After weeks of driving a McLaren 650S GT3 in the Pirelli World Challenge Championships, the Blancpain Sprint Series and the Blancpain Endurance Series, Estre finds himself in the No. 34 OAK Racing Ligier JS P2 HPD, driving a P2 car for the first time.

“I have six weekends in a row with podiums in a lot of them,” Estre said. “It’s been a good year for me so far in Europe and in America. I’m glad to have all these opportunities to drive in these great cars and with great teams. To be here with OAK, a fantastic team with a lot of experience, a great car and a great driver lineup makes me really happy.”

The Frenchman had to make a mad dash from a race in Belgium to get to scrutineering on Monday.

“It was a bit crazy,” he laughed. “We finished our race yesterday at 4:30pm in Zolder. We had to cross half of Europe to come here, but everything is fine. It’s really cool to be here now and see all the fans. I’m already signing a lot of autographs and it’s only Monday.”

Estre may be a 24 Hours of Le Mans rookie, but he is no stranger to the race distance or circuit.

“I think I will try to manage it as all the other 24-hour races I’ve done before,” Estre said. “You need to be consistent and make no mistakes, but this race is the biggest, so it brings pressure on another level. The weather might be a big thing here and also the LM P2 car is new for me, so traffic is going to be different than what I’m used to in GT.”

“I know the track from previous races; I did Porsche Cup last year and in 2010, so I know the track and we’ve done the simulator and we had training on Wednesday and Thursday, so we’ll see.”

When OAK Racing needed a silver driver to complete their Le Mans lineup, Estre’s experience in the U.S. helped him find the team just what they needed: Chris Cumming, an American gentleman driver with a strong reputation prototypes.

“They needed a Silver driver to go along with me and their Pro,” explained Estre. “I made the contact between Chris Cumming and the team. Everything went quite smooth. Chris was really happy to get this opportunity, the team was really happy to have him. He’s a great silver driver. Everything went together and in the end I think we have a really great driver lineup.”

Erin Cechal / ACO

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, TUESDAY 9 JUNE 2015, AUTOGRAPH SESSION. Kevin Estre enjoyed his first autograph session at Le Mans.