Sébastien Ogier on his way to his first 24 Hours
The former rally driver will participate for the first time in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Richard Mille Racing Team.
It is a big name in motorsport who will be participating in the biggest endurance race. The eight-time world champion is engaged in LMP2 with the Richard Mille Racing Team, alongside Lilou Wadoux and Charles Milesi.
On the first sessions that took place this Wednesday, the performances achieved were rather satisfactory for the French driver who is rolling for the first time on the Sarthe circuit. He also discovered driving at night, which is a challenge for him.
« The night was more difficult than I anticipated, with some sections completely in the dark. There are headlights that don’t illuminate much, and it took me a few laps to get my bearings. Managing the traffic is not easy, especially at night. It’s hard to tell if the headlights are far away, so we try to get information from the team to avoid bothering them », he said during a roundtable discussion on Thursday.
The Toyota driver, in rallying, has also undergone sleep preparation which will be crucial for the race, taking place this Saturday and Sunday. « I am well surrounded to prepare for sleep. I find it difficult to anticipate how challenging the race will be in terms of sleep, I have the impression that it won’t be much harder than in rallying because it is also physically intense and we don’t sleep that much. »
The French crew will start the 24 Hours race from the seventh position in the LMP2 category, thanks to a time of 3’31”368 set by the most experienced member of the team, Charles Milesi. As for the eight-time rally world champion, he continues to make progress in an attempt to get closer to his teammate’s lap times.
Charles did a pretty good qualifying, we have the feeling of having taken a step forward compared to the previous races where we struggled a bit with the car, especially with the balance. From a personal point of view, it went overall well. I feel like things are heading in the right direction, I’m starting to understand the places where I can gain some time. Now we need to put it all together.
Present in Monza?
Present at Sebring and Spa to prepare for Le Mans, Sébastien Ogier could be part of the next race at Monza, where Peugeot will make its debut. We will wait until the end of the weekend to say more. Monza is not impossible yet. The initial plan was for Le Mans, for the rest there is nothing concrete, we will have to reassess after the race.
