Pierre Ragues is hoping to put all the experience gathered throughout this year's Le Mans Series championship to good use as he aims to end the 2010 season in style at Silverstone this weekend.

The French driver heads to Silverstone on the back of two podium results - an outright third place in Portugal in July and an LMP1 podium in Hungary just a few weeks ago – and lying third in the drivers' championship table just two points from second place. Signature Plus has a realistic chance of winning the team championship title in Silverstone with just a two point deficit from the current leaders ahead of Silverstone.

The Silverstone 1000km race marks the culmination of Pierre's debut season as an Official Aston Martin Racing Team Partner driver and the end of his second season with Signature. Although the team picked up an LMP1 podium at the last race in Hungary, the result was still tinged with disappointment after technical difficulties forced them into a lengthy pit stop and dropped them out of contention for the outright podium. Nevertheless, Pierre is hoping that all the pieces of the jigsaw will fall into place for the team at the new-look Silverstone circuit.

Silverstone has undergone a notable facelift since last year's Le Mans Series event with the addition of the new Arena section extending the lap from 5.141km to just under 6km in length. The new portion of track has been designed with spectator viewing as top priority and has already received favourable reviews from the Formula 1, MotoGP and Superbike championships that have already raced around the new layout.

The changes mean that most drivers will have to acquaint themselves with the new track configuration, which includes new names such as Farm Curve, The Loop and Village, joining better known names like Luffield, Maggots, Becketts and Stowe. The initial practice sessions will therefore be a useful opportunity for drivers to find the optimum line through the new Arena section, while understanding the impact on car set-up and tyre performance throughout the extended lap.

Quick Q+A with Pierre Ragues

Pierre, do you think the team is able to continue its run of podium results?
"That is absolutely the aim. We have made great progress during the last two events in Portugal and Hungary, and I think our on-track performances have reflected that. We are reaching the end of our debut season with Aston Martin and Dunlop and I think we have experienced a positive upward curve. We have gelled together nicely and have moved forwards in every area since our first test together back in March. I hope Silverstone will be the highlight of the season to help us push for the teams' title and to help us in our battle for second place in the drivers' championship."

What do you think of the new Silverstone layout?
"I love racing at Silverstone and the new track layout, from what I have seen on paper and from other races, appears to add fresh and interesting challenges. It was my first time racing an LMP1 car around Silverstone last year and I really enjoyed it, so I looking forward to this year's event. It is a demanding track and everybody will have a bit of learning to do in practice so the first sessions will be important in laying the foundations for the rest of the weekend. All the guys in Signature, at Aston Martin and at Dunlop have done a great job this year so I'm hopeful of a good result for all of us."

For more information on Pierre Ragues, please visit www.pierreragues.com or www.quadrasports.com