by Russell Atkins
TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE
To read the interview in full, click here
Heinz-Harald Frentzen is well aware he is facing one of the most arduous challenges of his career this summer – when he takes on the might of the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time in 16 years.
The experienced German spent a decade competing in
Formula 1, beginning more than 150 grands prix for Sauber,
Williams, Jordan and Arrows and triumphing in three of them. Prior to his career in the top flight, though, he was a leading sportscar ace, racing for Mercedes-Benz alongside
Michael Schumacher. Indeed, many at the time contended that Frentzen possessed more raw talent than the man who would go on to claim a record 91 victories in the uppermost echelon and a staggering seven world drivers' crowns.
Though his Mönchengladbach rival would never fulfil that potential in
F1, after leaving the grand prix paddock he went on to race for first Opel and then Audi in the DTM. There, he notched up four rostrum finishes from 32 races and a best finish of seventh position in the championship in 2006, before walking away from the pan-European tin-top series at the end of that season following a rather public disagreement with the Ingolsdadt management.
Now, after taking a year off as a sabbatical, Frentzen is back as an official Aston Martin Racing factory driver at Le Mans. Having finished 13th overall and sixth in class on his one and only appearance at La Sarthe thus far, it is an opportunity he is clearly approaching with a great deal of anticipation – if also a little apprehension.
“This is my first race at Le Mans after 16 years,” he told
Crash.net Radio, “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.
