Premat: “We will go to win Bathurst 1000”

Alexandre Prémat has a real opportunity to become the first French driver to win the famous Bathurst 1 Km, Sunday October 000. Scott McLaughlin's teammate will start in pole position thanks to record set by the New Zealander during the Shootout.

A few days before flying to Australia, the former Audi driver with 24 Hours of Le Mans and DTM gave an interview to CARhebdo. Here are the best extracts.

The aero load and speed are more important in particular. But you quickly feel that the car has reached a level. There is more aero – we are talking about 40 to 50 kg more than last year – so that allows you to maintain more speed in curves. We may be talking about 2 km/h, but over 500 or 600 meters, that's enough to make a big difference. This also allows us to brake later and harder without the car moving from the rear.

The Mustang having outperformed the competition, the authorities slowed it down, while authorizing developments on the Commodore and the Altima. The latest seems to offer Holden a performance boost. Aren't you too frustrated that this is happening right before the Enduro Cup?

I don't think too much about that and am convinced that we will perform well. It is certain that this gives an advantage to Holden, who also won the first race at Pukekohe, but Scott won the next day. We'll see what happens in Bathurst. But Holden having chosen to have more aero, by adding Gurneys (brackets on the wing. Editor's note), they will also generate more drag and therefore be slower in a straight line, which is important at Bathurst.

Was this the right option? Only time will tell. But on all levels – car, engineering, mechanics and drivers – we will be strong. Perhaps the Holdens will be closer than they have been since the start of the year, but we must not forget the "driver" factor. Scott also makes the difference through his talent, as we see by comparing his results to those of his teammate Fabian Coulthard and the other Mustang drivers.

Bathurst is a long race at the end of which it is not necessarily the fastest crew who is rewarded. Unfortunately, I am well placed to know that (laughs). The thing that is certain is that we are going there with a real chance of victory, it is up to us to do the job.

Scott McLaughlin has won 17 races out of a possible 24 since the start of the season. How can we explain such domination?

Even at Garry Rogers, with the Volvo, he fought with the big names despite equipment of a lower standard. He has the advantage of never making a mistake and his strong point is qualifying. He always manages to flirt with the limit without ever going beyond it and extracting the quintessence of the car. And in Supercars, the place on the grid is excessively important. Mentally, he is also very strong.

Grab the popcorn folks

Onboard McLaughlin and Mostert's shootout lapses. #VASC #Bathurst1000 pic.twitter.com/nWSPtNRzuW

— Supercars (@supercars) October 12, 2019

Will the fact that Scott enjoys a comfortable lead allow you to only aim for victory without thinking about the championship?

Honestly, like last year or two years ago, our only goal will be to do the job as best as possible and win the race. We can rely on the best team and one of the best cars. Afterwards, it takes success to make it happen, but we don't worry, we don't do calculations, we will set out to win.

Still, the level has perhaps never been so high in the Enduro Cup…

It's certain that with Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes coming to support Shane Van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup, there's a lot going on at Triple Eight (Holden Red Bull Racing. Editor’s note), former champions who are offering themselves a second career as “co-drivers”.

Tickford Racing will also have a say with Chaz Mostert-James Moffat, Cameron Waters-Michael Caruso and Lee Holdsworth-Thomas Randle. But I am delighted to confront myself with references in the discipline. If I manage to fight with them, my rating will be even better. The more competition, the better.

Starting the Enduro Cup with Bathurst, is that bad news?

There's no point in asking the question. It is certain that the preparation will be less, since I will have to make do with this day of testing in Ipswich before arriving there. Sandown was a nice place to start. But it doesn't bother me that much.

I have confidence in the car, I feel good behind the wheel and Bathurst is clearly my favorite circuit, the one where I feel the best. It's like when, in Endurance, you arrive at Le Mans without having driven on the circuit before, even if you have tested at Le Castellet. You need to look your best on the big day.