Dumas, the desire to do well

Romain, you are the new arrival at Audi. What do you think of the organization of this great team?
It's a huge company. I experienced this with Porsche in the United States, but there it is a level above. Then everything is based on Le Mans, they are making a lot of effort in this race this year.

Do you feel a slight apprehension when arriving in this structure which has a string of successes?
If they recruited Timo and me as Porsche drivers, it was because they were missing two guys and they wanted a high-performance crew. They made the effort to go to Porsche and poach us, that’s no small thing. We are grateful for that but we know we have to do well. Because they didn't come for us for nothing.

What are your objectives for these first 24 Hours with Audi?
I placed third two years ago, I hope this year to do as well. The race is going to be great, when we see the list of participants? It's going to be a big endurance race. But, at the end of the 24 Hours, endurance will only be a word, because I think it will be a sprint. We have less experience than our teammates but I hope we won't be far away to take advantage of what might happen.

Do you have this R15 in hand?
We don?t have much experience with the car, I have driven it twice. We are lucky to have the tests, even if there is no longer the test day like before. But it's not a big deal. I've done Le Mans every year since 2001 so I know the circuit well. It?s not a problem of driving on the circuit, it?s more of adapting to the car.

What is the key to success?
It's going to be so long, it's going to go so quickly, that we can't make any mistakes. I think it's those who don't make mistakes who will win. Timo and I are young but we have already won quite a few 24-hour races. I hope not to make a mistake so that we can take one more.

Continuing this week at Le Mans after the 6 hours of Watking Glen, isn’t it too complicated?
Of course I was still on the plane this morning (Monday) at 8am. But we are so used to riding? And then two years ago, I did the 24 hours of Nurburgring and the 24 hours of Le Mans the following week, 48 hours in one week! So it's not really complicated. And then the 6 hours this weekend prepared us well.

Can we compare Audi to a team like that of Henri Pescarolo, for whom you raced?
Both cases must be respected. It's incredible what Henri does every year, and the car he was able to get this year is great. But you have to realize that it is a family business that works with 7 or 8 people a year to produce incredible results. And who allows himself to be the best “essence” each time. Audi is another dimension, a big factory that wants to win at all costs. In the other teams, the instructions are “don’t go out, don’t go too fast”; at Audi, it's more like “go quickly; don’t go out, but go quickly.”