Supercup – Steven Palette: “Making regular top 5s”

What assessment do you draw from this first part of the championship?

Going into the season, I knew it was a good challenge for me and I knew what to expect. In the first part of the championship, there were some good things, notably a fourth place in the Red Bull Ring. Generally speaking in the Supercup, you clearly have to qualify and for the moment, I have always been a little behind. And given the field, in the race, it's tricky to overtake and make the difference. I still got closer to the first five places and in performance, we are still present, scoring points.

What goals do you set for the end of the season?

With Philippe Alméras, we are clear: we must make regular top 5s. For the team, we have a shot to play in the championship: second or third place is possible, so it is important that both cars score the points.

Do you have any instructions from Philippe Alméras to prioritize playing the “team” card?

No, on that, Philippe is very “sporty”. There is always carte blanche. The goal is really to do the best possible on our part. He also knows that if both drivers perform well, it will be good for the team.

What do you think was the most complicated to understand in the Supercup?

Ce qui est assez délicat, c’est que le grip de la piste est toujours particulier. L’anticipation de ce paramètre est essentielle. C’est dû à la gomme qui est déposée par les monoplaces. (la Porsche Supercup se disputant en grande partie en marge du Championnat du Monde de F1). You therefore need the right balance for the length of the race. For our part, the car is generally good in qualifying, but in the race, we remain a little below. We deteriorate quite quickly.

How is cohabitation with Mathieu Jaminet going?

We exchange ideas on technique or data acquisition. Philippe wants it to be like that. Plus, we're pretty close in terms of settings. Afterwards, we are competitors, so we always want to finish in front. But, we try to move forward together.

For 2017, are any paths already emerging?

The idea is to repeat a season in the Supercup. I like the discipline. The second and third years in this series are undoubtedly where the performances are the best. I hope it will always be with Martinet by Alméras, because the team is perfect. Furthermore, I would like to complete this with a little endurance in GT: 24 Hours of Spa…

Still in a Porsche?

Ideally yes. Afterwards you must not stay closed. I went through traction, propulsion, sprinting, endurance… We have to stay with this in mind.

What is your opinion on the GT4 which is due to arrive in France in 2017? (with SRO Motorsports which will take over from Oreca as promoter of the FFSA French Championship).

Today, the French championship was having difficulty finding customers. GT3 budgets remain quite high. Trying to reduce costs is a good thing. I think the cars are also fun to drive. We're all here to play sports, and I think the spirit will always be there. This is something that might interest me.