24h Le Mans
Of his seven participations in the 24 Hours, the young French driver did six in the cockpit of a "small" prototype. Since 2012, Pierre Thiriet has kept pace with the positive momentum of this now well-established class, the success of which is all the more in evidence heading into the upcoming 86th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
You are a poster child for the LMP2 class and have experienced first-hand its rise in competitiveness and popularity. Thoughts?
"It's undeniable, the class has continued to grow at every level...in terms of fans, teams and sponsors. It's a wonderful thing because LMP2 has allowed a wide array of drivers to do battle with cars very similar to each other's performance level. That's precisely what motivates me every year...taking on highly competitive driver line-ups with equally great cars in fantastic races at remarkable circuits. Between the WEC and the European Le Mans Series, there's something for everyone."
Is the categorization of drivers as sensitive a subject as it is important?
"It's one of the assets of the LMP2 class. You find former F1 drivers, young hopefuls directly from single-seaters, veteran drivers with extremely long track records in endurance and less successful drivers in their careers but very professional in their approach. It's an outstanding group of competitors against whom you have to be perfectly prepared. In that context, your first adversary is yourself. It doesn't make sense not to focus on the field in a class full of contenders for victory. But, with such small time differences and so many competitors, you have to know yourself, your car and its limits, and never leave anything to chance. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, you have to be ready for anything!"
Along with Nicolas Lapierre and André Negrão, his teammates at Alpine, Pierre Thiriet will attempt his best result to date after his second place finish in the LMP2 in 2012 and 2014. He isn't talking victory just yet, but there's no doubt he's thinking it.
PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS, TEST DAY 2018 TECHNICAL CHECKS. A top notch driver line-up for the Signatech Alpine Matmut team.
