More than three years and a half years ago, Ludovic Loffreda knew nothing about racing or had never been on a racing track.
But all that changed when the Frenchman was introduced to the sport through a friend in 2012, which led to him founding Lucco Racing – a Dubai based company that competes in the Radical Racing series.
After Lucco’s victory on the opening day of the Radical Middle East Cup at Dubai Autodrome, Ludovic caught up with Sport360 and spoke about where his interest for racing stemmed from and his focuses away from the track.
Ludovic, where did it all start for you? Where did the passion for racing come from?
My friend Jordan Grogor – a pro driver – brought me on to the track for the first time in 2012. He used to drive my road car there; it was a Porsche GT3 at the time and after costing me a fortune in spare parts, he said you should join us in a proper race-car designed to be on the track. He taught me all the lines, and then I purchased my first race-car because I was really enjoying it. After work it was so good to get rid of the pressure and stress and we started to be quite good. Myself and my co-driver Romain Lutter started winning races and championships, and we continued driving.
For people who know nothing about radical racing, can you tell us a bit about it?
It’s quite an accessible sport. Obviously finance is a big issue, you have to be quite financially solid or you have to find sponsors who can assist you. In terms of driving skills, the series has plenty of different levels of drivers who enjoy their time in the car. The most important thing is having fun.
Why did I decide to buy a radical? The radical are two seater cars, so it’s a proper race car. It’s faster than anything on the track, except a Formula One car. It’s a very fast car. I bring friends to races at the weekend who want to discover the sport.
As a driver, you need to be fit. Your neck and back muscles can be very stiff from driving so you need to do some workouts.
During the race we have videos, data, and we learn mistakes from this. In between the races, we try to learn and correct the issues, and have a better car for future races. The car is feeling good at the moment.
When your starting further down the track, do you try to go fast on the first lap?
You can never win the race in the first lap but it’s important to be careful not to lose here either. If you don’t get a good position from the first lap, you will be slow to catch the leaders. It’s all about balance. You have to be careful not to make a mistake on the first lap and you have to grab space and hope there is no crash either.
Outside of racing, what’s your passion?
I love doing business. We buy and sell companies and we build companies from A-Z. We have four companies in Lyon and twenty in Dubai. My dream was to build a group which we have today and now it is to maintain the group, which is the most difficult part. The racing is a passion, but it’s not a dream anymore. It’s a reality.
Does the confidence in business help your driving?
It’s not about confidence. It’s more about knowing what you can do, and knowing what you cannot do. If a driver is faster than you it’s for a reason, or he has more skills and more experience. But there is always a reason. You can find out and you can learn. It’s exactly like business. You don’t want to be like them, but you need to understand why these people are different and try to replicate what they do.
*The next two Radical races will take place on 18-20 February at Dubai Autodrome and 17-18 March at Yas Marina Circuit.
