Loïc Duval: "The car has done very well since it took the track for the first time. It isn't 100% perfect, there are improvements to be made, but it's already very positive to be able to fight from the outset and even to win with a car that's still in progress! We know we have the whole package to battle it out at the front. Who will be the fastest after the start, or in the early evening? It's impossible to say, but I am convinced we have everything for a great battle."

The French driver has already tasted victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. How much do you want to claim the top step on the podium once again? "When you participate in a race, especially the 24 Hours of Le Mans, there is only one goal, victory. I still want to win just as much, year after year. I put as much energy into the fight. It's the same for my teammates. I feel like we are better prepared than before. We have spent more time together, we know each other better. We have more individual experience, but mainly more experience as a team. The last few weeks have been excellent." The collaboration between the three is real. Though they are not as close as the trio Fässler-Lotterer-Tréluyer entered in the other Audi R18 (the No. 7), one feels the French driver and his British and Brazilian teammates have a relationship that is stronger than ever.

Your win in May in the WEC, your first together, seemed like it broke the ice. "It was important for everybody. It wasn't the race I had bet on, but it's a great reward for all the work done. 2016 is a continuation of last season. We are still doing solid races, but in addition to having performance over a lap, we have performance level over a race and that paid off in Belgium."

Previous winner Duval, 33 years old, does not feel like the leader in the No. 8 Audi R18. "We all try to give each other advice. Even though I've been lucky enough to win, it wasn't with the same teammates, so we have to build things from the ground up. Certain things that worked for Tom (Kristensen, editor's note) and Allan (McNish, editor's note) don't work for Oliver (Jarvis, editor's note) and Lucas (di Grassi, editor's note). They were more than 40, with major experience at Le Mans, and the habit of working together. They welcomed me as the young guy, and it was simpler than three of us like me and my current teammates who had never worked together before. We had to build a group starting at zero. We also had a new engineer, and not the best car. We have fallen into a rhythm and now we're ready (to win), I can feel it. We race together very often, and we do a lot of testing. We know our potential." 

Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

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