Photo : Pool ACO - ACO / Nikon

24/24 - Monday, December 24: Leena Gade 
To conclude this review of 2012, someone who is bright, efficient and discreet in the recent history of endurance racing. In 2011, Leena Gade was the first female engineer to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the trio Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer Benoit Tréluyer. In 2012, they added to their success in La Sarthe, winning the drivers' title in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

This superb season earned Leena Gade to Personality of the Year at the ceremony which was attended by the winners and participants of the FIA World Endurance Championship on the 15th of December in Paris, at the Pavillon of the Champs-Elysées.

In 2012 you not only won the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) as engineer with your drivers, but also the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second time. What was the biggest difference to the win in 2011?

"I’ll remember the win at Le Mans in 2012 for completely different reasons than victory the year before. In 2011 I had a very good feeling throughout the course of the week leading up to the race. This year we didn’t know just how strong our new opponent Toyota would be. I was relieved when the race was finally over. Immediately after the checkered flag fell I was glad to be completely alone of the pit wall for a few moments. For the first time my guys and I had taken victory ourselves, the year before we have received a great deal of support from the teams of the two cars that had retired."

You have filled another role at Audi Sport since the beginning of 2012. What has changed?
"Over the last few years I was race engineer working at home in Great Britain. This year I moved over to Germany and work for Audi Sport in Ingolstadt. I’m now integrated more closely in the early development stage of new race cars. On top of my original workload, I also have a lot of organization and development work now. This is interesting, but also a challenge because the there is much more work now. I always wanted more responsibility at some point in my career. This materialized a little earlier than expected."

Jean-Philippe Doret
(Interview from Audi Motorsport press information)

Photo : PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE (LE MANS, SARTHE), SCRUNTINEERING AND SIGNING-ON FOR THE 24 HOURS, 10th JUNE. beside her favourite drivers, Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer, Leena Gade shared the Audi triumph at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship.