WEC – Benoît Tréluyer: “We have carte blanche”

At the finish of the 6 Hours of São Paulo, on September 1, Benoît Tréluyer told us about the attribution of the title, “it will be complicated. The delay at Le Mans will be hard to make up for. » (See Ah n°1925. Editor’s note), and this before adding: “I want to win this championship. » The Frenchman and his acolytes Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer are determined not to leave their stablemates and friends, the trio Loïc duval-Tom Kristensen-Allan McNish, stealing the world crown from them after having already stolen the trophy 24 Hours of Le Mans. “We start from scratch in each event, with the mission of bringing home the maximum number of points, emphasizes Benoît. We took over eight in Brazil, and we will try to do at least as well in Austin. We have carte blanche to attack provided, obviously, that we do not go too far. »

Yesterday, during the two collective testing sessions (see here), the Audi R18 e-tron quattro proved to be faster than the single Toyota TS030Hybrid engaged. But this in no way surprises the native of Alençon. Because as he pointed out before, “The team, which has all the circuit data, carried out theoretical simulations. When we put the car on the ground, it will already have the correct gear ratios and will be set at 90%. With André and Marcel, all we have to do is refine. » For the moment, it is number 2 which has the advantage, Loïc duval having been the fastest of the two sessions. But how important are these tests when it comes to pure performance? None.

Avec encore 22 unités à rattraper à quatre manches du terme, les tenants du titre n’ont pas le droit à la moindre erreur. Et en plus de devoir venir à bout de leurs voisins de stand, il leur faudra contrecarrer les assauts d’une Toyota TS030 qui monte en puissance, et ce malgré le fait qu’elle fut en retrait hier. Mais dans le clan Audi, il y en a déjà deux à qui les Etats-Unis a souri cette année, et il s’agit justement de Benoît Tréluyer et Marcel Fässler. En mars dernier, le Français et le Suisse ont remporté en compagnie d’Oliver Jarvis l’édition 2013 des 12 Heures de Sebring…à l’issue, déjà, d’un âpre duel avec la voiture-soeur de Kristensen-McNish-Di Grassi.