Soheil Ayari: “Can’t wait for Le Mans! »

Barely four days after leaving the seat of the Audi R8 that he shares with Bruno Hernandez in the French GT3 championship, Soheil Ayari took the wheel of the Oreca 01 AIM for the 8 Hours of Le Castellet. The driver from Aix-Les-Bains was accompanied during this opening round of the Le Mans Series 2010, by Didier André, who should also be his teammate at Le Mans, and Loïc duval, who for his part will be a member of the crew of the Peugeot 908 of the Var structure next June.

Although no track in the world resembles the 24 Hours circuit, the 1A-V2 configuration of the Paul-Ricard HTTT comes a little closer, with high average and top speeds.

Fourth on the starting grid, the French trio will have a tricky start to the race, with Soheil suffering a slow puncture during his first stint. Starting 15th again, the road captain of the Oreca 01 worked hard to catch up, and moved up to sixth before handing over the wheel to his two friends who gained two more positions. Finally, the car will take the checkered flag in fifth position? just behind the “sister” Peugeot 908.

But the ranking matters little, this race being a full-scale test session before the Le Mans classic on June 12 and 13.
“This weekend was excellent preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, says Ayari on his website. The car is easy to drive, fast and well balanced. Roll on Le Mans! »

Find the full report of the 8 Hours of Le Castellet, opening round of the 2010 Le Mans Series, in your AUTOhebdo magazine, on newsstands from Wednesday.