FP COMMUNIQUE 004

UNDER THE HOOD:

Gianpaolo Pietri

What inspired you to start Fratelli Pietri, and how has your vision evolved since its inception?

Our family has been driving Porsches in Europe for over 22 years. From the first day of the first rallye in 2003, we were hooked. It became an instant annual tradition much like our winter ski trips to Colorado. At one point we had a stretch where we’d go multiple times a year. And we would make a real adventure of it combining the drives with F1 Grand Prix or the FIFA World Cup.

I’ll never forget once jetting off with my father for a 4-day binge during a Porsche Freunde event in Dinslaken, Germany. Two days in we ended up parking on the side of the Autobahn to catch some Zs, overcome by jet lag. We put in over 2,000km in 72 hours. That spontaneity has translated to how we do things now. Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain… you name it. We’ve taken our Porsches there.

We believe the best way to get to the heart of a country is through its roads, and my experiences over the years have reinforced that belief.

You must have many great stories from all of your adventures on the road. What are some of the cooler moments that stick with you?

Ah, yes, so many immediately come to mind that it’s hard to hone in on a couple. Driving the Großglockner with a crew of kindred spirits, on a weekday when you have it all to yourself, is simply a kick ass experience I want to recreate again and again. Then you end the day with your pick of bottles of the bubbly, the red stuff, or a quality scotch on the beautifully quaint Porsche family property in Zell am See. Hard to beat.

There is also this perfect hotel, straight out of a Wes Anderson film, nestled at the edge of the Stelvio Pass in the Italian Alps. Aside from having one of the best breakfasts in the world, their aprés drive is exquisitely odd like only Italians can pull off. Picture this, you wrap up a glorious drive around the Stelvio-Umbrail Pass loop, and arrive back at this hotel with the crew to share stories over thermal pools and eucalyptus steam rooms. You close the day with a happy hour and well-earned cocktail in hand, savoring Italian bites, all while everyone is draped in a robe that speaks to a life well-lived.

What differentiates a Fratelli Pietri rallye from other luxury driving experiences?

Right off the bat two things come to mind: our routes and our cars. Every great rallye begins with a great route. What makes a route special? Efficiency and variety. The key is to minimize any excess and undynamic pavement. The last thing you want to do is spend 7 or 8 hours driving down a highway with a 120 kph speed limit just to get to your next destination. With a lot of other outfits, that’s exactly what you’ll end up doing.

But there’s something deeper going on. We are not tour operators. We are outriders. We aren’t sitting around waiting for people to sign up for a tour so we can proceed to plan it. We love to drive. This is our passion. We’re going no matter what, even if only one guests signs up. And we invite you to come with us. That’s how it works.

We don’t plan driving tours, we work with the world’s most precious commodity – time. We give our guests their time back–time that may otherwise be at great risk of being wasted or lost. Those are the stakes. Is it expensive? Think of it this way, what you give in currency you regain tenfold in stories that will be told, and retold, as memories that last a lifetime.

And finally, my background is in architecture, where attention to detail is practically a prerequisite for entry. I have a tendency to obsess over every detail of a trip, from the routes, to the gear, the hotels, the food, the activities, every choice we make is in service to the story we want to tell our guests. At the heart of that story is the idea that life is beautiful… that life is not just worth living, but worth living well.

Porsche figures heavily in the identity of FP. What is your personal relationship with the Porsche brand?

I don’t believe I’ve had a more transformative and long-lasting connection with a brand than my 22 year relationship with Porsche. The same goes for my brother, my father, and my grandfather. My entry to the brand wasn’t nearly as auspicious as my father’s, who got his first red 911 L Targa as a Senior at Georgia Tech in 1969. In fact the first supercar I ever drove wasn’t a Porsche, but a RUF 3600 we rented during our first Ruf Rallye in Europe. Amazing car.

Our passion for Porsche dates back three generations to the 1950s, and is almost as old as the brand itself. It all started when my grandfather took delivery of the first Porsche 356 1600 Super in Puerto Rico. It’s funny, I’m not really a “car” guy. I’m not a gear head. I don’t care much for 90% of vehicles out there. I’m a Porsche road warrior. Plain and simple. It’s a lifestyle choice.

Can you share a moment from one of your rallies that embodies the Fratelli Pietri experience?

A lot of experienced drivers join our rallyes, people with decades of road and track time under their belts, but I’m partial to the newcomers—those who are new to high-performance driving.

At the start of the 2023 Tyrolean Rhapsody–our first ever rallye–we had a female solo driver, who would occasionally disappear from our rearview mirror. By the end of the first week, she was comfortably keeping up with the leaders. Halfway through the second week, she had us disappearing from her rearview.  Watching a guest’s confidence blossom as they hone their driving skills is the most rewarding part of the job. When you can learn while having the time of your life, it’s a win-win. 

We put a lot of time into designing our adventures to be as challenging as they are fun, so clients don’t just have the time of their life, but also learn something new about themselves in the process. We believe this process of self-discovery is what makes the experience unforgettable. There’s a quote we always return to that says, “The road doesn’t just open up new worlds to you, it opens up new worlds within you.” That’s a powerful idea that resonates throughout every Fratelli Pietri experience.

How do you select the routes and destinations for your rallies, and what factors do you prioritize?

It’s simple. We take our clients to the places where we want to go. Our process is analog. It all starts with the printed map. Once we’ve identified an area of interest, and mapped out some potential paths, it’s time to go scout and get wheels on the ground. Once you’ve done this enough times, you’ve honed your criteria for what makes one destination more desirable than another. Whether its accessibility to roads, food, quality accommodations, or a wide enough range of culturally significant special activities, those are all important barometers that help us decide where to go next.

First and foremost is the quality of the roads. Our Rallye Grandmasters spend an inordinate amount of time driving and assessing a region’s best roads to have the most detailed knowledge possible to ensure a fulfilling driving experience for guests. We pride ourselves in knowing more about the local roads than the people who live there.

In terms of what we prioritize, it is important for our hospitality partners to be an authentic representation of the region, have first-rate facilities, and value service as much as we do. We spend a lot of time engaging with and evaluating our partners seeking that sweet spot.

What role do you see Fratelli Pietri playing in the future of luxury automotive tourism?

Comfort and security used to be the gold standard of any luxury vacation. But people have grown bored of locking themselves up in ivory towers hoping nothing bad happens. After COVID, people are more hungry for the outdoors. They seek out the forgotten adventure lifestyle, with hopes of forging more meaningful connections. They want to venture outside of the walls. They want to be challenged. They want to learn a new skill, or improve on an old one. An FP team member once said we’re “restomoding” the hospitality experience. He’s onto something.

How do you curate the cultural and culinary experiences that complement the driving on your rallies?

Everything we do stems from one simple yet foundational principle: we plan what we desire for ourselves. Every choice we make stems from understanding what we would look for in a luxury adventure. When I travel, I don’t want to sit through a 3-hour, 3-star Michelin meal every night, but I also don’t want to just throw down pizzas and burgers all day either. We offer a balanced experience, where guests can learn about the nuanced cultural traditions, as well as culinary heritage of a place from the very best quality to the most authentic expression of that destination’s identity, which are not always the same thing.
What’s the most surprising feedback you’ve received from a participant, and how did it influence your approach?

I was genuinely surprised by the transformative nature of the feedback I received from one of our most loyal clients. I was confident our trips were loaded with good times and wouldn’t disappoint, but I didn’t fully understand the power which our experiences have to fundamentally change a guest’s perspective on life and themselves. Sometimes feedback isn’t verbal, but you see it unfold through the change you see in a driver from the moment they arrive to when they depart one of our rallyes.

We also had a guest who said he’d checked two items off his bucket list and three off of his personal development list, and that was just on the first day. He couldn’t have said it better. That is precisely what we’re about–extracting every bit of adventure from each moment, each location. He’s now been on three rallyes with us and I’m sure he’s eyeing the next one.

What’s next for Fratelli Pietri? Any new destinations or concepts on the horizon?

2025 is a year of expansion for us. We are introducing new products, like our Self-Guided Road Adventures in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Austria, and new destinations, including our first foray into the United States with rallyes in Napa Valley, California and Aspen, Colorado.

Alessandro, our Creative Director, and I are storytellers at heart. We are heavily invested in leveraging our skills and resources to partner with dynamic creators in the United States and Europe to produce narrative driven lifestyle content that is both aspirational and honest about how we see the world and our possibilities within it. These content packages immortalize our events and the memories we create, which our clients can then revisit through our website or in the form of photo books and films.

What is your favorite car for touring on the best roads in the world?

I like my cars like I like my women…one model at a time. I hope that joke landed, please don’t @ me. I’m not the type of person who needs to explore every model of every car brand to find out which one suits me best. I can quickly hone in on the one or two I like most and usually stick with those.

When it comes to performance cars, for me, there’s Porsche… and Ferrari, in that order. I can just see the comments coming, but I don’t even really look at other carmakers. Within the Porsche lineage I limit myself to models that have manual options so that narrows it down. I really haven’t driven too many models despite doing this for over 20 years, simply because I haven’t needed to. Our twin-turbo 996 GT2 gives me all the love I need, and that’s fine by me. I have thought about introducing a more contemporary mistress to roll around in the dirt with, but we’ll see. A RUF Rodeo, perhaps?

That said, the GT4RS, a 1973 RSR, a late 60s Targa aor a 911 Safari (for the dirt) are always on my radar. There’s more to driving a car than top speed and max horsepower. I enjoy design and performance as much as the next guy, but there is something to be said for the sentimental value these cars can have across generations. That’s the true magic of the Porsche legacy.

“I believe the best way to get to the heart of a country is through its roads. And my experiences on the road have reinforced that belief.”

-Gianpaolo Pietri