Initially, you only signed for the first three rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship. It turns out you’re doing the full season. How did that happen?

“It looks like I did a good job in the first three races, at Silverstone, Spa and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Obviously Le Mans was a shame in terms of the result for the #67 because of a clutch problem, and after that it was a learning session. We were quick, we were up with the eventual winning car in the night. We were second at Spa and that, coupled with the fact that I get on really well with the team meant they decided to keep me for the rest of the year, which is fantastic. I get to do the full WEC and go to some amazing tracks in different countries. It was great to get the news of course. I was really happy and it didn’t take me long to accept."

Going back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, overall, are you happy for Ford in general or are you disappointed about your car, the #67 Ford GT?

"I’m obviously very happy for Ford. We form one big team and the success of the whole programme is vital for everyone. To come and achieve the target the first year at Le Mans was amazing. But of course, I’d have liked it to have been my car [smiles]. I’ve got to where I am by being a very competitive person and of course I was personally disappointed. But then, overall, looking at the bigger picture, we’re all team players so for Ford to win was fantastic. I was happy with my own performance at Le Mans. We just need to learn from the issues that we had and next year we’ll be stronger because we’ve shown we’ve got a good car. When it all comes together, we’ll have a good chance of winning."

Presumably, the car is still being improved. What aspect is the priority as far as you’re concerned?

"That’s a good question. I think we’ve got a very solid base across the board. I think we can continue to work the front tyres better. Certainly we found that anything we can do to get more front grip is beneficial. At Nürburgring the Astons were so quick on the straights and really slow in the corners. We had trouble overtaking because we weren’t quick enough on the straights so we played cat and mouse. We need to balance that out a bit. Now we have a few races under our belt, we can make some changes to help even it out so that we can overtake more than we follow."

Now for European Le Mans Series. You’re locked in battle with Thiriet by TDS Racing, one victory, two seconds and a fifth at Paul Ricard. How do you see the rest of the season?

 "We’re under no illusion now. The Gibson 015S, especially with the new Dunlop tyres, isn’t as quick as in the past. We had a great win at Silverstone and we did the maximum we could in the other rounds which wasn’t enough to win. To be on the podium is the next best thing if you can’t win. I think clearly TDS Racing are very strong and we just need to make sure we do all the simple things well. Consistency is going to win the championship. We found out last year that you can do five or six races really well but if you have one bad one it can make a big difference.  We’re under no illusions. It’s going to be very tough. We don’t have the pace at the moment compared to the Oreca 05s, but we’re still leading the championship so we’ll stay focused on doing everything right."

It might be too early to talk about it, but next year? There’ll be a new car. Will you be part of the team?

"I certainly hope so. I’ve got a really good relationship with Simon Dolan. I’m sort of his driver-coach as well as his driver and I know the team really well. The win in 2014 at Le Mans 24 Hours was a massive highlight. We’ve fought for the championship for the last three years and I see no reason why we shouldn’t keep going. I really enjoy the ELMS. It’s a great championship, great tracks and it’s all very enjoyable. It’s great to be in a top class, fighting for the overall win. I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing because it seems to be working. Hopefully we’ll sit down in the next month or two and do another deal for next year.

It’s really nice to be able to combine the WEC and ELMS. It’s going to be very, very interesting next year, it’s going to be a great class, with four new cars, more power, more grip... more fun. It’ll be nice to have a bigger gap between the classes, it’ll make the traffic easier for us with the LM P3s. It’ll be good for the whole scheme of things. It’s really exciting because noone’s going to really know until the first race who’s got the quickest car. I’m sure the Dallara will be very strong. The constructors of the Oreca and the Ligier have a lot of experience in endurance racing in P2 and they’re not going to make a bad car, that’s for sure. I think the Riley is a dark horse. Who knows what they’re going to do? We’ll take a decision as to which car once we’ve got all the information. In the end, whatever the car, I think the competition will be very close."