Harold Primat: Le Mans Series Nurburgring Preview
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Aug 08, 2008
Having finished as the best placed petrol-powered car and in seventh overall at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June, Geneva-based Harold Primat and co-driver Christophe Tinseau now travel to the Nurburgring in Germany looking to defend their position as the best-placed non-diesel machine in the Le Mans Series championship standings. Only a strategic error on fuel, which saw the tanks in their #17 Pescarolo-Judd run dry just 1000 metres from the finish line during the last round at Spa, stopped the pair from taking third place in the LMP1 rankings and now they are determined to maintain their advantage over their Pescarolo Sport team mates in the #16 car as well as their rivals from Oreca, Creation and Charouz Racing.
Harold on getting back to action - “It’s been a long break since Le Mans and that gave me a chance to take a couple of days off and continue my physical training. But now we’re a week away from the next race and I’m really looking forward to it. We had a two-day test at Magny-Cours this week and the minute I stepped back in the car I realised just how much I’ve missed it. Having such a good race at Le Mans was a real high, but we still remember what happened at Spa and we’re determined to put things right at this race.”
…on the Nurburgring – “It’s a very physically demanding circuit because it’s so twisty with a lot of directional changes. You’re busy throughout the lap and so is the car. The track is basically the complete opposite of a circuit like Le Mans. The nature of the layout will also play into the hands of the quickest LMP2 cars. They’re quite a bit lighter and that’s a massive advantage at the Nurburgring, because raw power is less important than somewhere like Spa. The Porsche Spyders in particular will be mixing it with the LMP1 cars.”
…on preparations for the race – “The test at Magny-Cours went very well and we managed a lot of track time. We were successful in getting through our entire workload ahead of the race. I don’t think that Chief Engineer Claude Gallopin and the guys have had much time for a holiday this summer because they’ve done a lot of work to modify the aero package for the Nurburgring. We have more downforce and, on old tyres, we were quicker than we’ve ever been at Magny-Cours before. I have to give full credit to the team because they haven’t relaxed after Le Mans, but continued to push forward with the development of the car to make us even more competitive in the final two rounds of the season.”
…on his target for the race – “I can’t envisage the order at the front changing too much, so the diesel-powered Peugeots and Audis will still dominate, but our aim is to fight with the Courage-Orecas, Creations and the Lola Aston Martin and top the petrol class. The three points we lost at Spa has made the battle to be the best placed petrol car very tight and we have a real fight on our hands to maintain our position in the championship, but it’s still achievable.”
