WEC – Loïc Duval: “No longer the same pressure”

By finishing third in the 6 Hours of Shanghai in early November, Loïc duval, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen secured the title of world champion inEndurance even before the Bahrain final. By adding victory to 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Frenchman and his Scottish and Danish acolytes will have had a very successful 2013 year. Tomorrow, on the Sakhir circuit, the crew of the No. 18 Audi R2 e-tron quattro will approach the race without any particular stress, with just the intention of having fun...while trying to win a fourth place. victory this season after those gleaned at Silverstone, Le Mans and Austin.

“We no longer have the same pressure because the main objectives, namely the ??Constructors?? title? and ??Pilots??, were reached, admits Loïc Duval. However, for Audi and for us personally, we will aim for another victory in order to close this season successfully and have a great final party! Since the title obtained in Shanghai, we haven't really had time to celebrate our ??Drivers?? title. due to different commitments that Allan, Tom and I had. This last meeting will therefore be an opportunity to celebrate all of the team's successes with all the mechanics, engineers and crew of Audi no. 1..."

Yesterday, Tom Kristensen set the fourth fastest time in the first two free practice sessions. The Dane completed 46 laps, compared to 19 for Allan McNish and 17 for Loïc Duval. This morning, the latter, on the other hand, set the best time in EL3 in 1’42”479.