Cesar Ramos has quickly built a glowing reputation as one of the fastest and most consistent GT3 drivers in this year’s Blancpain Endurance Series. From Novo Hambergo in southern Brazil, Cesar heads in to the season finale at Nurburgring heading the points table along with team mates Davide Rigon and Daniel Zampieri.
The #44 Kessel Racing Ferrari 458 Italia dominated the season opener at Monza back in April and has since scored consistently with a 5th place at Silverstone and a 4th at Paul Ricard set a solid foundation before they headed to the Total 24 Hours of Spa in July. There, despite a difficult race Cesar and his team mates still came away with a five point haul, placing 9th in the Pro Cup category.
Now it’s crunch time for the talented 24 year old Brazilian, who still entertains dreams of continuing a very successful single-seater career which brought him the 2011 Italian F3 Championship. However, he is now building upon the strong reputation in GT racing and he took time to speak with us ahead of travelling to Germany in a few weeks’ time where he will try and add another title to his glowing CV.
How do you view your season in the Blancpain Endurance Series, Cesar?
“Well, the season is going really well for us. Actually I´ve been surprised with our pace, as we have been among the top runners in all the races so far. It´s my first season in GT cars and it´s looking good as I keep learning new things and I am getting better with every race. It is of course completely different compared to Formula racing. Kessel Racing is doing a great job with the Ferrari 458 Italia and Daniel (Zampieri), Davide (Rigon) and I have done some strong races to put the Prancing Horse on top.”
What has been the secret for the great results in 2013?
“To be honest I think it´s the great team spirit that we have at Kessel Racing. We are really in it together and we fight very hard for the whole race weekend. We have very similar pace between all of us, which can make the difference during the race, as we keep a strong consistent speed during all the stints. We are also young and hungry for results because we need them to keep racing and for our futures. Rigon is a works driver for Ferrari but myself and Daniel are not, so there is also a kind of healthy competition between us to get there as well one day.”
How do you enjoy driving with Davide and Daniel?
“It´s has been great fun. I know them both very well as I was racing Daniel in the junior formulas. Davide and I train together when I am in Italy so we learn from each other and trust what we do on the track, which is a good feeling. I mean, when I leave the car to any of them, I can be relaxed because I know they will keep doing a very good job.”
Will yours and the team’s strategy change for Nurburgring? Will you be looking at the points table closely?
“No. We will not change anything because we have a very small gap to the other cars (2 points to Buhk, Stippler and Mies). We will do the same as we did in the other races. I think the best solution will be to take the last race as a normal event and not the final round of the series. We will fight very hard during the 6 hours and at the end if we do everything properly and have some luck we will go back home happy.”
Who do you consider to be your main rivals on track in Germany?
“Very difficult to say. BMW, Mercedes and Audi have really quick drivers and great cars so anything can happen. We have to keep the focus to make our Ferrari the quickest we can. I have no doubt that they will all be ready to fight us hard. And there will be always some outsiders trying to win the final race, so it will be super tough.”
What are your overall feelings as regards to the 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series in terms of how competitive it is?
“It was something completely new for me and I didn´t know what to expect at the beginning. Now I can say it´s a very nice and well organised series. There are great teams and drivers which makes the races really nice from a driving point of view. We had four races and four different winners, so that tells a lot. We are leading the series points and we have been on the podium only once at the first round when we won at Monza. It shows by itself how hard the Blancpain Endurance Series really is.”
For more on Cesar please click here http://www.cesarramosracing.com/