Romain Dumas between joy and relief

Romain Dumas repeated it: win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche remained one of its main objectives. Mission accomplished last June at the end of a race with an incredible storyline, which saw Toyota fail in the last round.

A result which also put the Dumas – Jani – Lieb trio into orbit with a view to the world title. And yet, the second part of the campaign WEC 2016 for the crew of the 919 Hybrid n°2 has not been the easiest.

Several incidents came to thwart the momentum of the leaders of the general classification from the Nürburgring, before definitively securing the title last Saturday in Bahrain with a sixth place, after a start to the race marked by contact with the Porsche 911 RSR KCMG, forcing the #1 LM P2 to stop to replace a rear tire and the rear wing.

“The race was not easy. From the end of the first hour, we knew that the podium would no longer be playable, comments the Gardois. We had to bring the car home, not make any mistakes and take the necessary points. It’s a bit like our second part of the season, but that’s also endurance.

We had a mission, to win the title and we did it! The 24 Hours of Le Mans and the title of World ChampionEndurance the same year... It's difficult to put into words all these feelings: there is joy and a certain relief. In any case, I believe that the mission is accomplished. »

Discover the full report and analysis of the 6 Hours of Bahrain, produced by our special correspondent on the Sakhir route, in AUTO issue 2090hebdo, available this evening in digital version, and this Wednesday on newsstands.