Pierre Ragues and the G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan team once again showed themselves to be a podium-contending squad at the last race at Fuji Speedway but were denied the chance to fight for a top three placing after technical problems. 

The team has been one of the surprise packages of the season having only run the Nissan-powered #26 Oreca 03 car since the second race of the year at Spa. A fourth place at Le Mans and third place podium at Silverstone have been among the team’s highlights but Pierre is now hoping to end the season on a high in Shanghai.

It will be the first visit to the 5.451km Shanghai International Circuit for endurance racing, offering another level playing field for all teams.

Quick Q+A with Pierre Ragues

Have you had time to get over the disappointment from Fuji Speedway?

“The pace of this final part of the season is so frantic that we don’t have much time to dwell on disappointment, to be honest. We were confident of our race pace at Fuji and I think the fact we set the fastest lap in LMP2 showed our capabilities. We were just unfortunate to be hit by technical difficulties which the team has since investigated and we hope that we can have a trouble-free event in China.”

Were you pleased with your own personal performance?

“I was very pleased with my stints and actually as a team we performed very well. The guys in the garage did an outstanding job to minimise the time loss when we were in the pits and we were definitely capable of fighting for a top three result. That is the positive and encouraging elements of Fuji that we take with us now to Shanghai.”

Are you looking forward to another new circuit?

“This season has been great because of all the new circuits we have been able to race at in this final part of the championship. We were at China last year, of course, but we now get to return to race at Shanghai which looks to be an incredible facility. It is a very unusual track layout, particularly with the long straights, the very tight first turns and I am looking forward to driving it on Friday. It is a pleasure for us drivers to learn new circuits but it does add to the workload for free practice.”

How will you approach the weekend?    

“We will follow a similar process to the one we had at Bahrain and Fuji. We have to maximise our track time during Friday’s two practice sessions to allow us drivers to get familiar with the track and to find a good base set-up for the car. We will put all our efforts into this weekend to end this championship on a high note, hopefully with an LMP2 podium, but we know we have a lot of work to do. We work well as a team, together with Nissan and Dunlop, and with the fantastic support from our partners, as well as my personal sponsors Group Auto Union, so I am confident for a good weekend.”