[10-04-2016]
PIERRE RAGUES SET FOR GT RACE DEBUT IN 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE
 Pierre Ragues will aim to get his 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship off to a flying start in this weekend’s opening round, the 6 Hours of Silverstone, in the UK.
The nine-race WEC championship is one of the most hotly contested in motor racing and has become a popular series in recent years with a growing global fanbase. The pinnacle of the FIA WEC season is the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, held in June, a race that has particular importance to Pierre.
2016 represents Pierre’s tenth endurance season and it will also mark his tenth running at Le Mans. Despite a wealth of experience, this season will be his debut in the competitive GT class and Silverstone will set a new milestone in his impressive career.
For his debut in the LMGTE-Am class, Pierre lines up alongside Paolo Ruberti and Yukata Yamagishi in the Larbre Competition #50 Chevrolet Corvette C7. They had a relatively trouble-free build up to this weekend’s race with important laps completed at the pre-season Prologue last month.
Pierre finished one of the four-hour timed sessions top of the GTE-Am category as the team amassed 96 laps in total working on car set-up and Michelin tyre evaluation. Pierre also had the chance to get used to dealing with the faster LMP cars, as traffic management will play a key role for him in this weekend’s race.
Pierre said: “Finally we are ready to go racing as the 2016 FIA WEC begins at the fantastic Silverstone circuit. I am really excited to be making my GT race debut with Larbre Competition after a positive build-up to the race. Alongside Paolo and Yukata, we completed important laps in the Prologue as we learned all about our Corvette C7 and the Michelin tyres. It will be a learning curve for me this weekend but I am confident in the pace we have shown so far. The GTE-Am class is thrilling and it’s a real honour to have the chance to drive such an amazing car for a truly fantastic manufacturer. Everyone at Larbre has worked really hard to get us ready for Silverstone so now we just have to get on with the job in hand. The weather can usually be an influential factor in Britain but we’ll be ready for anything. I will also be flying the colour of my personal partners GroupAuto, Sparco and Ellip6 so I’ll do my absolute best to get 2016 off to a competitive start!”
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