Philippe Sinault: “What the ACO offers is very good”

What do you think of the new ones? WEC calendars et ELMS ?

Perhaps the hardest thing about being a promoter – and I speak from experience – is developing a schedule in normal times. So in these times, I imagine how complicated it must have been. What the ACO offers us, both in WEC that in theELMS, suits me, because it allows me to respect my commitments to my partners, my sponsors and my drivers and it allows me to preserve sporting ethics.

Do you think these measures are optimistic?

Nobody knows today when deconfinement will be universal, because we are talking about international platforms, which complicates the debate. As presented, it seems playable, but with each passing day we wonder if we are going to have trials in July. This is where our concern lies. Otherwise it seems to have been well thought out, reasoned, reasonable and responsible.

Is it complicated for a team like yours to have fewer races on the program due to postponement of WEC season 9 to March 2021 ?

No, the timing is just going to be different. But the commitments will be kept and then between the last three races WEC and the five ofELMS, we will already be busy. 70% of our staff are on both programs. And then we cannot have the same level of requirements as usual in a context of global crisis. What the ACO offers is very good. Spending my August in Spa suits me very well as long as I can practice my profession, preserve my jobs and fight for a title.

© DPPI / Florent Gooden

Go to Spa more than to Silverstone to prepare Le Mans, was this a good option?

Le Mans is such a specific race... Maybe this is a good thing for the big LM P1 manufacturers, but it doesn't change much for us because our technical packages are quite fixed and which we don't use, in Belgium , our Le Mans kit. But Spa is very good. It has often – if not always – served as a preparatory race for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and it has always gone well for us so that suits me.

At what rate is Signatech currently operating?

Concerning the running operation part, we have made requests to be accepted for partial unemployment. I have a small unit which manages the administration at my side and a small part of Signatech Automobiles which continues to set up the Alpine de Rally, because some of our suppliers are still delivering to us. This allows us to maintain economic activity, fulfill our orders for rally cars and bring in cash. A little third of the workforce is in place, of course with constraints linked to respecting barrier gestures, but things are not going too badly.

What about theAlpine Europa Cup?

We are looking at revamping the calendars with a program shifted to the second half of the year with, we hope, a first race at least in August. But it is essential to maintain the championship for the people who trusted us. We were in six events, we are trying to maintain them, but I think it will be difficult. It is not unlikely to find an alternative to 4 or 5 events.