The competition is so high now, as you can’t just concentrate on just one manufacturer any more. Toyota have done a superb job, and who knows what Nissan might bring to the table, as you touched on it earlier. I’ve heard lots of rumours, and they seem to be very confident, so it’ll be very interesting to see what they unveil.
And then you have to think about who they may put in their driver line-up. I spoke with Darren Cox back when they announced their return to LMP1 and asked him if we would see a GT Academy graduate in one of the cars. He said he would be disappointed if there wasn’t.
His honest answer is that there WILL be a GT Academy driver in the program.
He’ll make sure of it.
Darren’s having a lot of fun with this. He’s toying with us all, however we’re not worried. He’s enjoying the mythical side of it all.
It’s a bit like “Godzilla,” really, where the GT-R is already known as “Godzilla,” but with the GT-R LM NISMO, it’s case of it being the big brother coming to play at Le Mans.
He’s enjoying all the rumours and just what is happening. You can see him on Twitter and in the press that he is just really adding fuel to the fire. For them, it’s great, as there is so much interest.
This is especially with the fact that it could further help other manufacturers to decide to take the step to LMP1 in the years to come. Formula One has only been using hybrid tech for the last twelve months when it comes to practical application.
When I spoke with Allan, the ACO decided to embrace this new philosophy from the early 2000s, in terms of making the technology relevant to the road. When
Audi bring out cars like the A3 e-tron Sportsback that have been developed from the spring racing over 24 hours at Le Mans and elsewhere, it shows that in abundance.
The full WEC championship is not just important to Audi, but also to Toyota, because it is road car relevant, especially with the amount of money that has gone into developing the race cars of today.
If some of that is then fed down to the road car division, it pays for itself, and you only have to look at Audi and what technology has come from the race car
and trickled its way down. Numerous
things, from engines to turbochargers, have found their way into the road cars, which is why Audi continues to race in sportscars and that it is why the WEC is continuing to attract manufacturers back to it.
Olly, thanks very much for the chat, and I wish you, Loïc and Lucas all the best of luck this year.
Thanks very much.
The fact that the times where Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen were the Le Mans “All-Star Team,” with all
three of them complimenting each other nicely in respective ways.
However, as both McNish and Kristensen will be supporting the new generation of future world champions, you can be rest assured that Oliver and everyone at Audi Sport, will be doing their utmost to take back the crown that is rightfully theirs, especially retaining their dominance at Le Mans.
E-Racing would like to thank Olly for his time, as well as Audi Sport UK’s Martyn Pass and RSM for arranging the interview. We wish Olly and his new teammates all the very best of luck for the forthcoming campaign.