During the lunch break between two testing sessions at Test Day, a young woman highly sought after by the media was in the pit of the Pegasus Racing team. Inès Taittinger did her 10 mandatory laps to qualify in view of 24 Hours of Le Mans week. She describes her first laps: "This first outing went rather well. I was particularly concerned about traffic management but it went alright. During the first laps, I was very vigilant. I paid attention to everything, so then I was able to hit my marks progressively. I don't yet know the circuit by heart, so I'll need more laps."

Taittinger has been preparing for Le Mans for a long while. But the simulator and reality on the track are not the same things. What surprised the driver? "There is a huge difference between the beginning of the circuit and the Mulsanne Straight, which is very bumby. The car moves a lot and it makes seeing in the rearview mirrors very difficult. I can see headlights, but not precisely which car it is. The LM P1s come very fast, it's impressive. What's different too is braking while the car is going 300 km/h. The braking is very forceful and that's not something I'm used to doing. The rest is not very different from my other driving experiences."

Though during these first laps, naturally Taittinger wasn't looking at performance, but throughout the week of tests she will do everything to reduce her times. "I need to go faster to feel really comfortable. I know very well I need to make progress, so I'm doing everything to find the right pace. I have not yet reached the car's limits, so I must drive, drive and drive." 

 

Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: Inès Taittinger will take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LM P2 class with the Pegasus Racing team.