Photo : Arnaud CORNILLEAU / ACO

 

With a solid driver line-up composed of René Rast, Jan Charouz and Vincent Capillaire, the French outfit set out to do battle against the best competitors in the class. Consistent and errorless, the No. 24 Oreca 03R-Nissan allowed Dominique Heintz's men to achieve a significant performance in La Sarthe.

René Rast: "I am happy with our result. The most important was to finish the race and garner a maximum of experience. I can say we learned a lot! The team did good work, just as did my teammates. My stints went well overall. During the night, the car behaved really well. That period of the race is special and you have to get used to it. In the end, Léo (Thomas) told me to attack. We didn't know what might happen and we were aiming for this fourth place that we had to go after. I was lucky to be at the wheel at the start and also the finish. These are unique moments, and as a result an incredible experience."

Jan Charouz: "To be completely frank, for me the race was rather complicated. I was not comfortable with the direction whose sensitivity was variable and with how the tyres were behaving. Also, I couldn't see well out of the rearviews, which made traffic difficult. It wasn't simple, but we didn't make any mistakes whatsoever. The drivers did good work. It's a good Top 5: we come to fight for first place when we're at the start, but it's a good result for the team who made its debut at Le Mans."

Vincent Capillaire: "To finish is the first victory and this fourth place is very honourable. It's a well-deserved result given that the team was participating at Le Mans for the first time, just like René and I. It's a nice reward and I only have one desire, to come back even stronger. We mainly looked to avoid problems and we followed our marching orders: patience and good sense. My pace was good, I had very pleasant stints with others not as much due to vibrations. I didn't foresee having such difficult moments. Thankfully, I was well-prepared. lt takes time to get used to the circuit. Each bump, each corner…it's a dream"

Dominique Heintz (Team Principal): "I don't know what to say. We have been dreaming of this race for so long. We dared to push our first participation to a year later and I am convinced it was the right choice, because it was thought out. We had to come here well-prepared. We ran an almost perfect race, but it's logical to have a few small mistakes in a first participation. We opted for good sense and it was the right decision. We had to stay humble and we knew that by avoiding problems, we would be well-positioned at the finish. We just wrote an essential line in our C.V. Of course, to finish fourth in LM P2 and eighth overall, it's a good thing. But we have to start working at it as of tomorrow. And we have to already savour the result! A big tip of the hat to the entire team, and notably to Léo Thomas for the technical side. Bravo to the drivers. We had good harmony and solidarity. The work as a whole is rewarded and I hope we will have the opportunity to go the distance together."

Sébastien Loeb (Team Manager): "I am proud of the entire team. We are happy because we achieved our goal. Realistically, we weren't necessarily hoping for better than a Top 5. Indeed, we simply followed our plan: we told the drivers not to try to do more than they knew how to. And that's what they did. We didn't make any big mistakes. There were a few details but that's normal for such a young team. The team managed the pit stops well and everyone did good work. It's a good debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans."

Pierre-Yves Riom / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY JUNE 14 2014. The Oreca 03R-Nissan of Sébastien Loeb Racing, fourth in the LM P2 class at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans.