Felipe Nasr has been cleared to return to competition in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship after recovering from COVID-19, which he contracted two weeks ago.
Nasr got infected with the virus ahead of the Weathertech 240 at Daytona on July 4th and was subsequently replaced by Gabby Chaves.
The ex-Formula One driver returned to his home in Miami to go into quarantine.
After being cleared by doctors ahead of this weekend’s Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring, Nasr will be allowed to rejoin Pipo Derani behind the wheel of the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-VR.
“It was frustrating not to be behind the wheel at Daytona after such a long wait,” Nasr said. “In the end, it wasn’t something I couldn’t control but it happened.
“I did the right thing, which was to tell the team as soon as I felt something different, unusual. I wanted to protect everyone on the Whelen Engineering team, which was my goal.
“It was difficult to watch it [the race] from home. But, I was happy to see the car perform well with Gabby Chaves and Pipo Derani behind the wheel. They were able to score some important points for the championship.
“Now, I’m looking forward to Sebring. I’m super excited to be back in the Whelen Engineering Cadillac with Pipo. I just can’t wait to feel the speed, to go around Sebring and feel alive again.”
Happy hunting ground
Sebring International Raceway is a happy hunting ground for Nasr and team-mate Pipo Derani. The pair won last year’s Twelve Hours of Sebring alongside Eric Curran, and Derani scored two additional victories with the Tequila Patron ESM outfit in 2016 and 2018.
“Sebring is a track that I really love,” Derani said. “I’ve had a lot of success there in the past. I’ve won three 12-Hours of Sebring [races] in the last four years.
“But, I think this time it’s going to be different. Instead of it being a 12-hour race, it’s going to be only two hours and 40 minutes. For sure, strategy is going to play a big role.
“It’s going to be a sprint, which at a track like Sebring, it’s never easy. With the success we’ve had there in the past, we expect nothing less [than a win].
Hopefully, we can finally get our championship started. There’s nothing better than winning at a track we won at last year.”
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