His first participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans: "Oh it's quite awhile ago, 11 years  actually, it's my 11th time so it was 2007 my first time (in the Lola B07/17-Judd entered by Charouz Racing System along with Jan Charouz and Alex Yoong, eighth overall, fifth in LMP1, Ed.)."

His thoughts on the 24 Hours of Le Mans: "It's an amazing event. It's always something completely different. I remember my first time coming here I thought ok, it's a race but just a little bit longer but you arrive here and it's a whole other world, the whole atmosphere in starting...the week and then the Drivers' Parade...everything is so special, the fans around the track, it's just amazing and it's such a great event it makes you feel really special, especially if you finish on the podium at the end of the race and you see all the spectators down there, it's an amazing feeling. That's why this is the biggest race in the world. So it makes us as drivers very proud to be here."

His best memory: "The best memory is basically as I said, to finish on the podium (he has done so twice at the wheel of an Aston Martin Vantage, in 2012 and 2013 in the LMGTE Pro class, Ed.). So far I haven't made it to the top step, just a few times on the podium, and that's what you want to achieve yeah, finishing the race well with a good team is always a good memory."

His worst memory: "The worst one? Hmm, let me think about that! I mean, of course if you have some problems which cost you the win or something like that. We had that in the past, little things cost us wins which makes it disappointing if you're leading the race for a long time and you have a little technical issue. You need to be 100% focused the whole time, no mistakes, no technical issues, then you're good for a good result. Otherwise, little things can make a massive difference."

His best car at Le Mans: "As a driver, you always want the fastest one obviously. I still have good memories from my LMP1 times with Aston Martin, obviously a V12 with very good sound, a great car, so of course as a driver you always want a quick car. But I have to say the Ford now is also an awesome car to drive. It's so nice and it's so balanced that you really enjoy it. Of course it doesn't have as much power as LMP1 cars but it is impressive how the GTE cars have been developed over the past years. I've driven GTE in Le Mans since...let me think about it, since 2012 and in the last five years, they've really developed them, they don't handle anymore as GTE cars. They're like proper racing cars, close to prototypes and that is very enjoyable in Le Mans now. It's also so special in long straights, hard braking, the Porsche curves and you know when you have a car that handles well in the Porsche curves it's what you really enjoy."  

His best teammate: "Yeah, I've had quite a few teammates and for a very long time I had Darren Turner as a teammate. We were a good couple, we drove so many races together for so many years (Darren Turner said the same thing yesterday, Ed.). I have a really good relationship with him, so that was a good time and I always look to see what he's doing because he's absolutely a fair teammate with you in the car and also with the manufacturer. I really appreciate that. That's really good. But also this year and last year, I'm absolutely happy with Olivier Pla, a very quick Frenchman and absolutely 100% professional driver, so it's also a very good relationship and that's something really important. It's a team sport, it's a team effort, and having teammates like Darren Turner and Olivier Pla makes your life much easier and it's good for the whole crew and then you really enjoy the racing."  

His 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans: "It started really good at the start of the race and the first hours into the night were pretty good for us. We were quickly up to the front but unfortunately had a puncture quite early in the race but it wasn't a problem because it only put us out of sequence for half an hour, we were hiding between position 1 and position 3 which was really good. So I was quite happy with that. Unfortunately we had a suspension failure, I think a bolt broke, something broke and we went into the gravel. It cost us six laps to come back to repair the car which was a shame for us. But I have to thank the team because they gave us a good car and the balance was nice. The strongest this year were Corvette and Aston Martin but still our sister car finished in position 2 which was great for the team effort and I know we had a good car. Just a little bit lacking to be able to run without any issues."

The remainder of the season: "Well I mean we are fighting now for the world championship, no question, and that's our target. So first of all, the team championship we want to achieve with both cars collecting as many points as possible, and also the driver championship is still...I mean we have six races to go so everything is still possible. We are 35 points behind and it's 25 points per race. Our sister car is in a very good position for that and we will make sure first of all that we try everything to win the manufacturer championship for Ford!" 

PHOTO: Stefan Mücke (at left) along with extreme sports champion Ken Block (see article).