24h Le Mans
Before joining La Sarthe and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Lucas di Grassi scored his best result to date as an Audi factory driver, taking the runner-up spot with his team mates Loic Duval and Tom Kristensen at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the second round of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Photo: D.R. / Audi Motorsport
After suffering disappointment in the season opener at Silverstone, you celebrated a nice success in second place at Spa.
Lucas di Grassi: I’ve got to thank the engineers and mechanics who assembled and prepared the car for us from scratch within a week. Our part was to put it all on track in a very compact two-day race. After qualifying in changeable weather I experienced what has been my best race with Audi so far. It was perfect and we three drivers were running superbly. We didn’t lose a tenth of a second and extracted the best from the weekend, the car, the team and the pit stops. But everybody in the team knows that our competitors are very strong this year. At Spa, we managed to overtake some cars because we changed the tires only at every second stop.
This year, new regulations are in effect that limit consumption…
As drivers, we’ve got to use a different driving style. We’ve got to drive fast as well as in an energy-efficient way. We spent a lot of time on improving our driving technique and to adapt it to the requirements imposed by the regulations. As a team, we found very efficient solutions. Our car consumes 30 percent less while achieving a similar lap time. That’s positive for the sport and makes additional demands on our driving skills.
The WEC race at Spa attracted a turnout of 46,000 fans. How did you experience this?
The event at Spa was tremendous and we had a fantastic day with a large number of fans. The track conditions were good, there were no yellow periods. It was a nice race with a strong battle. We saved our second place with an advantage of less than eight seconds. That should have pleased the fans. And we enjoy watching the WEC grow.
More information available about Lucas di Grassi on Facebook and Twitter.
(Based upon Audi Motorsport press information)
Photo : FRANCORCHAMPS (BELGIUM), WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, FRIDAY MAY 2, 2014, PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING. Lucas di Grassi (left) with Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, the head of Audi Motorsport.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
24 HOURS OF LE MANS - June 14/15 2014
Tickets - Entry List - Program
