Simon Gachet: “There has been progress throughout the year”

It is a top 5 which has reference value for Simon Gachet. The driver from Isère ended the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe campaign in fifth place in the Drivers' standings, with his Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo – Saintéloc Racing teammate Christopher Haase.

An association created by the troops of Sébastien Chétail and Frédéric Thalamy and which bore fruit, culminating in a convincing victory in race 2 at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Combined with three other podiums at Misano and the Nürburgring, the season was above all that of the good formula found by the Saint-Etienne clan.

“We were a little more aggressive in the sprint races, Simon Gachet told us after the Hungaroring final. In terms of settings, we were perhaps a little too conservative on the tires. Since we ride more aggressively, we have found this performance. In Sprint, we are clearly looking for this. It was more of a philosophy to address and we found it. »

Long turned towards the trials ofEndurance, with a success at the 24 Hours of Spa in 2017 as its main achievement, Saintéloc Racing has proven this season that it can compete with the top teams in the SRO Motorsports series. While regularly proving to be the fastest in the Audi clan.

“In the race, we have been doing well for three or four meetings, being ahead of WRT, Attempto and Phoenix, mentions Gachet. There has been progress all year, whether personally or for the team, and we have worked well together.

It's a satisfaction to end on a good weekend, even if in terms of performance and pure results, it's not too obvious, because we were a little further behind the Mercedes and Lamborghini. »

2020 in the viewfinder

While there is only one round remaining in the Blancpain GT Series this year, in Barcelona for the Endurance Cup final at the end of the month, Simon Gachet admits that the objective for the next campaign to come is to logically be noticed by a manufacturer.

With this in mind, the good performances achieved this year can only help the Frenchman, who confesses to having learned a lot this season alongside official Audi drivers, notably Christopher Haase, or more recently Stéphane Ortelli.

“Christopher helped me a lot with everything concerning the settings and especially the use of the tire, Simon Gachet tells us. Pirellis are very demanding. The first year in 2018 was a little more complicated in this parameter.

Stéphane and I met last year. The feeling has gone well and the fact that he joined the team this year brings a little more experience. Which is always good to take. And what's more, he still knows how to turn the wheel well! »

Discover the report of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe final at the Hungaroring, in AUTO issue 2233hebdo, available now in digital version and on newsstands.