French endurance racer Pierre Ragues is hoping that a competitive run to fourth place at the Le Mans 24 Hours will provide a valuable boost to the G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan team as the World Endurance Championship resumes at Silverstone this weekend following a two month break. 

Ragues, together with team-mates Roman Rusinov and Nelson Panciatici, only joined the WEC from the Spa 6 hour race in May but were able to fight hard during the gruelling Le Mans 24 Hours event in June to claim a hard-fought fourth place, just shy of the LMP2 podium.

As a second entry for the Signatech-Nissan squad in LMP2, running under the G-Drive banner, the #26 Oreca 03 has shown promising pace and reliability which puts Pierre in a good position to compete for the podium at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Silverstone in Britain. 

A total of 37 cars have been entered into this highly competitive event, making it a busier grid than Sebring or Spa earlier in the season. Of those 37 entries, an impressive 16 of those are in the LMP2 category, which means that Pierre and G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan will be hoping for a trouble-free weekend.

Although Silverstone is just the fourth race of eight in this year’s World Endurance Championship, it will be the series’ final visit to Europe as races in Brazil, Bahrain, Japan and China make up the second half of the season.

Quick Q+A with Pierre Ragues

Pierre, what have you been up to in the two months since Le Mans?

“It feels like an incredibly long time since the last race but it has still been a busy time for me over the summer. Immediately after Le Mans, I took part in a karting event at Ostricourt, part of the French karting championship in which I compete regularly. I have also been keeping up with my training regime and spending some time with family and friends. I am fully back into work mode now though and looking forward to getting back to racing in the WEC at Silverstone, a track which I enjoy.”

What are your objectives for the weekend?

“I had a good race at Silverstone last season in the LMP1 class so it is a track on which I know I can compete strongly. Together with G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan, I had a very enjoyable Le Mans 24 Hours back in June and we were able to show the performance potential of our package, which I hope will be even stronger at Silverstone. Le Mans is the ultimate test of the reliability and competitiveness of the car, so if we can finish near to the podium there then I think we can be optimistic of good results for the rest of the season. As always, I am definitely up for the challenge and hope to reward the team and my sponsors Group Auto Union with a good result.”