So here I am, ready for my Le Mans fix after what feels like a two-year absence. You just can’t imagine how excited I am to be returning to La Sarthe for this Sunday’s Test Day. This is the highlight of our season, the race everybody looks forward to and for which we all work so hard.
Of course last season I was unable to race there following my crash during Wednesday’s free practice session. I know a lot of people are going to broach the subject but, honestly, I still have no recollection of the accident. It happened a while ago and now belongs to the past. I’m returning to La Sarthe without any apprehension and am just raring to go. That’s it. This is my circuit and, as I was born in Chartres, it’s something of a home event.
Sunday will provide us with a first indication about this year’s pecking order. How do we stack up against our competition? Will the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro maintain the sort of pace it has displayed across the first two FIA WEC races? All these elements should be carefully assessed, especially after last year’s running proved that reliability is even more crucial than ever. First of all we need to warm up and get our bearings around this extremely high-speed circuit as we can’t test there during the rest of the season. And speaking of getting our bearings, there are new reference points to identify in some sectors following the recent track work, particularly between Arnage and the Porsche Curves.
Olly [Jarvis], Lucas [di Grassi] and I haven’t been especially lucky during this year’s first two FIA WEC rounds. But I’m quite confident our fortune will turn around. It’s exactly what happened to me last weekend in Berlin where I was competing in my fourth FIA Formula E event with Dragon Racing. In fact, it was the first stage in a racing marathon that sees me in action over five consecutive weekends!
P3 was a pretty good result before Le Mans, don’t you think? We’re still struggling a bit in qualifying but continue to make steady progress. I’d set the fifth fastest time in Monaco and was P8 in Germany. We’re in the right group and things are definitely getting better. However, we’re always competitive in terms of race pace. Perhaps this is due to the experience I’ve gained with Audi in endurance racing in terms of energy recovery and management. It was also the first time I’d enjoyed a trouble-free race weekend all year where everything came together. It felt pretty good!
If we can line up a bit higher on the grid then we should be in the mix to challenge for victory. And why not as early as next week in Moscow? I’m not familiar with Russia but am looking forward to travelling there, as well as discovering the circuit located right next to the Kremlin, the official residence of Russia’s president. Motor racing is becoming increasingly popular in Russia, which now has its own Formula 1 Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom. It should make for a pretty cool event. And I’ll carry the same momentum as I’ve accumulated since joining the series in Miami. But for now let’s focus on the Le Mans Test Day. Hopefully I’ll have plenty more interesting things to share after Sunday.
