He's Brazilian but his family's originally from Italy. The stakes are pretty high - he really needs to perform now.
Too bad he's not in NASCAR - they'd be hiding under umbrellas - which might be wise. I believe that Victor in the car that hits the stalled car at the 30 second point here.
Here's some footage from one of Victor's 2011 Future Formula races. This track is in Curitiba - up in the mountains where you get a lot of rain. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ouVkxHljfvs?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
From the interwebs...... Koiranen Motorsport Announcement sequel with World Series by Renault, Eurocup Formula 2.0 drivers! Koiranen Motorsport newly named Koiranen GP is back on Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship for 2013. The team is proud to unveil its drivers for the upcoming year. Nyck De Vries (NED), the young Mclaren driver who finished 5th overall for his 2012 rookie year will be competing alongside the Finnish team. He will be teamed-up with Guilherme Silva (BRA), who competed in Eurocup and ALPS last season. Victor Franzoni (BRA) will complete the line-up, back on board with Koiranen GP with which he raced in 2012 ALPS championship. Motorland (ES) will be the theater of both first pre-season test on February 24th and first season meeting on April 28th.
The team has been in Barcelona at Motorland for more testing - from the 'net: "Ocon Esteban has picked up where he left off taking P1 (1:55.668) again in this mornings session here at Motorland for the final day of the first WSR testing session. Victor Franzoni (1:55:713) and Nyck De Vries (1:55:745) were managing to keep pace though so it should make for an interesting afternoon on the track!"
Victor lost his sponsor in Europe so he's looking for a US ride in the F2000 series. http://www.f2000championshipseries.com Uh.....anyone have an extra $50,000-$65,000 to spare? He flew to Florida in anticipation of a test ride at Sebring but the team that he was supposed to ride with canceled at the last minute. Victor's dad scrambled around and got his a test ride with another team. Damn kid went out and came close to setting a record lap time! Needless to say, this team is impressed. Next up is another test at Barber in a week or so.
Well, this is certainly good news. The kid is coming to the US to drive in the USF2000 series and will race at various venues in the US during the 2014 season. I'm making plans to perhaps fly to Indy and then, my wife and I will likely fly to SFO to see him race at Sonoma in August. I'm not sure if it's official so I won't mention the team that he'll be driving for in a public forum but as soon as it's official, I'll post a note here.
Cool, I had a friend get his start in that series and he learned alot. It is good racing, for what is considered a budget. HA HA to that concept. Unfortunately, a back injury cut his racing career short. Too bad, he could wheel. Let's hope this is just a stepping stone to greater things for him!
Yeah - budget my ass. I was reviewing his contract last night - it's not a cheap proposition. Know anyone with an extra $50k who might want to sponsor a racer?
If I knew that.....real hard to find sponsors at the moment. Even the big guys are struggling securing it, and they offer a lot of exposure. I wish I could direct you...but the traditional modes are not so great at the moment. The racing resume getting a check is very difficult. My advice...try and get the young man in front of regional decision makers. Sometimes it is more emotion than business and if they take a liking to him...he will be set. Networking they like to call it, but it is the best bet right now. Mid size, or expanding market opportunities would be my focus. Preferably the later, so they can grow alongside him. There is a major benefit to continuity for the sponsor and the driver. AS long as he remains a good advocate for them.
Victor sent us a note yesterday to confirm that he'll be racing this weekend in the F3 Brazil Open at Interlagos with Hitech Racing. Pretty cool. Thursday's update.... Link: http://f3brazilopen.com/versao2014/?p=1089 (Google translation - my Portuguese is limited) "The edition 2014 of the F-3 Brazil Open marks the return of Victor Franzoni (pictured right) to Brazil after a passage of two seasons for the European Formula Renault. Participant Open 2012 with a car category Light, he admitted to have surprised the monoposto the main category - much faster cornering. "It's good to be back in Brazil, and participate in the Open is being a great opportunity to compete at a high level while still not set my target in 2014. This has been my first experience with the F309 chassis and was amazed at the ability of this car to carry corner speed. My first run-off has been very fast, but unfortunately I had a battery problem in the second, which prevented me from closing the first session of the nearest best time. So I expect a good performance on Friday, "said the pilot."
I suppose these are fastest laps - the second session times were much slower. I'm guessing that it must have rained. Yeah, I know...rain in Sao Paulo. What are the odds? Training 01 1) Felipe Guimarães (Hitech Racing / A), 1min31s886 2) John Simonyan (Cesario Formula / A), 1min32s013 3) Lukas Moraes (R & R Weissach / Light), 1min32s846 4) Victor Franzoni (Hitech Racing / A), 1min32s908 5) Artur Fortunato (Cesario Formula / Light), 1min33s164 6) Raphael Raucci (R & R Weissach / A), 1min34s679 7) Nicholas Silva (EMB Racing / Light), 1min35s287 8) Fernando Galera (Prop Car / Light), 1min35s774 9) Victor Miranda (R & R Weissach / Light), 1min41s433 10) Leandro Florenzo (Capital Motorsports / Light) without time Training 02 1) Felipe Guimarães (Hitech Racing / A), 1min42s378 2) Victor Franzoni (Hitech Racing / A), 1min42s601 3) John Simonyan (Cesario Formula / A), 1min43s803 4) Leandro Florenzo (Capital Motorsports / Light), 1min44s803 5) Artur Fortunato (Cesario Formula / Light), 1min44s905 6) Fernando Galera (Prop Car / Light), 1min45s009 7) Raphael Raucci (R & R Weissach / A), 1min45s971 8) Victor Miranda (R & R Weissach / Light), 1min46s836 9) Lukas Moraes (R & R Weissach / Light) without time 10) Nicholas Silva (EMB Racing / Light) without time
