Italians are known for wearing their emotions on their sleeve and Alessandro Balzan is no exception. He has been grinning from ear-to-ear since arriving in Le Mans for his first attempt at the legendary endurance race.

“For sure, you cannot keep calm at an event like this,” Balzan beemed. “This event is a dream from when I started racing. I’m so happy to be here. I have new energy. My batteries are fully loaded!”

Balzan is sharing the No. 65 Ferrari 488 GTE with Christina Nielsen and Bret Curtis in the LMGTE AM category. He shares a similar Ferrari with Nielsen in the IMSA Championship. The two are the reigning GT Daytona class champions and Balzan was the 2013 GRAND-AM GT Champion, driving a Ferrari 458 GT3.

This isn’t just the first time Balzan has raced at Le Mans, it’s the first time he’s been to the event, period.

“I never came to watch Le Mans,” Balzan confessed. “I said to myself  ‘if you’re going to Le Mans, you’re going there to drive,’ so that was my promise.”

Now that he’s here, he’s finding the advice from his teammates, who each have one Le Mans under their belts, not very helpful.

“They told me it would be very cold and wet,” Balzan said. “I got here and I said ‘guys, I feel like I’m in Africa right now! It’s be better you told me about the heat!’”

You can’t blame Nielsen and Curtis though, indeed temperatures have been unseasonably warm this week, with highs in the 30’s C (80 F) and without the threat of rain. 

Some advice that is definitely coming into play for Balzan is about traffic.

“They’ve been great with advice on traffic,” he said of Nielsen and Curtis. “This year, the LMP2 cars are really quick. We are looking in the mirrors, maybe 30 times per lap. You are focused as much on not being a problem as you are about pushing the car to the limit.”

There are many familiar faces from the IMSA Championship at Le Mans and Balzan believes that is an advantage, whether they are friend or foe.

“It’s great to know all the other opponents,” he said. “Some are even in the second Scuderia Corsa car; Bill (Sweedler) and Townsend (Bell) won Le Mans last year. It’s great to have that car in our box. I can learn a lot of things from them. It’s nice also to know who you are fighting with and what you can expect.”

Of all the expectations Balzan had coming into his Le Mans debut, there is one that has already been exceeded: the fans.

“Already, to see the fans so excited…this is passion,” he said. “In the U.S., the racing passion is great, but here is something new for me. I’ve never seen something like this. I’ve never seen the fans so excited. I’m really looking forward to Friday for the parade!”

If you’re at the drivers’ parade in Le Mans on Friday at 17h30, make sure to give Balzan a shout!