WEC - Pastor Maldonado is closing to Isotta Fraschini

This information should be taken with a grain of salt at the time of writing. It is in the same vein as the 'liked by Pierre Gasly' that was used by some media to confirm the Frenchman's departure to Alpine. But there are several signs on the social media that Pastor Maldonado could be making his return to competition with Isotta Fraschini in the Hypercar category.

On February 2, the 38-year-old Venezuelan posted a photo on Instagram that read: "2023 contract signed, stay tuned!" Now, yesterday, Isotta Fraschini posted a video of the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix winner at its facilities to "visit the premises, meet the management and see the Tipo 6 LMH Competizione for real."

That was enough for some to start seeing the former F1 driver in the Michelotto-designed Italian hypercar. Contacted by us, the Italian team assured us that nothing had yet been decided on the driver side and that nothing had been signed. We are talking about a simple courtesy visit.

As a reminder, the car should make its first laps in the coming days, with a first test session planned in Vallelunga (Italy). According to our information, Maurizio Mediani, a GT driver close to Michelotto, will be in charge of the roll out of the Italian hypercar prototype. 

If the information is confirmed, what will happen to the drivers of the Vector Sport Oreca 07 in the colours of Isotta Fraschini? It is said that the two entries would be completely uncorrelated and the arrival of the Italian LMH would not necessarily mean that the No. 10 would disappear from the entry list. And of Matthias Kaiser, Ryan Cullen and Gabriel Aubry, only the last mentioned has a real legitimacy to claim a place in the top class.

Before we know it, there will be a Maldonado in the prototype class this year with Pastor's cousin Manuel, who will compete in the European Le Mans Series with Panis Racing. Pastor Maldonado has two LMP2 starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2018 and 2019).