Q:
Have you had much time to work alongside your team-mates yet? Obviously you know Karl Wendlinger from your
Formula 1 and sportscar days together at Sauber, and there’s also Andrea Piccini…
H-HF:
I know Karl from my early days in Formula 3 and I drove with him in sportscars too in 1989 and 1990, so I know him quite well. Andrea Piccini is for me a new guy, but we have quite a few opportunities to get to know each other before the race.
Q:
The race is about a month-and-a-half away now. How much time are you likely to have in the car between now and then?
H-HF:
There will be a few opportunities, but I can’t say yet exactly when we will be able to test.
Q:
People refer to Le Mans as the hardest race in the world. What in your opinion makes it so special?
H-HF:
First of all it’s a very crucial race in terms of reliability – to extend a racing car’s life to 24 hours is quite a big technical achievement. Also for the drivers and mechanics, it’s quite challenging in terms of concentration. It’s a big challenge.
Q:
How competitive do you expect the GT1 class to be this year?
H-HF:
This is my first race in this category at Le Mans after 16 years, and I think it will be very competitive – that’s what I have been told! From what I understand it’s just about going flat-out each lap. It’s going to be a very tough pace this year, because we have very close contenders in the class. That means it’s important that we get the maximum out of the car whilst also being reliable – that’s the big challenge and we are very concentrated on that.
Q:
Aston Martin obviously won the GT1 class in Le Mans last year and finished fifth overall. Do you think a similar result is possible again this year?
H-HF:
Of course we are aiming to win our class again, but we know that in the Corvette we have very tough competition, like the team had last year and also in the past. I’ve been told the pace was very, very high last year, so the pressure is pretty full-on.
