Pierre Ragues ended last Saturday’s 3 Hours of Silverstone in a positive fourth place after heavy rain curtailed the event and prevented the Frenchman from mounting a fight for the podium.

Pierre, in his first race representing the prestigious Alpine brand with the Signatech squad, mastered the tricky and changeable conditions over the course of the Silverstone weekend and was rewarded with a solid result at the start of this year’s European Le Mans Series campaign.

Pierre’s team-mate Nelson Panciatici was on qualifying duties for the team for this debut race of the 2013 season and put the Signatech-Alpine A450 third on the grid. Nelson also started the race and fought hard to defend the team’s position, handing over to Pierre on the outskirts of the podium positions.

Pierre showed his experience to remain calm and competitive in tricky conditions but with the deployment of the safety car for a long period and the eventual red flag, he was not given the chance to push for the podium. Even so, it bodes well for the Signatech-Alpine team at the next race in Imola. 

Pierre, how was the Silverstone weekend from your perspective?

“I enjoyed the weekend and it was great to be back in a racing environment after a long winter period. To be participating in the ELMS championship under the Alpine brand and working once again with Signatech is an honour for me, and Silverstone showed that we have plenty of pace in the Alpine A450 car. The weather conditions were tricky all weekend with a wet-dry-wet track over the two days but I think we coped well and we earned our fourth place, even if I am sure we could have done more in better conditions.”

Was it frustrating to be behind the safety car for so long before having the race red-flagged?

“To be honest, it is always frustrating when you can’t race flat out but in those wet conditions it was important to put safety first. We saw a number of cars going off so it made sense to have the safety car out. Of course, it is disappointing to not have the chance to fight for the podium when we showed that is our competitive level, but it was an unusual and tricky race so we are pleased to settle for fourth place. We have a long season of ELMS events ahead of us; Nelson and I look forward with the Signatech-Alpine team to another competitive performance in Imola and hopefully a debut podium of 2013.”