Italian factory Ferrari driver Alessio Rovera believes he is ready to move up to Hypercar machinery after proving himself as one of the leading performers in GT3 racing.
In the FIA World Endurance Championship, Rovera has established a solid record in the LMGT3 category, finishing third and then runner-up in the standings over the last two seasons while driving the AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. This season he sits seventh in the drivers’ table, though that position would rise to fifth if the results of the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R crew were treated as a collective group, given the different scoring used for that line-up.
Beyond his WEC exploits, Rovera has also made a mark in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, securing the 2024 Endurance Cup title. He came close to adding another major win at this year’s Spa 24 Hours, sharing the driving duties with Nicklas Nielsen and Tommaso Mosca, and was leading during the early stages before a puncture disrupted their charge.
Rovera conducted his first official run in a Ferrari 499P Hypercar at the Bahrain rookie test at the end of last year. With that experience in hand, he is now targeting a full graduation to rate among the Hypercar ranks.
Asked by Sportscar365 whether he feels prepared to join the 499P driver roster, Rovera replied that he believes the time is right. He explained that although Hypercar is currently the apex of endurance racing, the act of driving it is not radically different from GT3 or LMP2 machinery. In his view, the Hypercar sits somewhat in the middle in terms of handling because it is heavier than LMP2 yet more powerful, with a larger amount of downforce. He added that the driving style is largely similar to that of a GT car.
“I think so. In the end, Hypercar is the pinnacle of endurance racing today, but in terms of how you actually drive it, it’s not a huge departure from a GT3 or LMP2 car — it sits a bit in the middle, heavier than LMP2 but with more power,” Rovera said. “It’s a bigger GT car that has more downforce, and the way you drive it is almost the same. I don’t have to change so much, but the opportunity to race a 499P also depends on factors that go beyond my own desires.”
He also stressed that there is more to earning a seat than simply his personal ability: “The chance to race a 499P isn’t something I can obtain by myself.”
Looking for ways to prove he deserves a Hypercar seat, Rovera emphasized that he is continually seeking improvement: “If you always stay in the same position, you won’t stay where you are; you’ll fall behind because you become too comfortable, and that isn’t good for performance.”
His approach is to push his limits every time he goes on track, studying his data as well as the data of other drivers to analyze every aspect of performance. “I try to improve every time I go out on track, and I study my own data and the data of the other drivers, and I analyze everything—I believe that is the right way to progress.”
Ferrari has previously signaled an interest in entering this year’s Asian Le Mans Series in the new Hypercar class with the 499P, but Rovera remains unsure whether taking part would provide him with the most beneficial exposure to top-tier prototype competition. “I’m not certain because we don’t know how many cars we’ll be allowed,” he said. “And there are GT programs as well, so I’m a GT driver by trade, which means I would likely be in a GT car in Asia—we’ll see.”
In the meantime, Rovera is concentrating on breaking Ferrari’s LMGT3 win drought, which has extended for more than a year. He did cross the line in first place at Spa on the road with his teammates Simon Mann and Francois Heriau, but the result was nullified when a five-second penalty for an unsafe release from a pit stop dropped them to fourth.
“I think over these three years we’ve had many opportunities to win races, but in the end we didn’t claim what we expected or what we could have,” Rovera conceded. “We led at the front on several occasions, but penalties after the checkered flag cost us wins on the surface. The potential has always been there; we simply need to manage penalties a little better and make life easier for ourselves.”
He stressed that the Spa penalty cost them valuable points that could have put them more firmly in front, but remains confident that Ferrari’s LMGT3 effort is ready for a strong result when the opportunity arises. “Unluckily, Spa cost us a lot of points, and without the penalty, we could have been 13 points clear,” he said. “But I’m convinced we’re capable of delivering a significant result—we have everything we need to be there.”
