You won Le Mans then the 6 Hours of Nurburgring at the end of August. Everything is perfect…
Yes, this is a new car for 2017. It’s really good in the straights but still not the best in the corners. But it shows just how hard the engineers and everyone on the team have been working since the start of the season. The car is much improved since Silverstone. We’re happy that it’s at a good level now.

KCMG is improving and you seem to be improving with it…
Yes, that’s right. The team was brand new last year. It made its World Endurance Championship debut last year [but it competed at its third Le Mans 24 Hours this year, ed.]. This year, we have mostly the same people, people who have been there since the start. There have been some big changes, but the people in charge are really very good. There’s no inexperience and that’s very comfortable because the level in LM P2 is very high! KCMG had to improve from last year and the Oreca 05 is a very good chassis and it has still more potential. In 2014, in the Oreca 03R we had to fight so hard just to keep with G-Drive. This year, it’s not the same. The team is delivering on the pit stops as well, everything is going very smoothly.
So, for the rest of the season, the biggest enemy is ourselves. We have to make sure we don’t do anything stupid like hitting a GT car if we hope to win the World Endurance Championship.

As you just said, you were used to driving the Oreca 03R. How do you find this new car compared to the old one?
The Oreca 05 is an improved version of the Oreca 03, in that all the negatives aspects of the 03 have been fixed. For example, we had big problems with tyre degradations and the rear tyres weren’t lasting, so that problem has been fixed. This is crucial in LM P2 where you limited on tyres so it’s really, really important that you manage the tyre life without having to go slow. Last year, in Bahrein for example, we had to go slow otherwise the tyres were finished. That’s no longer the case with this car, so we can be quite aggressive, constantly. Also, the efficiency and aerodynamics are really good so we get some good straight lines and still keep the downforce. It is not a massive improvement but yes, there are improvements in every area, little things. It’s not perfect yet, we are still working on things with Oreca. The car hasn’t run much yet, we’re only on the sixth race of the year. We haven’t had the chance to do much testing since the start of the season, but it’s still a step forward in every department.

Tickets for the 2016 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be on sale from Tuesday 3 November (ACO members) and Friday 6 November (general public).

David Bristol / ACO | Translated from French by Clair Pickworth
 

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, TUESDAY 9 JUNE 2015, AUTOGRAPH SESSION. The Oreca 05 is a real step forward compared to its predecessor, the Oreca 03.