For the safety-car drivers, ensuring safety on the track is a mission. To accomplish it at each race weekend, the key elements are preparation and cool head at crucial moments. That is what Pedro Couceiro, safety-car driver of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the European Le Mans Series and other prestigious events such as the Macau Grand Prix, tells us. Portuguese-born Pedro is in charge of this job after a high-level career between karting, Formula 3, International Formula 3000 and GT competitions. Thanks to the partnerships signed by OMP with the FIA and L’Automobile Club de L’Ouest, organizer of WEC and ELMS, Couceiro from this season is using our racewear in all the events on his schedule.
“I have been with the WEC for nine seasons, and I was thrilled when I learned that we were going to use OMP’s fireproof racewear. This is a brand with a great tradition and highly respected in the racing industry for its professionalism. It always gives great confidence to be aware we can always count on OMP’S support,” Pedro remarks.
The safety-car driver’s job, however, is not just limited to making a few laps around the track. First of all, there is thorough preparation in the run-up to the race. “For maximum efficiency you need to take care of every detail. On Thursday morning I arrive at the track, to define with the whole team the procedure for intervention. It is a challenging task, but it is quite similar at each round. Depending on the circuit, refinements can be necessary, for example to establish the best marshals’ spots”, Couceiro explains.
However, all this would not be enough without the calm blood required when the race control call comes. “The safety-car driver must be precise and reliable at all times, never going off under pressure. When it is time to enter the track, it means that a dangerous or possible dangerous situation is in place. Making a mistake can create additional factors of uncertainty for my colleagues the in race control to handle, and it would be a problem.”
“In every aspect of motorsport, it is the attention to the small things that makes the difference, as well as the motivation to continuously progress,” Pedro further insists. This is also OMP’s philosophy in providing racewear at the top of the field, capable of offering protection and high levels of comfort and performance. Not only for those who compete, but also for those who watch over their safety.
“In endurance racing we have to stay ready inside the safety car for several hours, maybe even ten, and start immediately when the signal comes,” Pedro explains. This is an aspect of his job that is perhaps little known to the general audience. A comfortable suit, for example, thanks to excellent breathability, helps reduce physical stress, and thus maintain concentration, throughout the race.
Continued research and development, to reduce the weight of suits and other elements of the driver’s kit, is among the key factors in the comfort of racewear. “This has been the most significant change in the last thirty years. If I think back to the suits I used at the beginning of my career, between karts, Formula Ford and Formula 3, and then to those of today, the difference is enormous. All with safety standards equal to or higher than then. The same goes for the gloves,” Pedro continues. The topic is a heartfelt one for him, having experienced in his own one of the greatest fears of a racing driver: fire. “In 2009, during qualifying for a GT race in Barcelona, a fire broke out from the rear end of my car and I was inside the cockpit surrounded by flames for fifteen seconds. No one opened the door for me; I needed five or six seconds to get out. Those moments seemed like an eternity.”
Now more than ever, racewear products are designed to blend safety, comfort and performance, but also style, of course. “OMP’s suits are always fantastic, and the aesthetic aspect side to reinforce the image of WEC and ELMS. As these are two premier championships, the exchange of prestige is mutual,” Pedro concludes.
