Le Mans – Vaxivière ready to defend its provisional pole

Matthieu Vaxivière should seek to defend his due during the next qualifying sessions of the 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans disputed this evening. The driver of the TDS Racing Oreca 07 completed a lap in 3'29''333 in the first race last night, beating the No. 31 Vaillante Rebellion driven by Bruno Senna by half a second.

“I am obviously satisfied because it is my goal to win pole, explained Matthieu Vaxivière. It has not yet been done because the times should improve this evening in the last session if the conditions remain the same, unless the temperatures rise again. I could try my luck again if things change, but my only fear concerns the traffic. I did a pretty good time without being hampered by other cars, but I think I'm still missing 4 or 5 tenths. »

Traffic management indeed plays an important role in qualifying performance. If Matthieu Vaxivière performs well, he is still gaining experience on the Sarthe circuit by learning to manage traffic.

“Traffic is very important in qualifying because it can really impact the lap time. You have to have a little luck at this level when you are on a circuit of more than 13km, recognized Matthieu Vaxivière. We gained 10s per lap. We are catching up with the GTEs much faster and we therefore have more to overtake. Traffic management has had to evolve with the GTEs but it is complicated. On the other hand, no problem with the LMP1s. »

Matthieu Vaxivière has in any case got used to driving at Le Mans at night, which was a new discovery for him last night.

“I was like crazy discovering the Le Mans circuit at night with these lights in the car and the solitude in the Mulsannes. It still took me a little while to adapt. The depth is more difficult to establish,” noted Matthieu Vaxivière.

Pole should in any case probably go to an Oreca 07, as this chassis dominates the LMP2 by monopolizing the first 14 places out of the 25 LMP2s entered.