24h Le Mans
Marco Bonanomi's participation was announced only a few days before Test Day, but the Italian driver is quite familiar with the 24 Hours of Le Mans having done the race three times already, all with Audi in LMP1. On June 17th and 18th, he will join forces with Dominik Kraihamer and Oliver Webb in the #4 ENSO CLM P1/01-Nismo entered by ByKOLLES Racing Team in the LMP1 class.
Your joining ByKOLLES Racing Team was announced late in the game. How did that come about?
"It was just last minute. I don't know exactly but it looks like James Rossiter (the driver he is replacing, Ed.) had a date conflict with testing in Japan, so yeah they contacted me and asked me, and I'm more than happy to be here."
How did your Test Day go in your opinion?
"It was a very positive day for us. We did some good mileage on the car and collected some good data. The pace for the race looks good and the car is running without problems, which is good news for us. The reliability and the speed of the car is improving so we are quite positive. The team did a really good job. We are looking forward to the race. For me, it's simply amazing and so nice to be back. Le Mans is such a magical track and it's always a special feeling to drive here."
What is ByKOLLES Racing Team's goal for the 24 Hours of Le Mans?
"First of all to do the best race possible. I know it's a strange situation because we cannot fight with the LMP1 hybrid and the LMP2s are really quick this year, maybe too much, on the straights they're really fast. Crazy speeds. It will be a good show. We'll try for the best result as possible for the team until the end. That's our target."
"We fight with the new LMP2s. We have a little bit more power coming out of the corners. Maybe better grip at high speeds in certain areas. It's quite equal and I'm sure the lap time they've done will be difficult to do during the race and we are much more consistent in lap times. What we do in qualifying we can do in the race. So it's no different for us whereas in LMP2 it's a big gap it looks like."
You are about to take your fourth start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. What is your best memory so far?
"Best memory...the selfie on the podium (laughs, Ed). It was full of people, it looked like a sea, it was incredible (Marco Bonanomi is talking about his podium finish in 2012 when he finished third along with Mike Rockenfeller and Olivier Jarvis in the Audi R18 ultra, Ed.). But of course also driving at night and having a free lap here is just a really special feeling that's hard to have anywhere else. Simply amazing."
PHOTO: The #4 ENSO CLM P1/01 clocked the seventh fastest time at Test Day in 3'28.701, the sixth among the LMP1s. The car came in behind the #35 Alpine A470 (LMP2).
