Fresh from a recent successful two-day test at Paul Ricard, Pierre Ragues is ready to compete at the front at next weekend’s 3 Hours of Silverstone with Signatech-Alpine. 

Pierre will be joining Nelson Panciatici at the European Le Mans Series season opener at the famous British race track, which marks a return of the iconic Alpine brand to endurance racing for the first time in 35 years.

The duo will be hoping to translate the competitive performance of the Signatech-Alpine LMP2 car into a podium result at Silverstone having seen the car top the timesheets at the test last week.

2013 promises to be another key milestone in Pierre’s endurance career which will include his seventh participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Silverstone will kick-start the Frenchman’s campaign with a three hour race around the 5.791km track. 

A total of 30 cars and 10 nationalities are registered to contest the Silverstone event next Saturday but Pierre and the Signatech-Alpine team will be hoping to assert their authority on the LMP2 class from the outset when practice gets underway on Friday.

Pierre, how well prepared are you and the team for Silverstone?

“It is great that we are getting back to racing after the many months since the last round of our 2012 championship. We have seen some key changes over the winter but the new marriage of Signatech and Alpine is a tantalising prospect and I am honoured to be part of it. We have completed two test sessions at Magny-Cours and Paul Ricard to develop the set-up of the LMP2 car with Michelin tyres and I think we are in good shape. Certainly, the pace of the car at Paul Ricard, when we set the fastest overall time, was encouraging. We now need to keep working to maintain this speed and to race well on Saturday.” 

What are realistic expectations for the team in your first ELMS campaign?

“Signatech has performed in many different versions of endurance racing over the years from LMS, ILMC, WEC and now ELMS. The team is one of the most professional in motor racing and with the added presence of the prestigious Alpine brand, I think we are well placed for a competitive season. We do not underestimate the performance from the other LMP2 teams but we have worked hard in the pre-season and conducted a lot of tyre evaluation with Michelin, so we are confident. Practice on Friday will be focussed on setting up the car for Silverstone, a challenging circuit, and from there we will hope to compete towards the front next weekend.”