Julien Canal: “Even if we go far, we have great hopes”

How do these 24 Hours of Le Mans for the moment ?

We started strong, we performed well during Free Practice with 2nd and 4th positions. Unfortunately qualifying didn't go very well. We had a little clash following a misunderstanding with United's number 22. These are things that can happen when everyone is trying to prepare their turn, everyone is very tight and it is really difficult to have a clear turn. There was this collision and our best time was deleted, that's the rule. However, we were able to test a lot of things last night during the last tests and we discovered some developments, admittedly a little late, but that makes us confident. The car is fine, we set it up a little easier to drive for the race. Even if we go far away, we have great hopes. Our trio is particularly experienced with several category victories and that should pay off.

Could the rain forecast this weekend be an advantage based on your experience?

Usually the teams take me out when the conditions are difficult and it's raining! I don't want that because these are always complicated conditions to manage, but it has paid off in the past. If this is an opportunity for us to regain positions to join the race lead, with Charles (Milesi) and Mathieu (Vaxiviere) we will do everything we can. I have 14 participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 3 victories so I feel comfortable in these conditions and I am not afraid of the rain. Above all, I'm happy to have found a high-performance car last night.

The whole week has been very dry, how do you cope with discovering the wet track during the race?

The worst would be intermediate conditions. This year we no longer have the intermediate tires which worked very well, just Slicks or Rains. It's really not easy for us. So I prefer either clear rain or dry weather, but we will adapt, we will manage.

What do you think of the new Safety Car format?

Obviously this will penalize the drivers who manage to build a lead. I know this type of format a little because I just finished third in the 24 Hours of Daytona. I think that for the spectators it's good, it favors the show. It won't be as extreme as in the United States, but it's pretty cool. I think above all about the audience and the show and that's a good thing.

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