There’s a lot that’s going through your head before even turning a wheel on the track, just purely based on what we experience during the test session a week before. From an engineering point of view, there’s not a lot different from any other WEC race just that we have more time to think things through.
It’s also the engineers’ job to decide who has what responsibilities during the build-up to the race. Sometimes the drivers can make decisions based on how they’re feeling during that event, whether they feel like they’ve had enough mileage or whether they’re up to speed fully before qualifying. It’s definitely something we all feel and talk about openly as a team.
Race Day
The Le Mans 24 Hours is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, so it’s hard to stay completely cool, calm and collected on race morning. Nerves are a good thing. The day you don’t get nerves is the day you stop caring and performance drops as a consequence - I’m convinced by that. I’m happy I still get nervous. There are butterflies in your stomach whether you’re starting the race or not.
Last year was actually the first time I’d ever started the race - and it’s a totally different experience when you start any sports car race compared to being second or third driver in. It takes on a completely different emotion for you and there’s a lot of pressure because obviously to have any kind of incident in the first couple of laps, especially at the start, would be one that you’d never ever forget and nobody else would!
There’s a lot that’s going
through your head before even turning a wheel on the track, just purely based on what we experience during the test session a week before.
On top of that, during the first few laps of the race there is no traffic at all, so it’s an out-and-out sprint until the point you first start meeting traffic. It highlights whether you’re struggling or if you’ve got the bit between your teeth. It’s definitely an exciting part of the race.
Whether first, second or third in the driver line-up, you need build up your own system to get as much rest as possible between stints. During my first Le Mans in 2009, I got pretty fatigued, especially at the end of the race. I didn’t get enough sleep, I didn’t eat enough and I lived too much on adrenaline and energy drinks. It caught up with me by the end of the race.
Now my system is to get out of the car and immediately debrief with my race
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