24h Le Mans
Stoffel Vandoorne is about to make his FIA World Endurance Championship début at the Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The former McLaren Formula One driver will be using the experience to prepare for his particpation in the 87th annual 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June.
The Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the seventh of eight rounds in the 2018-19 FIA WEC Super Season sees a newcomer to the competition, former McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne. Belgian-born Vandoorne will be sharing the LMP1 #11 BR1-AER fielded by Russian team SMP Racing with Mikhail Aleshin and Vitaly Petrov. It will be his first foray into endurance racing before he takes the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
In an interview for the FIA WEC, Vandoorne admits to not having had “much experience of cars without a roof” but is “really looking forward to the challenge. Fernando [Alonso] sent me a message after the announcement and told me that I’d really enjoy WEC so that was reassuring. Fernando has a lot of experience switching between the cars and he’s found it very enjoyable so I’m looking forward to giving that a go myself.” The Belgian expresses great affection for his home ground: “Spa is one of my favourite circuits and I’ve had good results here in the past. It’s a track that suits me too, so we’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Vandoorne has not had the opportunity to test the car before the race but has great expectations. “I don’t know what my exact mindset is. I’ve not spent enough time with the team yet to know but anything can happen. The main thing will be to learn as much as I can, to finish the race and then I think a podium is possible.”
After the Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Stoffel Vandoorne will be taking part in the 87th annual 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June, the climax of the FIA WEC 201-19 Super Season. Like all rookie Le Mans drivers, Vandoorne’s first experience of the iconic track will be via the AOTech simulator. A practice session is mandatory for all first-timers: "The plan is to learn as much as I can at Spa in order to prepare for Le Mans. I want to get as much mileage as I can under the belt and get to know both the car and team properly – then we can look to Le Mans.”
The start of the 6 Hours of Spa is scheduled at 13:30 on Saturday 4 May, with 35 cars on the grid, 8 in each prototype class, 10 in LMGTE Pro and 9 in LMGTE Am.
