IMSA / Sebring - Pipo Derani, the king of Sebring, as seen by his manager

On 17 October, having just won his second IMSA championship, Pipo Derani posted a picture on his social networks showing him smiling alongside Philippe Dumas. The photo is topped by a text that is as brief as it is meaningful: "Merci Beaucoup, Philippe! More than a manager, a brother for life. The work continues… Forward, Onwards always." In an environment where money is king, an environment that is increasingly lacking in humanity, it's rare to see such words from a driver to his agent. But Pipo knows: in his rise to the top, he was guided by two men: his father Walter, a former driver and promoter who died in 2018, and his French manager. It's a rare story, which the latter agreed to tell us over a coffee in the corner of a bistro in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.

"In 2014, I was team principal for Oak Racing," recalls Philipe Dumas. "While we were in Sao Paulo for the Brazilian round of the WEC, Pipo came to see me. At the time, he knew Olivier (Pla), who was our spearhead. I discovered a great kid, very mature for his age. And I saw in his eyes extreme motivation coupled with great intelligence. I liked him straight away..." 

At the time, despite a more than honourable career in single-seaters, including a third-place finish in the 2013 Macau F3 Grand Prix behind Alex Lynn and António Félix da Costa, Luis-Felipe Derani was looking to establish himself in endurance racing. "A few weeks later, we (Oak Racing) had a test session organised at Magny-Cours," continues the former Hexis Racing team principal. "Olivier wasn't available, so I called 'the kid'. Without hesitation, he agreed."

A few days later, Pipo found himself, one fine morning in December, in the coldness of La Nièvre, accompanied by his girlfriend Marina, who is now his wife and with whom he has a daughter: Lorena. "I can still see him turning up, freezing, in his rented Twingo" laughs Philippe. A temperature of no more than 3°C, rain, all at the wheel of this pink and black Morgan LMP2 with no cockpit, the little Brazilian remains marked by this icy day. It's not for nothing that he has made Miami his home.

But even if he doesn't know it yet, this day marked a turning point in his career. "Despite the conditions, he did a remarkable job," Philippe Dumas told us. "I saw straight away that he had great potential, with a really mature approach. He comes from a big family, but he had his feet firmly on the ground and, above all, real values. I can tell you : this kid knew what he wanted..."

At the time, Philippe wasn't really a driver manager yet, although he had started to help Olivier Pla, with whom he had also forged a very strong bond. "I got Olivier a drive with Nissan for 2015," he continues. "I needed to set up a second car alongside that of Sam Bird / Julien Canal / Roman Rusinov and I managed to team Pipo up with Ricardo Gonzalez and Gustavo Yacaman. It's an exotic crew, but one that's extremely likeable and, above all, talented. And that's how it all began..."

First race and first pole in the Ligier JS P2 at Silverstone, the Derani rocket was in orbit. "Pipo arrived as a paying driver, but there was little doubt that things would change very quickly," recalls Philippe. "What's more, he had excellent technical feedback, so much so that Dunlop made him its development driver alongside Daniel Serra. His season wasn't perfect, but he was able to absorb all the information like a sponge, constantly getting closer to his team mate, Sam Bird, who for me is one of the finest drivers I've ever known, both technically and in terms of driving. He learnt a lot from him: tyre management, high and low times, consistency... And he worked hard physically. As the weeks went by, he said to me: 'I'd like you to look after me!' And in the end, it was as natural as with Olivier."

The São Paulo native thus became the second driver to entrust his destiny to the Frenchman, who was also seen at the start of the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans 24 in a Larbre Compétition Corvette C6.R shared with Cooper MacNeil and Manuel Rodrigues.

The rest, Philippe believes, is down to fate or luck. But fate, and even luck, must be provoked. And it's thanks to his flair, combined with the talent of the Brazilian driver, that we owe the next chapters of our incredible story. Unknown to many at the end of 2014, Pipo was to become a world reference in the discipline in just a few months. "In 2016, Oak Racing is taking over the Extreme Speed Motorsports programme in IMSA," says Philippe, with a wry smile. "Scott Sharp (who managed and financed the programme) asked me for a leader. Without hesitation, I offered him Pipo, who then signed his first professional contract, but only for the 24 Hours of Daytona. It was a logical choice, given that he had no experience of US circuits. But it turned out that, as well as being talented, I discovered that Pipo was a luck provoker."

At the time, the contract was only for the Florida double-header. But thanks to Pipo's talent, the line up he formed with Ryan Dalziel, Johannes van Overbeek and Ed Brown - far from the favourites on paper - won the day! "Having fallen in love with Pipo, ESM finally signed him for the whole season," recalls Philippe. "The fact remains that at Daytona, we clearly had a car that was a cut above the rest." This was not the case a month and a half later at the 12 Hours of Sebring. "And that's where he really came into his own," admits Philippe. "He drove a masterpiece, perhaps the race of his life."

After a superb comeback, he overtook Filipe Albuquerque, who was driving an Action Express Racing Corvette DP at the time. "That year, he erased all the shortcomings he had encountered in 2015, showing himself to be particularly solid. The ESM adventure has been fantastic on a human level, but it came to an end at the end of 2018."

After another victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring. "The fact remains that Pipo had made a name for himself on the other side of the Atlantic, and Action Express Racing contacted me during the summer of 2018," continues Philippe. "They wanted Pipo for the long distance races. In the end, Eric Curran decided to hang up his boots, so he did the full season."

The romance with Gary Nelson and Bob Johnson's team is still going strong. "We saw straight away that he was immensely talented," admits Philippe afterwards. "But then again, he also has an extremely well-developed brain. He has a Senna-like sense of attack, above-average racing intelligence, and he has managed to erase the excesses of aggression on the track that may have been his downfall. And what I like most about him is that he's a hard worker. So sometimes he bugs me (laughs) because he always wants more. But this guy will never stop. He's progressed enormously, he'll progress again and he'll always set himself higher goals. And in a way, that challenges me too. We push each other and I think we form the perfect driver-manager combination."

Today, in just nine years, Pipo has clinched two IMSA titles (2021 and 2023), a class podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2017), a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona (2016) and four at the 12 Hours of Sebring (2016, 1018, 2019 and 2023), an event in which he scored his second consecutive pole position yesterday.

Does that mean that everything has been easy? "Certainly not," assures Philippe. "In IMSA, he's had a lot of hard times. He's lost classics and championships at the very last moment. But what could be more normal when you consider the intensity of this championship? And when he found himself at AXR with Felipe Nasr (from 2019 to 2021), he had to raise his game even further. That helped him a lot, because Nasr is a big guy, coming from F1. And they're both Brazilians (Laughs). There was a real sense of emulation between the two."

In the end, there was a lot of soul-searching, as well as fears and doubts. Particularly as, despite some fine victories, he was denied the championship crown until 2021. "But this title that he won with Nasr, it was he who went and got it," recalls Philippe. "And it came as a relief, because twice before it had slipped through his fingers. And that took a big weight off his shoulders, it freed him. He has matured further and he was able to take on the role of team leader once Nasr left for Penske. He was able to take on his responsibilities, which didn't surprise me at all, because he's a born leader. The proof of this is that he was crowned champion last year. Throughout the season, he was masterful. He didn't make a single mistake."

Although Philippe won't say it out of humility, his South American protégé was undoubtedly the great architect of this title. And this at the end of the most competitive season since the championship was revived in 2014, and - what's more - with the smallest team in the category. In any case, it is the one with the fewest resources and the only one that does not also compete in IndyCar. "He carried this team," says his manager" And yet, with his very proto-style driving style, the adaptation was far from easy. "He's had his doubts, but he's proved himself to be a special guy" laughs our contact before taking a sip of coffee.

Philippe can't help but smile with pride as he looks back over his career with his Brazilian protégé. "I still think back to my first meeting with him in Brazil," he says. "He was just a kid. And now he's a father, he's just turned 30, and he's still able to be stronger because he's got a sense of perspective about everything." The best example is undoubtedly the end of the 2024 edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona. With victory in his grasp, the circumstances of the race finally allowed the N°7 Porsche to take the win. "It's not serious," he told us. "It's frustrating but not serious. Now I'm going home to my wife and daughter and I'll be back at Sebring even stronger."

A strength of character, a detachment, that should help him to climb even more mountains. With his sights set on the World Endurance Championship title and, of course, victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a race in which he will be taking part for the ninth time next June, his fourth in the top class.

And once again, he will be able to count on the support of Philippe, who likes to talk about his drivers like a family. He has forged a relationship with each of them that goes well beyond the professional. "For me, people are the most important thing," he admits. In fact, he has turned down requests from a large number of drivers, some of them very talented. Either because there wasn't the right fit, or simply because he didn't want to prejudice those he already supervises.

While he likes to say that he is there "to protect them", he also knows how to be tough, in their own interests. "In the end, the job of team leader or manager is much the same," he stresses. "You have to manage people and egos. But I can assure you that I'm having just as much fun as when I was at the team principal of Oak Racing or Hexis Racing." The team with which he won the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011. That title was certainly due more to the cohesion of his group than to the sheer speed of his Aston Martin DBR9s on the track. "In the end, I just want to live great stories," he concludes. "It may sound like a lot of talk, but it gives me more joy than a victory."

And he tells them with great emotion. The human, the human again, always the human... Philippe is a man of his word, who will never give up on the people he has decided to take under his wing. He will do whatever it takes to find the best possible programme for his drivers. Pipo, but also Olivier Pla, Mikkel Jensen, Lilou Wadoux, Côme Ledogar or Tom Dillmann.

A man of rare honesty who, at a barbecue organised by Pipo Derani on the sidelines of an IMSA event, quipped to his driver: "In the end today, given what you've achieved, you hardly need me any more...". And Pipo replied: "Philippe, I know what I owe you. If you want, we can sign a contract ad vitam æternam right now. And I'm not joking!"