French endurance racer Pierre Ragues is heading into the summer months in a positive frame of mind after showing podium pace in his G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan at last weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours race.  

Ragues, together with team-mates Nelson Panciatici and Roman Rusinov, completed the 24 hour race in fourth place in LMP2 in their Nissan-powered Oreca 03 but were competing for the podium for much of the race and demonstrated good pace throughout the week.

The next round of the World Endurance Championship takes place at Silverstone at the end of August, giving Pierre two months to prepare for what will be his third race of the year with the team.

Q+A with Pierre Ragues

Pierre, one week on, how do you look back on your sixth Le Mans 24 Hours race?
“I always look back on the Le Mans week with happy memories because it is such a great event. From the scrutineering to the drivers’ parade to the race itself, the atmosphere is incredible and the experience is always different. This year, I was pleased to be rejoining the G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan team in LMP2 alongside Nelson and Roman and we were able to have a competitive race. We qualified well and fought hard for the LMP2 podium throughout the race but unfortunately a problem late in the race meant we had to settle for fourth place. It was still a commendable result because at Le Mans just completing the race is a huge achievement, but it was a shame to miss out on the podium.” 

What happened?
“We were in the middle of a battle for the second and third podium positions in the incredibly close LMP2 field. Unfortunately, in the mid-morning, during Roman’s stint, we had a puncture that caused the car to spin and which required the team to change the rear of the car. That lost us around five minutes in the garage, but it is one of those things at Le Mans, especially in the closing stages of the race when there is a lot of debris on the track. It was just a shame that it cost us a podium.”

But there are plenty of positives to take away from Le Mans?
“Yes, absolutely. It was only my second race with G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan and we learned a lot. My pace in practice was quick even on a full tank of fuel and we were competitive in qualifying and the race. I was very pleased with my stints in the race and to have both #26 and #23 cars finish the race was good for the team. The mechanics worked exceptionally well and we had great support from Nissan, from the team and from my personal partners Group Auto. We have two months before the next race and we are not even halfway through the WEC season so there’s plenty more to come. We will use this Le Mans experience to come back more determined and even more competitive at Silverstone in August.”