The 41-year-old acknowledged that he had settled in immediately at his new team, and added that he was looking forward to working again with Lapierre – who will join him in the car for the six-race LMS schedule, to begin at Barcelona on April 6 – having already collaborated with the GP2 graduate in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in his role as a special advisor to Team France.
“What I like about the ORECA Courage team is the very human feeling,” Panis enthused. “Everybody is working together and working really well in the same direction. Everybody is really focussed, and for the moment the job we have done is pretty good for the small amount of time we have before the first race.
“I'm very happy to be working with Nicolas [Lapierre] too, first of all because I know him from A1GP. I like the guy; like me, he's really quiet and really focussed, and he has a really good team spirit.
“I think all the drivers we have in the team have a really good relationship together. Last week we all went away to do a fitness test and there was a really good ambience, and I think everybody is pretty optimistic and happy about the year ahead.”
The highlight of that year, of course, will be the Le Mans 24 Hours, a legendary race regarded by many as the toughest to win anywhere in the world, and Panis is well aware his introduction to the daunting, 8.5–mile La Sarthe circuit in northern France will be no walk in the park. Having already claimed one of the trophies that form part of motor racing's triple crown, however – the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans 24 Hours and Indianapolis 500 – he is evidently keen to add a second to his impressive CV.
“For me it's a very new race,” he admitted, “but it's also one of the best races in the world. I'm going there to do the best job I can with the team, and we'll see where we are at the end of the 24 hours. For sure, though, if I like it I really want one day to have the possibility to win the Le Mans 24 Hours because it's a very, very good race.
![Former grand prix winner Olivier Panis making his sportscar bow with the ORECA-MATMUT team at Paul Ricard in early 2008 [pic credit: DPPI]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/416887.jpg)
