French endurance star Franck Mailleux is hoping that his podium performance at last weekend’s 6 Hours of Bahrain will continue with another competitive result at the 6 Hours of Fuji, the penultimate race on this season’s World Endurance Championship. 

Franck’s performance in Bahrain was impressive with some of the quickest sector times in the LMP2 class during the six hour race, vindication of Signatech-Nissan’s performance throughout this competitive season. The team hopes that the Bahrain result will be repeated in Fuji next weekend.

Fuji Speedway has hosted endurance racing as far back as 1982 but it will be the first time that Franck and Signatech-Nissan has visited the race track, located at the foot of Mount Fuji, a 4.563km circuit comprised of 16 corners and a 1.5km long main straight. The 6 Hours of Fuji will be a particularly important event for the team’s engine supplier Nissan, so Franck will be hoping to secure a fitting podium.

Quick Q+A with Franck Mailleux

Has the result from Bahrain settled in yet?

“It was a great weekend for the team after we suffered so much bad luck throughout the season. We have maintained that our car, the Nissan-powered #23 Oreca 03, has the pace for podiums at each race but we had been unable to achieve that until Bahrain. I now hope that this result will open the gates for us in the last two races of the season, at Fuji and Shanghai, where I will be targeting similar results.”

Did you approach Bahrain differently because of the bad luck in previous races?

“Not really. We are quite comfortable in our approach to race weekends, even at venues we have never been to before. We focus in free practice on getting the handling and set-up of the car correct for the circuit without getting distracted by lap times. As a result, often our qualifying performance is not as good, but this approach reaps rewards in the race. Endurance racing puts every aspect of the car and team to the test, and issues can occur. It is how you bounce back from the disappointment that counts and we did that in style in Bahrain.”

Are you looking forward to racing in Japan?

“I am really looking forward to the 6 Hours of Fuji Speedway. I have never raced in Japan before and I have heard really good things about the country and the fans. It is fascinating to experience new cultures and new race tracks, so I can’t wait to get started. We have a one day test on Wednesday which will give us a useful opportunity to understand the track and to set-up the car. We can only hope for a trouble-free lead up to the race and another competitive performance on Sunday.”

And another podium…?

“I hope so. We always enter the race weekend with the podium in mind but this race will be extra special because it is the home race for our engine partner Nissan. We will hopefully have lots of extra Japanese support because of this and we will do all we can to reward them with a podium. We have worked together with Nissan so well this season and last, with last year’s ILMC LMP2 championship to prove it, so it would be a fitting result to score a podium together at Fuji. I am also looking to repay the faith shown by my own partners Sojasun, so it will be an important event for me.”