WEC – Loïc Duval: “We are not immune”

Last week, before the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas, Loïc duval had admitted that his objective was to “consolidate our lead in the championship in order to protect ourselves going into this second half of the season”. En dominant la cinquième manche, le Français et ses acolytes Tom Kristensen et Allan McNish ont accompli sa mission avec brio. Et ce d’autant plus que leurs principaux rivaux, leurs compagnons d’écurie que sont Marcel Fässler, Benoît Tréluyer et André Lotterer, n’ont pu faire mieux que troisièmes, la Toyota TS030 Hybrid n°8 ayant réussi à s’intercaler entre les deux bolides frappés des quatre anneaux. De 22 points, Loïc et ses deux équipiers ont porté leur avance à 33 unités.

“Everything went perfectly, jubilant the native of Chartres. During the collective sessions on Thursday and during the official tests, we achieved the best times, then we took pole position. And to end the weekend, we win the race! It’s a magnificent result for Audi, which signs its 100th victory in sports prototypes since the first success of the R8 during the 2000 season. It’s a shame that the Audi n°1 had its problems. However, I would like to thank his crew for having a superb team race and for being ready for us to test the double relays so that we could adopt the best strategy against the threat of Toyota. The points scored thanks to our 3rd victory this season are important, because it allows us to widen the gap on our pursuers. However, we must continue to work a lot because we are not immune to a problem during the race which could result in a 'zero score'. Allan, Tom and I will approach the final three rounds of the championship as we have done so far. That is to say, aiming for victory, without thinking too much about points, and seeking to have fun. Which happens when we stand on the top step of the podium. Therefore, we will try to win one or two more…”

The competitors of the World ChampionshipEndurance now meet on the Fuji Speedway, the weekend of October 20, for the antepenultimate meeting of the season. A special meeting for Loïc, who has been active in Japan since 2009 where he won a Formula Nippon title in 2010 and another in Super GT the following year. “Personally, I am keen to do well in the next round which will be like a second home race for me after Le Mans, He says. Of course, we will also have to count on Toyota which showed a performance gain in Austin. »

Japan, in fact, Loïc is heading back there this weekend to compete in the penultimate event of the Super Formula (formerly Formula Nippon), where he currently occupies second place in the provisional general classification, nine points behind André Lotterer. .

Find in your AUTOhebdo magazine (available here in digital version and in all kiosks), analysis of the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas by our special correspondents in Austin.