René Rosin is PREMA’s Team Manager since 2006. Already engaged in F2, FIA F3, FRECA and Italian F4, PREMA announced two new racing programs for next year: their technical support to the Formula Regional Indian Championship and their debut in endurance racing in the LMP2 category.

By Perceval Wolff

PREMA is certainly the most dominant team in the world of feeder series, as they dominated F2, FIA F3, Formula Regional and Italian F4 last year, and are currently leading F2 and finished second in F3, pipped by Trident. PREMA’s boss René Rosin highlights how hard it is to stay competitive for a long period of time. “It’s so important to maintain the motivation and to continue pushing in all the championships. I want to keep winning and fighting for championships, to continue to improve because other teams are also pushing behind and they will always keep on improving.”

Formula Regional India

PREMA will take part in the brand new Formula Regional Indian Championship (FRIC) and Indian F4 in 2022, as Mumbai Falcons’ technical partner. “First, it’s a privilege for PREMA to be able to develop motorsport in a country as important as India, it’s really positive. We also wanted to extend our partnership with Mumbai Falcons, which started last year in Asian F3.”

However, not everything is set in stone yet. The COVID pandemic is still hitting hard all over the world and may delay the start of the FRIC next year: “We’re still finalizing to see precisely what our role will be. Besides that, the COVID situation is still uncertain so we cannot be sure what will happen in the next months, what the restrictions will be, etc. If we can’t travel to India, it will be complicated, we need to evaluate all the options.”

Regarding the drivers who could participate in these Indian championships, nothing is decided for the moment and it seems too early to know if European drivers could use FRIC and Indian F4 as a preparation for their season, or if Indian drivers could be promoted to Prema after getting great results in FRIC. “There are several parameters to take into account, but we already had Indian drivers with us in F3 such as Jehan Daruvala and it went really well, so it’s totally possible.”

WEC, LMP2 and LMDh

PREMA also announced they would join WEC in the LMP2 category alongside Iron Lynx. Why did the Italian squad decide to run for the first time in their History in a non-single seaters championship? “We do everything in single seaters, from F2 to F4. We know there is a lot of interest from the fans, the drivers, the constructors about endurance with the new LMH / LMDh programs in two or three years.”

“We saw a real opportunity for us to be attached to some constructors in LMDh. But to attract them, we needed to know what endurance is. The best way to discover endurance is to enter in the LMP2 category first, to earn some experience, and then to be fully ready for 2023/2024 for a more important program when these constructors arrive.”

PREMA will receive the help from the Swiss squad Iron Lynx who are already experienced in endurance and GT racing: “The endurance team will be Prema. Iron Lynx will bring their expertise and their knowledge of endurance. Otherwise, everything will be here at our factory at Grisignano, we will prepare and we will run in endurance.”

But what about the drivers? Some rumours have already stated that some Ferrari-linked drivers (Ilott, Shwartzman or even Giovinazzi) could join PREMA in WEC. Could some former or current PREMA drivers continue to drive for the Italian team in endurance? “Everything is possible, the number of places in F1 is really limited. To have an endurance team is really important, not only for Ferrari drivers but for all the drivers.”

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