24h Le Mans
The Prologue of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) (March 28-29) marks for Lucas di Grassi a great new stage in his journey with Audi - which could make of him the first Brazilian to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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In 2012, he teamed with Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish at his home race, the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo (FIA WEC), after the retirement of Dindo Capello. In 2013, he discovered the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing in third place along with Marc Gené and Oliver Jarvis. In 2014, with Audi Lucas di Grassi will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the wheel of the number one R18 e-tron quattro of the 2013 winners of the 24 Hours and World Champions Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval, whom he joined after Allan McNish announced his retirement. "I am honoured that Audi has hired me, but I do not pretend to replace a legend like Allan, immediately stated the Brazilian. Tom is also a legend, and I've known Loïc since we shared the Renault Drivers Development program for young drivers."
This year, Lucas di Grassi has everything he needs to be a pioneer of endurance racing in Brazilian motorsports history, which has been primarily focused on single seaters until now ever since the long ago day in 1969 when Emerson Fittipaldi landed in Europe to become the first citizen of his country to be crowned Formula 1 World Champion three years later. Lucas di Grassi's goal is to be "the first Brazilian to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it is a very difficult race where everything must fall into place just so. I also hope to win the drivers' title, because it has been more than twenty years since a Brazilian has been World Champion in motorsports (the last to date was Ayrton Senna in Formula 1 in 1991). Emerson Fittipaldi and his team do a lot of work on the organization of the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, and the race has become more and more important each year." In addition to the 24 Hours and the World Championship, a victory at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo would undoubtedly be particularly sweet for Lucas di Grassi, as it was last year for his predecessor Allan McNish, local winner of the Touring Trophy at Silverstone, then at the 24 Hours of Le Mans before being crowned World Champion.
More information about Lucas di Grassi on his official website, Facebook and Twitter.
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
24 HOURS OF LE MANS - June 14 & 15, 2014
