“Le Mans is such a unique race and such a big event on the world stage that you're always a little bit excited about going there,” the former Toyota F1 ace summarised, “but I think with the pre-test being washed out nobody really knows who is capable of what. You got some sort of glimpse and a little bit of a sniff maybe of somebody's performance, but the reality is we don't know what the full picture is, and that creates a certain nervousness as well.

“In a way it actually heightens the senses just before you go into the race weekend, and I think there's a lot to be played out in the first couple of qualifying sessions; not for qualifying itself, but to see whether people can get a handle on how to set up the cars very quickly, because there's such limited time now on-track really before the race.

“We've got a very good driving line-up, we know each other very well, we know how to win big races – we've won big sportscar championships together and also on our own, and we've won Le Mans together and on our own – so from that point-of-view, the capability is there and the knowledge is there, but it's not an easy one to win. I know the desire is very, very clear, because after last year I think in our group – and I include our engineers and mechanics – we've all got a little bit of a job to finish.”

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