Kévin Estre: “I have reached a milestone in confidence”

The 24 Hours of Spa are finally smiling on you. What is your first feeling?

Hormis ma quatrième place avec Porsche il y a deux ans (avec Team75 Bernhard. Ndlr), je n’avais jamais terminé. Alors gagner… C’est une course qui compte beaucoup pour moi, qui reste très difficile, avec un niveau incroyable. C’est quelque chose de particulier que de gagner ici, surtout cette année avec ces conditions. Je suis très fier pour GPX Racing qui a tout mis bout à bout malgré la décision très tardive de s’engager. Mais nous avions le package pour gagner.

How was the relationship with the team?

We were there as a bit of a wild card. The quality of the official Porsche drivers played a role today. We bring our experience to this young team. The team was excited at the start of the race when we found ourselves in the lead. We tried to calm them down, reminding them that the race was long.

How did you manage the ultra-tricky track conditions this year?

When you've been doing the Nordschleife for two or three years, you start to get used to it. Honestly it was very difficult last night. Before they put up the red flag, it was undrivable. I was happy to get out of the car. We couldn't see anything, we were skating at 140 km/h on the Kemmel straight in 3rd or 4th. For me, the red flag came a little late. That allowed us to survive, and then there was this beautiful sprint at the end.

Was it difficult to see Nick Tandy come back at the end of the race?

The safety cars reduced the gap but I think we had around thirty seconds of margin in reality. With Nick, we were on the same pace, even if it depended a lot on the risks taken in traffic. I was confident and ready to fight. Traffic in Blancpain is sometimes complicated, and the blue flags are far from being respected. Nick attacked hard, sometimes I lost three seconds...

And everything almost changed with this collision with the Audi – WRT…

I go to overtake at the last chicane, but he (Shae Davis. Editor's note) lets off the brake and turns as if I wasn't there. I brake as much as possible, I climb on the curb… I had two wheels on the dry part, two on the wet part. I told the team I was sorry, but we were not under investigation. It was stressful, especially since a small piece of the front splitter was torn off. And I feared a puncture.

Did position on the track still have a major role?

In all 24-hour races in recent years, with safety cars and Full Course Yellows, you have to stay ahead on the track. We made a small mistake at the start of the race in the pits, with one person too many during the pitstop, and we received a drive-through which pushed us back far. But we didn't lose any laps. This complicated our task in terms of strategy, because we had to take fewer risks, especially on the tires. We couldn't make a mistake with the tyres, because in the event of another stop we would lose a lap. Sometimes we did up to seven laps on the wrong tires looking for the best moment to stop.

Winner of the 24 2018 Hours of Le Mans and the WEC in GTE Pro, you have been on an almost perfect trajectory for two years. How do you explain that ?

Perhaps I have taken a step forward in confidence. Not in performance where we tend to lose with age. At some point, you accumulate enough experience over the years. There is also success, the car that does not break down. For two years, bad luck seems to have spared me. After Le Mans in 2018, this was an important race for Porsche, the most important GT race in the world. I'm happy to have him on the list. I still have two or three left to hang.