“Le Mans has always been on the bucket list,” Avenatti said. “When you grow up as young boy and you’re into racing, it’s one of the pinnacle events in the world. It certainly lived up to the expectation and the hype so far.”

Part of the hype includes scrutineering in “La place de la République,” which Avenatti likens to a young adult’s first days of college.

“The best analogy that I would use is, it’s like the first day of college registration, but a lot more fun,” he said. “I expected it to be big and I expected the fan base to be very strong and the people to be very enthusiastic and passionate, but I don’t think that you can appreciate Le Mans without seeing it first hand. It’s been a fantastic experience and I’m looking forward to enjoying every moment of this next week.”

When it’s time to get down to work at the track, Avenatti is cautiously optimistic for himself, Abdulaziz Turki Al Faisal and Jakub Giermaziak in the No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia.

“The field is truly remarkable if you look at the number of entries and the strength of the entry for each driver lineup,” he said. “We want to be here to be part of the show, we want to compete and we want to place at the highest level, but at the same time, we’re not so arrogant as to think that a podium is a shoe-in. I think we have as good a shot as a number of competitors in the field. A lot of it has to do with the weather and a lot of it will have to do with how I acclimate to the circuit. Kuba (Jakub Giermaziak) will be as quick as any of the gold or platinum drivers based on his experience. A lot of people think his experience is solely in Porsches, but that’s not true, he’s fast in anything he drives. The Prince (Abdulaziz Turki Al Faisal) is a very solid silver driver. He got well under four-minute lap times during the race and showed a very quick pace. I’m very enthusiastic about our chances.”

Avenatti’s ride with JMW is the result of a partnership between his U.S. team, GB Autosport, and the British squad. The two parties met through a mutual team with plenty of Le Mans history.

“A number of months ago, we started exploring options for Le Mans,” recalled Avenatti. “We had some discussions with the folks at Flying Lizard Motorsports, who had a great experience with JMW last year. As a result, we reached out to JMW and it’s been truly seamless. They’ve been great to work with. It’s a first-class operation from Jim McWhirter (team owner) on down. It’s really been a pleasant of an experience as one could hope for.”

Erin Cechal / ACO