Allied-Racing is famed for its driver development programme. Leo Pichler and Herolind Nuredini are two of its latest young guns, sharing the team’s #22 Porsche 718 Cayman RS CS GT4.
Once rivals, these two met in last season’s German GTC (Gran Turismo Cup) when racing GT4 Porsches against each other, Austrian Pichler running with the Razoon – More Than Racing team and Nuredini already with Allied. The two proved such a close match, they decided to team up this season for their move into the GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club.
We caught up with them during the last event at Hockenheim to talk about starting your racing career in a KTM, working as a team, and ice cream…
Leo Pichler
Leo, welcome to GT4 Europe. Has it been a long journey for you to get here?
“It has come quite fast actually! This is my first season in GT4 Europe, and I’m really enjoying it. I only started racing in 2020 with a KTM X-Bow, initially in GTC and then in ADAC GT4 Germany. I didn’t do any karting, I just went straight into the KTM to get going. The team at Razoon are quite close to us and we knew them through a family friend. We got talking and rented a car for a test and as soon as I tried it I just loved it. The car was so much fun and that got me hooked into racing.”
No karting and straight into a KTM and then GT4. Was it hard to start like that?
“Yes and no. Although my first race was in the original open KTM, it was still very much like a GT4 car, so it didn’t make it a big step when I tried the GT4 version in GT4 Germany in 2021. The KTM was again very different to what I race now as it had not so much power but was so light. The Porsche is more of everything, both power and weight to control. But it is vital to always keep learning.”
So how did you meet Herolind?
“I was already racing a Porsche GT4 in the GTC last year with Razoon and I met up with Herolind as we were competing against each other, but we thought we would make even better team-mates! It’s much better working together than racing against each other. Our driving styles are similar and we share a car well, always pushing each other and using the data to improve.”
How has this season gone for you so far?
“It has been tough, in truth. We had some technical issues in the first weekend and then at Misano we qualified fourth and finished fifth in race one, great! We started P5 for race two but then had an accident so didn’t score. At Spa we messed up qualifying and had to fight hard, but it is still great fun to compete in a field this tight. You can only learn from it, even if you are having a bad weekend and not getting the results you want. I’m really enjoying the challenge.”
What is it like working with Allied-Racing?
“Being with Allied is great. The team has a great record of helping drivers climb the GT racing ladder. I have already learned a lot from the team and feel I am already improving on my journey from ADAC GT4 to here.”
Herolind Nuredini
We saw a change in livery for Hockenheim, why have you added ‘I love Ice Cream’ stickers to the rear wing of the car?
“Ha… That’s a funny story actually! Back at Spa I had a crash with another car and we stopped at a marshal post and the German commentator made a comment that it looked like I’d stopped to grab an ice cream instead… we found it funny so put ice cream stickers on the car. You have to laugh at these things, and they’ll stay on the car for the rest of the season.”
How did your racing career begin?
“I started in karting back in 2015 and I drove in the European and world series, which taught me a lot and we scored some great results like P5 in the European points. I was second in the German championship in 2020 and won it in 2022. I moved into cars last season because a friend of my dad was good friends with the team boss at Allied-Racing and he told me ‘why don’t you try the Porsche… it’s an amazing car’.”
At 17, you are one of the youngest drivers on the grid…
“One of the biggest things for me was to start racing cars as soon as I could, start young, because for me you learn the most when you start young. I started in the German GTC and finished third in the championship. That’s where I met Leo and we thought between us we would make a really good team as he was such a close competitor. It’s working really well.”
You were always set on a career in GT racing?
“Definitely. I never wanted to do formula racing, that is just so pricey and did not really interest me. I always loved GT cars. The sound of the engine as a driver is amazing. The level is so high here, and it was a big step to come from karting into GT racing. Sometimes karting is not as professional, and then you come here and it is a different world. The teams are huge, with big trucks and lots of staff… it’s serious racing, but so much fun!”
How has the season gone so far?
“For me this season has been tough. We have had a lot of bad luck really, but we have managed to show our real pace in qualifying… look at Misano for that. But we have to get a bit of luck on our side and add some consistency and then the results will start to come for us. We always have to push and to hope that the next race is perfect.”
What is your aim for the final four races of the year?
“The most important thing is just to get as many points as we can and learn as much as we can. Hopefully that can bring us some good results and put us near the podium places.”
