NEWS

What is there left to say about the career of Franck Perera? A prolific go-karter in his youth, the Frenchman climbed the ultra-competitive single seater ladder, battling some of the finest motorsport talents of his generation before forging a long relationship with Lamborghini Squadra Corse in 2018.

He’s brushed shoulders and duked it out with future Formula One world champions, such as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, and achieved success both in Europe and across the Pond in the United States.

His career has not been without its challenges, though. Timing often wasn’t Perera’s friend, with circumstances forcing a change of direction on more than one occasion. But one thing that has never wavered is his dedication and commitment to extracting the very best of his exceptional abilities. 

From winning on his brand debut at the Daytona 24 Hours to delivering Lamborghini’s first-ever DTM victory and being part of the victorious Petit Le Mans GTD Pro line-up, Perera has an incredible strike-rate in some of the biggest GT races.

How did you first get into racing? When did you discover motorsport for the first time?
I was maybe seven years-old. My father took me to the local go-kart track just to try, and there was someone working there who saw that I was quite capable behind the wheel, and they decided to help me a little bit. My father pushed me a lot to start racing and immediately the results came and I won the French championship.

Then I finished second in the world championship and suddenly, I got a call from Toyota who, at the time, was starting its junior programme. They brought me onboard to do some testing in Formula Renault, with a selection of drivers that included Robert Kubica, Ryan Briscoe, Felipe Massa, and some others. And I won their shootout and signed a long-term contract in single seaters.

It was a high level back then, of course because you look at where they are now. I raced against drivers like Nico Rosberg, Maro Engel, and Lewis Hamilton.

The next step in your career took you further up the F1 ladder. What was the period that changed things for you?
I won the Formula Renault championship in Italy in 2003, which was the best one at the time in Europe. A year later, I did the F3 Euro Series where I finished fourth and did the pole position at the Bahrain Super Prix. It was the only time we went to Bahrain, but I loved the track and did the pole, but I stalled at the start so fell to last but I recovered to fourth before Lucas di Grassi pushed me out on the last lap. I raced against Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton during this time, and I was quite fast against them.

At the same time, I became a test driver in F1 at the end of 2004 as well, with Toyota, and they helped me do the F3 Euro Series again in 2005 and then GP2 in 2006. GP2 was quite a difficult season but I finished second to Lewis at Monaco, I was the only driver who could challenge him there, so that was quite nice. 

After your single seater career, you made the switch to GT racing. Was it a natural transition?
When the Toyota my contract ended, I had the chance to stay in GP2 with another team, but the sponsor decided to take Antonio Pizzonia, who was a Williams driver before and because he was more famous than me. But after three races, they replaced him, so I was always in the wrong place and that's why I decided to go to America.

I did Champ Car Atlantic, which was a good series because if you win, you have money in the end, but unfortunately Champ Car merged with IndyCar and then the 2008 financial crash happened, so I lost my seat. Not long after, I completely stopped racing.

What appealed the most about Lamborghini to you?
I was talking to a team that had links with different manufacturers. I raced for that team for a few years and then some brands got in touch with me, and one of them was Lamborghini. I decided to go to Lamborghini because they were doing a lot of championships, I had raced with Italian teams in the past and they were expanding in GTs too. And I had the best start, because we won at Daytona in 2018.

What have been the main highlights during your time with the brand?
Daytona for sure was amazing because also you're back in America. It is such a special track. The race was really nice because we were not the fastest, but we were so solid and it was nice. And then, you know, nine years there were A lot of up and down, for sure.

For sure, the pole position at Spa for the 24 Hours in 2024, the superpole with the track record, was something quite amazing being 40 years old. The success in Petit Le Mans in 2024 was also very nice because we had some difficult moments and that victory was very suffering, you know.

My first win in DTM was cool because it was also the first win in the championship for Lamborghini. The season in WEC was nice because I could. I could discover new tracks. It was the first time I went to Fuji, Sao Paulo, Le Mans. And at Spa, I was leading the race until the last lap.