looking back on those early days, the Tequila Patron ESM driver says the enormous personal sacrifices he had to make strengthened his resolve and will to succeed.
“We give up basically everything, family, food, weather, to be in the UK and when you’re living in Europe, it’s not possible to fly back and forth all the time,” said Derani, now 22.
“That does make a difference in the end; you’re alone for a long time, so you have to make it work and put everything you have into it. I’m very glad I had the opportunity to race in Europe and I think I’m a much better driver because of it.”
Senna had never competed in his homeland before starting his career in Formula BMW UK in 2004. With such limited racing experience to fall back on, isolated from home and under intense media scrutiny thanks to his famous surname, he had to develop a thick skin.
“I never thought it was going to be easy, but you just don’t realise how hard it is,” recalls Senna, whose very first race at Brands Hatch was covered by the biggest Brazilian TV network. “I guess with time and experience, everything becomes easier to deal with, but in the beginning it was quite tough. You just have to go with it, you push through it.”
However, the 32-year-old acknowledges that his European apprenticeship did give him a head start over many of his compatriots, who came to Europe after first establishing themselves in Brazil.
“I saw lots of drivers who did very well in Brazil and when they came to Europe, the level was so much higher that they had a struggle,” Senna continued. “If you’re used to winning everything and then you come to Europe and you get a massive kicking, your head will go into a million bits and I saw quite a few guys having exactly that.”
With the European half of the championship completed, Derani is relishing the opportunity to welcome his family to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez and share the spirit of endurance with a new audience.
“Because we are too far away, people sometimes don’t understand much what sort of racing I do, so it will be nice to bring this culture of endurance racing close to them,” he said. “I expect a few family members to come, some of them cannot come all the way to Europe, but Mexico is a little bit closer. It will be nice to show them what I do!”
By James Newbold
