Le Mans – Lapierre: “We will have our chance”

Nicolas lapierre could not qualify the Toyota n°9 only in 5th place behind the two 919 Hybrids, 3''8 from the record Kamui Kobayashi achieved on the No. 050 TS7 Hybrid which allowed him to take pole at the 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The double winner of the LMP2 category at the Sarthe event was slowed down by traffic during his attempt.

“We expected it to go faster because we had already won 3 or 4 seconds per lap at Silverstone and Spa. Kamui completed a superb lap in good conditions, not making a single mistake and benefiting from a clear track. Kamui is really capable of going for the limits on a flying lap,” underlined Nicolas Lapierre to AUTOhebdo.fr.

If the No. 9 Toyota does not have the top crew, José Maria Lopez and Yuji Kunimoto being rookies at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nicolas Lapierre wants to be optimistic.

“Our program focused more on giving my teammates as much riding as possible and we had less time to focus on qualifying and preparing for the race and we will have our chance,” assured Nicolas Lapierre.

Porsche remains a big threat, the 919 Hybrid having the habit of showing good things at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Stuttgart manufacturer will be aiming for a 19th victory while Toyota is still chasing a first success.

“It's always difficult to know how Porsche worked during qualifying, but it's certain that we had the potential to go after the 919 Hybrids, warned Nicolas Lapierre. Porsche is generally dangerous with its pace at the start of the race. The gap closes between the two LMP1s when the temperatures are high, but we're just guessing at this stage. »