An initiation for the men of Jean Lombard who are working together for the first time. The initiator of the project with Dominique Payen (President of the So24! association which allows young Le Mans hopefuls to participate in the 24 Hours), Jean Lombard is far from being unknown. Former driver and team manager for many years, he ended his involvement in motorsports to focus more on the career of his son Olivier. "I had no longer had any responsibilities in a racing team for a good 10 years and I didn't really want to jump back into the fray, but Dominique was of another mind!" 

The possibility arose of obtaining an invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. "We were based in Le Mans, our drivers Vincent Capillaire and Olivier (Lombard) were hired by the company. Our portfolio was solid! Without the 24 Hours on the program, it would have been delusional to hope for a decent budget. Once admittance secured everything went quite fast. We set up at Mulsanne to be near Onroak Automotive to whom we lent a Ligier JS P2 and then we began our recruiting..."

Patrick Grandidier, ex-Jordan Grand Prix in F1 and more recently manager of the Draco outfit in F. Renault 3.5, arrived as team manager. "Everyone quickly found his place during our first day yesterday. As we chose to pass on the recent Dunlop tyre tests to show up here with a well-rounded car, we did not encounter any major concerns and were able to rack up kilometers. It's a good thing for our drivers, especially Jonathan Coleman who has just joined us. This 30-year-old Brit does not have a lot of experience despite having competed in the 2015 ELMS season, and we are going to help him make progress. I wasn't necessarily looking to have three French drivers since the outfit is an international vocation."

This season, the owner is cautious when it comes to goals. "To finish races is our priority. It is important to learn as much as possible and prepare for 2017 as well as we can as it will include new regulations. For us it's good timing!"

Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO