AM:
It was back in 1998 when I won with Porsche. It was my second attempt at Le Mans. The first time we had a problem after about 30 minutes so it was really a non-event. Then the following year, in 1999, I led in the Toyota but my team-mate Thierry Boutsen unfortunately had an accident with a backmarker which put us out of the race. In 2000 we again led but had to have a gearbox and floor change on the Audi, using the R8 for the first time there. At that point I thought ‘crikey, I’ve led, it’s just a question of getting on with it’.
Since then I’ve done another three Le Mans and led every single time, but something has happened which has proved to me just how hard the event is. It’s not just about being the quickest. It’s about every single member of your team being 100 per cent right on the day, and if just one person is down you will lose because the competition is so strong. Yes, I’m very keen to make sure that 2007 is another victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours and we will obviously go there trying to achieve just that, but I also realise it’s truly the hardest race for both car and drivers in the world.
Q:
And like you said, it will be even tougher this year with Peugeot and Pescarolo as the chief opposition. How confident are you of winning, and also of defending your ALMS crown?
AM:
For a start I’ve learned to never be confident in trying to win Le Mans. I’m confident in so far as we’ve got good people and a package good enough to compete. In America I’m a little bit more confident that we can challenge for and retain our title, but I know what Porsche can achieve, and I know from both Dario Franchitti and from the past when I tested with McLaren-Honda in
Formula One what Honda can achieve and do from an engine side. I reckon they are going to be very quickly on stream. We can only work on our own team and try to improve. We’ve got no control over what the others do – we’ve just got to make sure we’ve got our own house in order.
