Ragues: “Attack at the opportune moment”

What is the strategy implemented by Larbre Compétition?

We will not attack at the start and we will avoid fights. We prefer to lose one or two places and take notice as the race progresses. Jack Leconte (the president of Larbre) reminded us that the battle for victory at Le Mans starts late and that the objective is to stay on the leader's lap, to stay in contact without making contact, and to preserve the mechanics to be able to attack at the opportune moment.

Did the weather complicate your preparation?

We did not ride in the rain on the first day and favored track time in the dry. The latest weather reports for Saturday morning prompted us to drive on a wet track to evaluate the track. I was in charge of evaluating the circuit. We had good feelings with Jean-Philippe (Belloc) in the rain, but the conditions are constantly changing.

How does the Corvette C7R behave in the rain?

We had no problems with the car. The traction control developed by Corvette works very well in all types of conditions. The large couple still requires you to remain attentive.

The tests were also disrupted by numerous “slow zones”. Is this rule penalizing?

There are good things and bad things. This is still positive for the safety of the marshals, but it can be very detrimental if you find yourself slowed down when you have just refueled. There is no miracle solution anyway, otherwise the ACO would have found it. As for “Full Course Yellow”, the slow pace makes the tires and brakes cool a lot, but they found a good compromise. The ACO and the FIA ​​remain very attentive and we must trust them.

Jean-Philippe Belloc was selected to replace Paolo Ruberti following his injury. Was he able to easily integrate into the crew?

Jean-Philippe knows both the team and this event very well. He has extensive experience at Le Mans in different categories. His arrival is a good thing for us. We just need to help him get acclimated with the procedures. We notably took a penalty for speeding under a red flag (speed limited to 80 km/h), but that is part of the relearn process.

Is Yutaka Yamagishi also ready to race?

It's not going bad. He is also experienced since he has several participations in 24 Hours of Le Mans, but he hasn't yet been able to complete a full lap in testing and we're going to have to support him. We got there with Keiko (Ihara) in 2014 who found herself in the same situation.

The warm-up for the 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be contested on Saturday 18 from 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. The start will be given at 15 p.m. The race will be followed live with our live text.