Le Mans – Duval: “I’m not unhappy to see the page turn”

Audi Sport a vécu une saison compliquée en cédant les titres Pilotes et Constructeurs à son rival Toyota. Mais l’essentiel a tout de même été assuré pour le constructeur d’Ingolstadt avec une nouvelle victoire décrochée aux 24 Hours of Le Mans with Benoît Tréluyer, Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer. This success was nevertheless achieved at the end of a particularly trying week for the German team marked in particular by lthe terrible crash of Loïc duval during free practice.

“I’m not unhappy to see the page turn”, admitted the winner of the 24 2013 Hours of Le Mans. “It is never very pleasant to suffer an accident like the one I suffered during free practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And missing out on this event, the most important of the year, considerably taints your season. I stayed away from the circuits for many weeks and my chances of good results were compromised. »

Now, we're heading towards 2015 where competition promises to be even fiercer with the development of the 919 hybrid and Toyota's ever-increasing experience. The arrival of Nissan with its GT-R LM Nismo will also be monitored. “The coming season should be extremely competitive, with our opponents gaining more and more experience. But, for our part, we will also learn lessons from the difficulties encountered this year. Our ambitions will be higher than ever, mainly for Le Mans which will remain the number one objective. As we enter 1, my motivation is increased tenfold. »