PWC Series Staff:
The 2015 PWC season ended on a bittersweet note for Enrico Diano, Manager of Racing Activities for R. Ferri Motorsport. In the Round 20 GT finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, his driver Olivier Beretta ended up 28th on the day, and second overall in the battle with Johnny O’Connell for the Drivers’ Championship. But later that evening at the series’ Awards Banquet, Diano was recognized for his hard-work and dedication during the season when he was awarded the prestigious Jerome Zimmermann Cup.
The Zimmermann Cup is an annual award presented in the memory of multi-time championship winning crew chief Jerome Zimmermann (1967-2003) at season’s end to the crew chief that best exemplifies the similar passion, dedication and success Zimmermann had in the Pirelli World Challenge.
Before joining the R. Ferri team for the start of the 2014 season, from 2002 to 2009 Diano owned and managed Team Autotecnica running in junior open wheel series including Formula Renault 2000 and Formula BMW. The team won several championships over those years as well as the Rookie title in 2007 with Esteban Gutierrez — Ferrari’s current F1 reserve driver — piloting the team’s car. In 2011 and 2012 Diano worked as crew chief for championship Compass360 Racing team in Pirelli World Challenge. In 2011, he helped lead the team to the TC drivers’ championship with Lawson Aschenbach piloting one of the team’s two cars and in 2012 Todd Lamb finished second overall in the drivers’ championship and the team received Crew of the Year honors. Compass360’s efforts also helped Honda win back-to-back manufacturer titles over those two years.
“I was very surprised and quite honored to have received the Zimmermann Cup at the year-end banquet,” said Diano. “I have the privilege of managing a small but great group of racers that form R. Ferri Motorsport. Driven by the true passion of our team owner Remo Ferri, we have been provided with the best car, people and tools to do the job. I’d like to thank the SCCA Pro and WC Vision staff members for nominating and voting for me. I dedicate this award to my hard-working crew consisting of Tony Benincasa, Marc Warren, Vazrik Zakarian, Bill Eagleson, Gianni DiLullo, Stefano Galante and obviously to Olivier Beretta who was a great driving force (both literally and figuratively) within the team. I’d also like to recognize the hard work performed by all of our competitors who made this season very challenging but also very enjoyable and rewarding. See you next year!”