WEC – Benoît Tréluyer: “Le Mans is in people’s minds”

Le Mans, Le Mans, Le Mans… All the drivers of the World ChampionshipEndurance only have these two words on their lips. As has been the case for several years, the 6 Hours of Spa serves as a dress rehearsal for the double clock tower in Sarthe. And this weekend, Benoît Tréluyer will particularly like to shine there, for several reasons.

First of all because it is the " garden " of his teammate and friend André Lotterer, whose mother is Belgian. Then, it's a route that he appreciates, particularly because of the very famous Eau Rouge slope. ?If I were a spectator, I would stay there for hours because it?s one of the few places I know where you can see with the naked eye if the guy is fast, He explains. You can also recognize certain drivers just by the way they negotiate this passage. You can't go all out on the first lap. Before you can achieve this, you need your references, your turning points. There is a compression point and the car must be well adjusted so as not to hit the ground violently. Ride height, downforce, all the adjustments are concentrated on this area which imposes major constraints on the car in general. It?s a place where we flirt with limits, human and mechanical. These are extraordinary sensations. We always approach this passage very concentrated because there is a lot to lose because of the long straight it commands. The basis of the adjustment is the Raidillon! Do you touch Raidillon a lot? This is the basis of the discussion with the engineers. Afterwards, we set up the car for the rest of the circuit. »

Finally, the third reason and not the least, it is the last race before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the flagship event of the calendar in which Benoît and his acolytes Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer are double title holders. “Le Mans is in people’s minds, continues the native of Alençon. Spa is a very fast circuit whose settings are quite similar to those used in Sarthe. In fact, we are driving in Le Mans configuration, but with more downforce. It is no coincidence that Audi has decided to align two different versions of the e-tron quattro. The first already seen at Silverstone for us and Duval-Kristensen-McNish which generates optimum downforce, and a “long tail” version with an extended rear section entrusted to Gené-di Grassi-Jarvis for Le Mans. The team will analyze and compare the two models sector by sector in order to collect as much useful data as possible. » But this year, with Toyota TS030Hybrid ready, the mission promises to be much more complicated than in 2012.

It is therefore a Benoît Tréluyer blessed with increased motivation that we will find this weekend in Belgium, and all the more so since he knows he can count on the Ardennes slide on teammates who “They are both like fish in water! » on this route. So much the better, because the rain could well, as it often does, invite itself to the party.