Dumas: “What motivates me is doing it with Champion”

Winner with Audi of 24 Hours of Le Mans 2005, the Champion Racing team had disappeared from circulation for many years. Here she is back for a challenge at Pikes Peak, in which French pilot Romain Dumas will take part, who gives us his impressions of the project.

Nice surprise that this project with Champion…

They contacted me in December, which coincided with the end of my contract with Volkswagen. I wanted to do this race again, just for fun, because it is close to my heart. It came to fruition during the Dakar.

Have you ever raced for Dave Maraj (founder of Champion)?

No, but I ran against him. He's a character that intrigued me and that I appreciated if only for his totally atypical style. We spoke regularly on shopping evenings at the hotel bar. I then rubbed shoulders with Mike Peters, their head of strategy, who came to lend a hand to Audi when we raced in the United States. It is now Mitra Maraj (Dave's son, who died in 2018. Editor's note) who manages the family business. Since then, I have tried to guide them by telling them what would be good to do on the car.

What will your car be?

It will be a Porsche GT2 ClubSport as standard, which we are going to upgrade. But it remains a car with a PDK gearbox which will be entered in Time Attack (from production cars. Editor's note) and not in Open, where you can do what you want. We will therefore not be able to win overall.

What is your motivation then?

Running with Champion, a team that made me dream. And it's always nice to do it with a Porsche. Especially since I had not initially planned to enter myself, particularly because of my participation in the Dakar. Every year, I watch because I am a fan of this race. That doesn't mean that I won't do a car again, especially since next year it will be the 100th edition...

Will your RD Limited team engage in parallel?

We are entering two cars, a 997 GT3 RS 4.0 for Laurent Millara and a Cayman for Steve Zimmer.

Find all the information on the Champion Racing project in AUTOhebdo magazine n°2299, currently available on newsstands and in digital version.