French driving sensation Franck Mailleux will be joining Morand Racing this Sunday for the official test day in preparation for the forthcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans.  

 

The one day test will provide all teams and drivers with the sole opportunity to test their race cars and technical packages around the 13.6km La Sarthe track ahead of the Le Mans event which takes place on 22-23 June. 

 

Much of the course is made up of public roads, so this Sunday’s session will give teams an important opportunity to put the car through its paces around the demanding circuit and sharing the track with all participants in this year’s legendary event, which will mark the 90th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours and the fifth time that Franck has contested the renowned event.

 

Franck will be sharing testing duties in the #43 Dunlop-shod Morand Racing Morgan Judd LMP2 with Natacha Gachnang, with whom Franck celebrated a podium at the recent 3 Hours of Imola, and recently announced driver for Le Mans, Olivier Lombard. 

 

Having led the Silverstone event back in April and finishing third at Imola last time out, Franck will be hoping to compete for the top three at Le Mans despite the competitiveness of the Le Mans field. This Sunday’s test will give the team a first indication of their relative performance before the event gets underway in earnest in two weeks’ time.

 

Franck Mailleux commented: “The month of June is very exciting for us racers because all of our efforts are focussed on Le Mans, the undisputed highlight of the season. The first stage in the long and detailed preparation process is this Sunday’s official test day; it will be the only chance that we get to understand the car around the complete course before the first official practice session and to see how we line up against the opposition. It is always a great build-up to this incredible event and it will be even more special this year with the 90th anniversary. Together with the Morand Racing team, I have had a reasonably competitive start to the ELMS season with a podium at Imola, but Le Mans 24 Hours is a very different event and one which requires precision and reliability, as well as speed and competitiveness, so we have a lot of work ahead of us on Sunday to get off to a strong start, as long as the weather also remains on our side!”