Grâce à sa grande expérience des 24 heures du Mans, Pierre Ragues espère signer un résultat positif les 16 et 17 juin prochains. Il veut mettre sa connaissance de l’épreuve au service de sa nouvelle équipe, G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan, et entraîner celle-ci vers le podium en catégorie LMP2.
Ragues, who only joined the team at the last round of the World Endurance Championship at Spa-Francorchamps, has competed five times previously at Le Mans, including an LMP2 podium in 2008 and twice with Signature. Now back with the team with whom he became vice champion in LMP1 in the Le Mans Series back in 2010, Ragues is determined to return to front-running pace at Le Mans.
This year’s event, the 80th running of the famous Le Mans 24 Hours, will be Ragues first with Nissan power and under the G-Drive banner, but following a competitive performance by himself at Spa, the Frenchman will be in confident spirits.
Since Spa, he has joined the team for two one-day tests at the Magny-Cours circuit in France, in addition to the official Le Mans test day on Sunday 3 June, in order to carry out a detailed range of system checks in the Oreca 03 chassis and with the Nissan engine and Dunlop tyres. There has been no stone unturned in the pursuit of a good result at Le Mans with the #26 G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan car representing part of a two-car, six driver line-up for the team.
Pierre Ragues’s team-mates this year will be Nelson Panciatici and Roman Rusinov, while Pierre will also benefit from the backing of his personal supporters Group Auto, who have long supported his career.
Pierre Ragues commented: “I am really looking forward to Le Mans, an event that always brings back good memories and that brings out the best in drivers and teams alike. Le Mans is almost a home race for me since I only live one hour away in Caen. The atmosphere is out of this world during the week right from the scrutineering on Monday, the official team photo, the autograph session right up to the race itself. There is no other motor racing event like it in the world and I am thrilled to be part of the G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan line-up. Together with Nelson and Roman, we had our first race together at Spa last month and we learned a lot about each other as a team and about the competitive Nissan-powered Oreca 03 car. That, combined with our two tests at Magny-Cours and the data collected at the official Le Mans test day, puts us in a good position. We know that Le Mans is competitive and challenging but I hope to use my years of experience positively and to contribute to the team’s efforts this year. I am thankful to Group Auto for their continued support and I am in an optimistic frame of mind. Of course, we have a lot of work to do in the practice and qualifying sessions but maintaining a consistent rhythm over the 24 hours and keeping out of trouble will be our key to a good result.”
