Earl Bamber practising for Le Mans this week in their Porsche 919 hybrids.
Earl Bamber practising for Le Mans this week in their Porsche 919 hybrids.
Four New Zealanders will be driving in motor racing’s oldest endurance event ... and they’re all feeling good about a unique experience.
Four young New Zealanders will be among the 140 drivers vying for honours at the world's oldest motor racing endurance event, the Le Mans 24 Hours, next weekend.
New Zealand drivers have managed only one win in the race's long and illustrious history. That was in 1966 when Chris Amonand Bruce McLaren crossed the line first in a Ford GT40 MKII for the Shelby-American team, holding off another Kiwi, Denny Hulme, driving with American Ken Miles in a sister GT40.
Last year, Porsche made a comeback to top-tier LMP1 racing at Le Mans, ending a 16-year hiatus in a 919 Hybrid co-driven by the lone Kiwi in the field, Brendon Hartley, with Aussie Mark Webber and German Timo Bernhard.
This year, three more New Zealanders join Hartley on the grid. Earl Bamber is a second Kiwi Porsche factory driver and will race a third 919 with German F1 pilot Nico Hulkenberg and Brit Nick Tander.
Also joining the fray is works Aston Martin Racing driver Richie Stanaway in the LMGTE Pro category, sharing duties with Brazilian Fernando Rees and Brit Alex MacDowall.
And GP2 campaigner Mitch Evans will race a Jota Sport LMP2 car with Brits Oliver Turvey and Simon Dolan.
Stanaway and Evans were class winners in the World Endurance Championship series at the Spa-Francorchamps six-hour race and are looking good for a strong finish.
Hartley and Bamber are also looking good in their LMP1 cars - Hartley set the fastest time in the first practice session this week.
The Herald spoke to each of the Kiwi racers after practice, and here is what they had to say about one of the greatest motor races in the world.
Earl Bamber — Porsche Team #19 919 Hybrid LMP1 "It was good to get a first run even though it was in testing conditions. It was difficult to get into any rhythm, but we had a good programme and got through the test schedule. Now we just have to wait until the fun starts next week.
"I've driven the circuit before [Carrera Cup last year] so it makes a lot of sense. It would be difficult to race here without knowing the track, especially with this car, as it's so quick. The traffic is a bit of a problem if you come across a slower car at somewhere like the Porsche Curves where you could lose up to six seconds trying to get past.
"Top speeds aren't massively different [GTE cars around 300km/h and LMP1 around 335km/h], but when we get on to the straight after 300 metres were already at 310km/h while the others are much slower. We lap 40 to 50 seconds faster than a good GT driver.
"These cars are fantastic and I reckon they are one of the coolest things you can drive in the world. I'm very excited about the race and we don't have to worry about beating the other guys, just the race itself."
Brendon Hartley — Porsche Team #17 919 Hybrid LMP1 "We made the most of the dry running, but we still haven't worked out tyre life and other stuff because of the mostly wet conditions. We were competitive in both the wet and dry and managed to get to the top of the time sheets, which is nice.
"I love this place and it's still a genuine circuit. You have to take risks to do well at this circuit, which is something I love to do. The track has everything; bumps, off cambers, crowns in the middle of the road, traffic and a lot of other stuff " a magic place really.
"I've been surprised how good the car has felt compared to last year. Everything has evolved and been refined and our lap was faster than pole last year, but Audi and Toyota have also been fast.
So far testing has given us a lot of confidence going into the race.
"It's also unbelievable that there are four of us [Kiwis] competing at such a high level at Le Mans this year."
Brendon Hartley practising for Le Mans this week in their Porsche 919 hybrids.
Mitch Evans — Jota Sport #38 Gibson 15S Nissan LMP2
"Testing went quite well at Le Mans considering the mixed conditions. Luckily I got some dry laps to complete my 10 laps to qualify for the event [he has not raced on the circuit before]. It was good to get out there and the track is unique and the laps are really long. I'm not used to 13km laps and there's a lot of straight, especially the long Mulsanne Straight that takes about a minute [to cover].
"At the moment it's a bit difficult to remember my reference points for each corner. Other than that I'm feeling pretty confident for the race. The car is straightforward to drive with traction control, power steering and a lot of downforce.
It's a bit more forgiving than I'm used to [GP2] and is enjoyable to drive. It would be nice, though, to have a little bit more horsepower.
"The team is great to work for and obviously they [Jota] are the defending championships [LMP2] and we're going into the race to win again. The competition is going to be tough but I'm really looking forward to it."
Richie Stanaway — Aston Martin Racing #99 Vantage V8 LMGTE Pro "Testing was fine and everything was good. It was a bit hard to get an accurate reading on things because it was so wet.
"I have tested here before and so had a rough idea what it was like but I haven't done the event before.
"The history of the event is probably as important as the circuit, which is made up of public roads and a little bit of purpose built track. It's a bit more tame than the Nurburgring, where I raced in that 24-hour event.
"It should be a pretty cool event and it'll be tricky managing the traffic. Having already raced at night, it won't come as a surprise when it gets dark. We're not worrying about what the others are doing and just concentrating on what we have to do.
"Once the race starts it's just a matter of trying to get to the end without any problems, which is quite hard to do."
