That means that sometimes things catch you out; in a full grand prix year you wouldn’t expect a team to go through without any problems, and Le Mans is the same. Unfortunately it’s happened to us on the last couple of occasions – we had some engine problems in 2006 which cost us victory, and then in 2007 we had a wheel problem and that was it, but that’s Le Mans. We’ve got to go back there and we’ve got to fight them harder and make sure that we do everything better than we’ve ever done in the past, and try to get a second Le Mans victory for Allan McNish in 2008.
Q:
If Peugeot are your main opposition in the Le Mans 24 Hours, in the American Le Mans Series over the Pond it’s more Penske with their Porsche RS Spyders. How tough are they going to be to beat if you return this year?
AM:
They’re going to be very hard to beat, as are Honda under the Acura brand. They’ve got three cars there and there are about five Porsches, and from that point-of-view it’s a hard fight because the circuits over in America are very different to European tracks. We do 200mph at Le Mans, but we’ve got a 45-second street circuit in Houston which is extremely bumpy, very short and totally different. That’s where the power-to-weight ratio of the LMP2 car is significantly different to the big, powerful LMP1s and, unfortunately for us, they’re a little bit better on that type of track. The regulations are meant to try and strike a balance, but unfortunately they haven’t quite got it right so far.
Q:
Prior to that, finally, you’ll be putting in an appearance in a certain race in
Daytona behind the wheel of a SAMAX Riley-Pontiac. How are you looking forward to that?
AM:
It’s a very different race, a one-off event. The Daytona 24 Hours is a nice easy way to get yourself into the year if you like, but it’s also a good race to do from my point-of-view. I like it, and it’s got a nice Rolex Daytona watch at the end of it if you’re victorious, so we’ll start with that one and see how we get on.
TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE
