Centenary Le Mans: Friday Afternoon Scrutineering Notebook

Jakobsen ready for Le Mans debut

Peugeot prospect extraordinaire Malthe Jakobsen has no shortage of experience to draw from in his first start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

With four-time LMP2 class winner Nicolas Lapierre sharing the #37 car with him, and two-time Daytona 24 Hour winner Simon Pagenaud in the #47 car across the garage.

“First of all, it’s going to be amazing to be able to share my data, and learn from them throughout this week about the track,” Jakobsen said of working with his more experienced teammates.

“I have driven here in LMP3 for the Road to Le Mans, but to jump up to the P2 car, it’s gonna be a different experience. So there will be a lot of new stuff for me to learn.”

“I think the most important thing is going to be to be able to share their experiences before leading into this race. Because one thing is that you have to be quick and put in great lap times. But the more important thing is that you bring the car back after 24 hours without damaging and ruining the race.”

Jakobsen of course heads to Le Mans fresh from being announced as a Peugeot Sport FIA WEC junior driver. It’s a piece of news he’s been eager to share for some time!

“It’s amazing to finally be able to share the news that I’m joining Peugeot as their official junior driver,” he continued. “It’s such a big thing for me and such a big dream that I’ve had for the past few years. And to finally see all the hard work start to pay off. It’s just amazing.

“Through the rest of this season, I will be joining them to help to develop their sim and to test with them in it.

“But I’ll also be testing the car on track in real life. So I expect it to be hard work but it’s going to be a lot of fun and a great experience. Hopefully, I can be able to, first of all, help them but also learn a lot by myself.

“It’s tough to get here. But now I need to show that I can show my worth to them, to continue to learn and to maintain and improve my pace and my consistency.”

Heylen pleased to be present for the GTE Am Le Mans send off

Incredibly enough this is only Jan Heylen’s second-ever outing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A fixture of IMSA and the North American racing scene, Heylen says he is proud to be a part of the last race of the GTE Am category, aboard the #16 Proton Porsche.

“It’s super cool to be here, in the last year of the GTE/GTLM Car.”

Heylen describes the Porsche 911 RSR as, “definitely one of the absolute nicest cars that I’ve ever driven,” and added, “for it to be the last year, and to be here with these guys – with Ryan and Zack – and with this team is really special.”

It’s Ryan Hardwick’s first foray at Le Mans, and Heylen – who’s worked with several gentleman drivers including Hardwick and his father-in-law Charlie Luck – says his driver is up to the task. “His drive, his determination – I mean, I don’t know anyone that puts the same amount of time into this as what Ryan does.

“He’s just a really hard-working guy and takes the time out of his busy schedule at home, to prepare, – mentally, physically – and he’s super committed to all of us, to the drivers, to the team. One of a kind. We’re lucky to have him around and to have him race with us.”

“For Ryan to come here to do his first race at the 100th anniversary – I mean, This is a special year for all of us. And I know that Ryan – he’s put a lot of time and effort into coming to this race and being as well prepared as he could possibly be. We’re all excited to be here. And I think we’ve all put into work and hopefully looks on our side and we can have a good result on Sunday.”

Jonas Ried confident despite late call up

Proton owner/driver Christian Ried’s son Jonas was diplomatic when asked by if he was eager to beat his father Christian in his first year at Le Mans.

The younger Ried, however, did exude confidence ahead of his first start, which is on very short notice, in the #88 Proton Competition Porsche.

“I’ve maximized what I can get out of the time,” Ried said of his two-day preparation from getting the call to today’s scrutineering, “and that’s just the way I want to have it.”

“I know what guys I’m around, I know the team is great. They are all giving me a lot of confidence.”

“I just can do the best out of it. It makes no sense to stress myself now. I know I’m good in LMP2, I know I will do good in this car.”

Ried is quickly learning the ways of multi-class endurance racing after running LMP3 in the Asian Le Mans Series and driving alongside his father in LMP2 Pro-Am in the European Le Mans Series.

“The good thing that I have now – here, I have Harry (Tincknell), in ELMS I have Gimmi Bruni on my side, which are both very experienced.”

“I think I can learn much things about racing, about life, about everything.”

Ried is set to compete in the #88 with Harry Tincknell and Don Yount.

Menezes: Reintroduction of tyre warmers will make the race “safer”

Peugeot Sport driver Gustavo Menezes says the decision to bring back tyre warmers for Le Mans is welcomed by the French team. The American, who forms part of the team’s first outing in the race with the 9X8, feels it will improve safety and help further balance the field.

“On behalf of every single driver, I say to the ACO that we are grateful they made this decision,” he told DSC.

“You can say what you want but at the end of the day it’s a big benefit safety wise. I am happier going into Le Mans that everyone will be more comfortable, with no drivers on ice cold tyres in the middle of the night. It’s a good step, but at the moment it’s a one race thing.”

Sales on the Nielsen livery

Nielsen Racing’s cars are usually adorned with runes, but this year they’re adorned with sketches of the heroes and the landmarks of Le Mans for the centenary edition.

“(The idea) was mine and Sven’s,” said Nielsen Racing’s gentleman driver Rodrigo Sales, a Le Mans sophomore. “And the artist is someone whose work I had admired at an event several years ago.”

Sales had the idea to reach out to the artist, Mark Morgan, ahead of this year’s race. “We thought that not only was he someone who appreciates Le Mans’ history, but we love his work as well. It was really fun!”

“We tried to come up with a list of not only some of the great personalities, but the cars, the memories, events of what’s transpired over the past hundred years,” Sales added. “We’re excited with how it turned out.”

“It’s hard to do justice to a race of this magnitude – and the 100th anniversary, no less – but I think we truly were able to capture some of the spirit of Le Mans over the past several years with the livery.”

New chassis for #36 Alpine and a birthday for Caldwell

Alpine Elf Team’s #36 ORECA underwent a chassis change since the last World Endurance Championship race.

Andre Negrao, driver of the #35 ORECA 07, said the new chassis has tested successfully at Monza – but the two-time LMP2 class winner said that just making that change alone won’t guarantee success in the big race.

“It’s just starting – we have to see into Sunday what’s going on. Should be okay,” commented the Brazilian. “We tested at Monza for two days, the chassis is working – no problems for two days. Crossed fingers for Le Mans!”

Negrao’s co-driver, Olli Caldwell, celebrates his 21st birthday – at the stroke of midnight on Sunday, during the race.

“We can do something for the race, as a gift,” Negrao said when asked if Caldwell will get to celebrate his birthday from the cockpit of the #35 Alpine Oreca. “Just to be close to the podium should be amazing.”

Pierson the youngest again

Last year, Josh Pierson made history as the youngest-ever driver to start the 24 Hours of Le Mans at 16.

Now, at 17, Pierson has a lot on his plate – bouncing between programmes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and making his debut in Indy NXT (formerly Indy Lights) this season – while also moonlighting in IMSA.

“I wouldn’t say I’m managing to juggle it well,” said Pierson – “we’re just juggling it. It’s definitely a lot!”

“Just bouncing around, and enjoying it, and learning a lot. As much as I’m doing this year, and as big of a commitment as it is, I think there’s a lot to learn this year from everything that I’m doing. So I’m very happy to be doing it, and very happy to have the opportunities I’ve been given.”

“But at the same time, it’s about balancing it – and there are certain races I’ve had to take a backseat on this year – for Indy NXT, which is in Detroit this weekend. So it’s a bit unfortunate there.”