Mir and Marini back in the saddle for Le Mans
Le MansWith the season now in full flow, the Repsol Honda Team are back on track for the French GP after an important weekend last time out in Spain.
Made world famous by two and four-wheeled endurance races, the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix circuit sits just outside the town of Le Mans and has featured full-time on the World Championship calendar since 2000. With a number of slow corners and tight chicanes, late braking and hard acceleration are the order of the day at the French GP.
Joan Mir did well in front of his home fans to recover to two-point scoring results in the Sprint and the Spanish Grand Prix. Recreating that form and improving over the course of the French GP weekend will be the objective again. Last race showed what Mir and his team can do over the course of a weekend, building each session to maximise the potential of their package.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda Team garage, Luca Marini continues to work on improving his feeling with the Honda RC213V. Experimenting with setup options during the post-race test should give the Italian more tools when he arrives in France for Friday practice.
Location: Automobile Club de l’Ouest Le Mans
Built in 1965 around the existing 24-Hour track, the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit lies 5km south of the city of Le Mans and 200km south-west of Paris. The venue has hosted Grand Prix since the late sixties but a serious accident to Spanish rider Alberto Puig in 1995 saw it struck off the calendar until 2000 whilst stringent safety improvements were carried out. Le Mans is a tight track dominated by first gear corners that place the emphasis on late braking and hard acceleration, whilst rear end traction is also a key area. With the capacity to comfortably accommodate up to 100,000 spectators, the Bugatti circuit also plays host to the 24 hour truck race, the FIA GP2 Championship, French Touring Car and GT races.
Finally when we look at what happened in Jerez we have to be content, we achieved the maximum that we could. Doing the same again this weekend is the goal. Le Mans is a different kind of track with lots of slow speed corners, so we need to work to setup for that as much as possible. It’s true it has been a bit of a tricky track for me in the past but we approach with our goals and our plan this weekend.
Another opportunity for us to make improvements. Myself and my team are giving our maximum to make progress and we enter the French GP weekend with the same intensity. It’s important to stay focused and make the most of every opportunity we are presented. The weather in Le Mans can be quite wet and cold, so let’s see what we can achieve.