“My last experience in sportscars was actually in 1993 in Japan, and then I had a similar experience to this kind of car in the DTM, where I drove from 2004 to 2006. The Aston Martin is similar in terms of speed to the DTM car, though, so that's not too different.”
After what he described as 'a good, relaxing year' in 2007, Frentzen admitted he is now raring to get going again, and in addition to Le Mans will also participate in the Nürburgring 24 Hours towards the end of May. He insisted, though, that the legendary La Sarthe classic – in which he will share the specially Gulf-liveried, #007 GT1-class DBR9 with ex-Sauber
Formula 1 team-mate Karl Wendlinger and regular
FIA GT Championship front-runner Andrea Piccini – would remain his principal focus for the weeks and months ahead.
“Slowly since the beginning of this year I've been getting ready to get back into motorsport,” the 40-year-old explained. “When I saw the car I found it really special. It has a fantastic paint scheme and a very traditional design – it's a really cool-looking car.
“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.
“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.
“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 very challenging in terms of concentration.
“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.”
