Wednesday 16 June 2010

Franck, a bitterly disappointing end to the Le Mans 24 Hours, has it all sunk in yet?
“It was one of the most emotional moments in my career so far and an unfortunate end to an otherwise excellent race. As soon as we realised that the car was not salvageable, all of the work that had gone into the event was suddenly over. It is one of those things in racing, but just a shame after the position we were in. There were a few more retirements after us in the LMP1 class, so we would surely have challenged for a top five finish if we had made it to the end.”

How was the week up to that point?
“We had quite a good week in Le Mans leading up to the race. The scrutineering session is always a fantastic opportunity to meet and greet the fans, and it is so nice that they can play a part in the event, so that was fun. When we took to the track for the first time, we learned a lot about the car and the tyres, but our track time was cut quite short. The practice sessions went reasonably well. We used the first session on Wednesday to work on the set-up of the car and we did not run in optimum qualifying specification. Unfortunately, on Thursday, the weather was a bit mixed with some early rain and then we had a problem with the fuel tank which stopped our running early and prevented us from going for any more qualifying runs.”

Was the qualifying result what you expected?
“I would have liked an opportunity to run with the softer Dunlop tyres and to have a go at a proper qualifying but we qualified 11th which was ok. Le Mans, as we know, is more about the car and tyre performance over the entire race, not just about one lap. We were running in the top ten for most of Thursday and it was only the closing moments of the final qualifying sessions that we were dropped out of the top ten.”

How were the first hours of the race?
“I had a great start and managed to reclaim that tenth place. The car and the tyres felt good and we took the decision to run five consecutive stints to allow the race to settle a bit, changing tyres after the third stint. Vanina and Pierre also had good opening stints and we were really challenging for the top ten positions heading into the night. There were a few minor issues but the team worked brilliantly to resolve these without any impact on our race position.”

What did you think of the team’s approach to its second Le Mans 24 hour race?
“As I said before, the team performed really well and we worked together as an established team. This year was our second participation in Le Mans, so we knew better what we were doing and it showed to the outside world. We were setting consistent lap times and would have definitely had a fantastic result if it was not for the crash. But this is endurance racing and you have to make the full 24 hours if you want the results. I also have to thank my sponsors Sojasun, who worked with me on my diet for Le Mans and the fact that I completed a five stint run at the beginning shows how their products can help fitness levels at the top end of motorsport.”

What’s next?
“Well there is little chance for some relaxation after this tough Le Mans event. The whole team needs some time to recharge the batteries but not for too long because we have to prepare for the next Le Mans Series race in Portugal in July. Le Mans showed that our chassis-tyre package is good, but we are overdue a top result and maybe Portugal will be our time.”

For more information about Franck Mailleux, please visit www.franckmailleux.com or www.quadrasports.com