| Nick Boulle Returns to Le Mans While Orey Fidani Debuts Special Canadian-Themed AWA Program June 11, 2025By Tony DiZinnoIMSA Wire Service |
| DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Endurance sports car racing is renowned for celebrating drivers whose primary day-to-day work and life revolves around something outside of motorsports but still make a successful impact in the paddock. IMSA’s commitment to that legacy continues with the Jim Trueman Award and Bob Akin Award, bestowed on the Bronze-rated drivers who score highest in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) classes, respectively. Trueman is best known as the founder of the Red Roof Inns hotel chain and former owner of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and was a successful amateur racer who founded the Truesports organization that became an Indianapolis 500-winning entry with Bobby Rahal. Akin, the longtime president of Hudson Wire Co., was a standout driver and entrant in the IMSA championship in the 1970s and ‘80s, and is a 2025 inductee into the IMSA Hall of Fame. For Nick Boulle (LMP2, Trueman) and Orey Fidani (GTD, Akin), their names are added to the list of those winners who join the group that’s gotten to go to the 24 Hours of Le Mans the following year. Boulle returns to Le Mans for the third time in his career this year after a six-year hiatus; he debuted in 2018 and ran again in 2019. Fidani, meanwhile, will make his Le Mans debut along with his entire AWA team. Boulle Back in Action Texan-based Boulle knows a thing or two about timepieces. One of his earlier WeatherTech Championship races was the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona – which he won in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class with Performance Tech Motorsports – and the custom Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona, engraved with “Winner” on the back of the case. His day job is as President of de Boulle Diamond and Jewelry, with locations in Dallas and Houston, which makes him a retailer of Rolex timepieces. The time in-between his starts at Le Mans, though, has stretched for six years. After a several-year break, Boulle resumed racing more regularly in 2024. With Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, he and co-driver Tom Dillmann hit their stride early and often en route to the IMSA LMP2 title and the Trueman Award for Boulle. “We worked so hard last year and to see it come together with a couple of guys, with how it gelled is super special,” Boulle said. “I probably say this too much, but I never thought I’d have this opportunity to piece this together, have a group that’s such strong engineering, great driver lineup. It’s a dream come true.” |
| He’ll share the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 with Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer and Luca Ghiotto as a Pro/Am entry within the LMP2 class. Coincidentally, Dillmann will be in the sister No. 43 car with IMSA GTP full-timer Nick Yelloly of Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian and Jakub “Kuba” Smiechowski (team photo right, courtesy Inter Europol Competition). Boulle explained how he met his new teammates. “We have ‘Watches and Wonders’ in the springtime every year,” Boulle said. “I was in Geneva, Switzerland for that; we meet with Rolex and other major brands. After that trip, I flew to Barcelona and watched the (European Le Mans Series) race with them. I met Luca and J-B; they’re super nice guys. Luca’s super fast and they were on pace for either a win or top three before J-B had some contact with a P3 car. If not for that, clearly the car was quick.” Boulle’s first day back with Inter Europol came in Sunday’s Le Mans Test Day, although most laps came in the second session after the team made repairs post the first session. He’s racing with United Autosports USA in this year’s IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds, so he’d only had a couple days back in any LMP2-spec car since March and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with a one-day test at Watkins Glen in May. The LMP2 field at Le Mans is split between nine Pro/Am cars and eight Pro cars, so the Pro/Am battle is a race-within-a-race in the class of 17 identical ORECA 07 Gibson entries. That said, the competition is fierce throughout and Boulle is determined to do his best to deliver a result. In two starts, his best is eighth in class on debut in 2018, 12th overall in the 62-car field. “All I can do is outperform my role,” Boulle said. “We’re working on maximizing the effort and giving thanks to all my family, supporters and sponsors that brought us here. “I always describe driving these cars as sending a rocket to the moon. You need engineers, data analysts and the mechanics who work on the physical car. I love Le Mans because no one can test, and everyone shows up in the same boat as I am. We show up and do our best. This is the third race of the year, three is my lucky number, we’re No. 34, we’ll see what happens.” Fidani, AWA Bring Full Program Overseas |
| In a recent period where fewer full IMSA GT teams tend to go to Le Mans, AWA is pulling a throwback. Orey Fidani and AWA founder/owner Andrew Wojteczko hatched a plan shortly after winning the Bob Akin Award last fall at Motul Petit Le Mans to bring the team over in full. The opportunity came ahead of AWA’s second year running the customer Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with support coming as part of the new Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports customer car structure that allows privateer teams to run General Motors’ newest GT3-specification model. Fidani and full-season co-driver Matt Bell focused on consistency throughout 2024 with a few high-level results, and a best of fifth place occurring at Road America. They headed off their two full-season rivals to secure the spot. Rather than just pay for Fidani to have a seat at another team, the leadership wanted to reward the entire Canadian crew and organization with a trip to Le Mans for their efforts. The patriotism is on display with its Le Mans chassis decked out in full Canadian flag regalia, all red with white and a maple leaf, which has been an early fan favorite (photo above courtesy Corvette Racing). The logistical preparations took a left turn – in a good way – when Fidani, Bell, Lars Kern and Marvin Kirchhoefer won the Rolex 24 At Daytona. That pressed a different chassis – the intended Le Mans chassis – into action from the next round at Sebring, with the need to acquire a third chassis for Le Mans itself. The Le Mans chassis underwent a successful shakedown at Fidani’s home track of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park before being shipped to France, where it arrived well ahead of the Le Mans Test Day. The chance to get on track on Sunday for the first time marked the culmination of an eight-month journey since October 2024 when Fidani won the Bob Akin Award, and the 10 months before that to focus purely on the Akin award starting at the ’24 Rolex 24. “Today was all about the comfort level and getting my bearings in the first couple of laps, just pushing deeper and deeper in the corners to figure it all out,” Fidani explained. “I’d say the car was pretty decent to start with. There are always a few things to work on to make it a little better, and I know we will get there. I’m just happy to be here and super excited. Those first laps, driving my own car around here unlike last year (in a support race)… The team is on-point and it does feel like they’ve been here before. We’ll keep getting laps in, get this car dialed in 100 percent for the race and keep pushing and digging.” With one 24-hour race win in Daytona in the bag, it’s already been a dynamic 2025 for AWA. A second at Le Mans would only add to the historic season. “It’s truly amazing what this group has accomplished in the past year, and now we get to show what we’re made of and represent Canada in the biggest endurance race in the world,” Fidani said. |
