After months of preparation, car development and testing, the 2013 European Le Mans Series finally gets underway next week with the 3 Hours of Silverstone in Great Britain.  

French racer Franck Mailleux will be hoping to use the Silverstone event to reaffirm his credentials in competitive endurance racing as he joins Morand Racing at the legendary British race track.

Franck enjoyed a competitive two-day test with Morand at Paul Ricard last week, setting the quickest time on the first day around the 5.791km circuit, a performance that bodes well for the team’s competitiveness in Saturday’s three hour race.

For Franck, the ELMS event marks the start of his fifth consecutive season in endurance racing following stints in the Le Mans Series, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the FIA World Endurance Championship in the previous four seasons, the highlight of which was when he was crowned ILMC champion with Signatech-Nissan in 2011.

Now, driving a Morand Racing Morgan Judd LMP2 car, equipped with Dunlop tyres, Franck hopes to revisit winning ways with a challenge for victory in Saturday’s 3 Hours of Silverstone.

Franck, you must be looking forward to a return to racing at Silverstone?

“I really enjoy racing at Silverstone, one of the classic race tracks even with the recent changes to its layout, but I am looking forward to this year’s event more than ever. It has been a tough winter for me but thanks to Morand Racing for giving me the opportunity to test with them at Paul Ricard, I am able to start my fifth season of competition in endurance racing. Although our partnership is currently for this one race, I hope that I will be able to show my abilities in the Morand Racing Morgan Judd LMP2 car. It promises to be a fun event.”

How have you acclimatised to the car in a short space of time?

“I was able to quickly get up to a good pace in the car at Paul Ricard, sharing the driving duties with Natacha Gachnang and Kajim Ajlani, and we worked a lot on the set-up of the car with the Dunlop tyres. We were quickest overall on the first day and were in the top two overall after the two days, which is encouraging for Silverstone. I have driven many different types of car in my career to date so I find it quite easy to adapt to whatever car I have to race with. The Morand Racing Morgan Judd LMP2 is a competitive machine and I have high hopes for next weekend. It will be important for me to get a good result for the team and to help with the rest of my 2013 season.”